NEXT / NOW: A CLIVE DAVIS INSTITUTE SHOWCASE

The Clive Davis Institute is the first and only program of its kind to provide professional business and artistic training toward a BFA in Recorded Music. We aim to provide students with the necessary skills — business, creative, and intellectual — so that they might emerge as visionary creative entrepreneurs and scholars in the evolving global music industry.

We encourage students to develop innovative musical ideas and envision new music business models, work collaboratively, cultivate both intellectual rigor and a willingness to experiment artistically, and to assume leadership roles in the art and commerce of creating and selling recorded music. We are newly located in Brooklyn, at 370 Jay Street - NYU's new home for engineers, research scientists, game designers, media artists, and musicians to interact and collaborate under one roof. We are proud to be contributing to NYU's goal of becoming the world center for technology innovation and creative engineering.

Students who enroll have a wide range of aspirations. Some aspire to become CEOs of record labels or management companies. Some aspire to become music producers who helm successful production companies. And others are performing artists, songwriters, publishers, social entrepreneurs, tech innovators, and music journalists who want to develop their business acumen so that they might build a successful brand.

Nora Conlon is an East End–based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and recent graduate of NYU's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Nora’s music blends folk and alternative rock with a focus on lyrical vulnerability and dynamic liver performance. Her second single, “Evens Out” will be released on July 10th on all streaming platforms.

Sofia D’Angelo is a singer-songwriter and emerging indie-pop artist known for her emotionally driven songwriting, cinematic soundscapes, and intimate vocal style. Blending alternative pop, indie, and singer-songwriter influences, Sofia creates music that feels deeply personal while remaining universally relatable. Her songs often explore themes of vulnerability, identity, relationships, and self-discovery, pairing honest lyricism with atmospheric production and memorable melodies. Through a growing catalog of independent releases, Sofia has begun building a dedicated audience drawn to the emotional depth and authenticity at the center of her artistry. Known for her introspective storytelling and refined creative vision, Sofia’s music balances softness and strength, creating immersive records that feel both vulnerable and cinematic. Her ability to transform personal experiences into emotionally resonant songs has helped distinguish her within a new generation of independent pop artists. As both a songwriter and performer, Sofia D’Angelo continues to evolve her sound while carving out a unique space in the alternative pop landscape. With a steadily growing fanbase and a strong artistic identity, she is quickly emerging as a compelling new voice in contemporary independent music.

Born in New Jersey and raised by her mother between Lagos and London, Halima Edozie-Akinlade draws from a tri-continental well. As an only child, she learned to blend introspective periods spent alone with the collaborative day camps and community programs she attended for theatre and music. As early as primary school, she remembers developing processes for bringing musicians together, continually from a place of creation. From early explorations of folk and piano to later studies of jazz and R&B, Halima's career has evolved, making pit stops in Pop-punk, neo-soul, and electronic along the way. Now, her sound pulls unapologetically from a broad musical spectrum, nodding sonically to those defining experiences and pushing forward toward a more pointed exploration of self.

As a result, By 21, Halima launched her label, One Percent Genius, and released self-produced singles garnering over 5 million cumulative streams. Since then, her work has been featured in Spotify's Pollen and New Music Friday, Apple Music's Feels, Pitchfork's What's Good playlists, and other outlets, including The Fader, BBC Radio 1Xtra, and Lyrical Lemonade. Beyond her independent work, Halima has made a conscious effort to expand and nourish her collaborative catalog. Recently, she scored Christian Ghosn's award-winning short film 'Violent Nights.'

Outside of her creative work, Halima is also a co-founder and active member of FACTORY, a Brooklyn women's collective that meets weekly to navigate life in the music industry, practice community therapy, and celebrate chosen family, which she describes as a process of "adding structures to unstructured life." Altogether, Halima's work embodies the intersection of self-discovery, community, and the complexity of life's connections, across mediums.

Ben Lapidus is a musical comedian whose unique style has garnered over 400K followers on social media, bringing together satire & sincerity, blending pop punk, hardcore, pop, country, emo rap, and more. His song PETSMART, a metal track demanding to know whether the company’s name is Pet-Smart or Pet’s Mart, became a viral hit, culminating in a rally outside a Los Angeles PetSmart, featuring keynote speeches from John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. He made it to the semi-finals on America's Got Talent, where his song Parmesan Cheese became an Internet rallying cry. Ben also wrote the music for and starred in the internationally touring Off-Broadway musical Pop Punk High, which later became the musical podcast Who Killed Avril Lavigne?