Don't spend $85,000 a year for a music degree

14 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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1:05

In this monologue, the speaker denounces the $85,000 annual tuition at Berklee College of Music, labeling the program and its AI-focused course "Bots and Beats" as wasteful investments. While expressing personal love for creativity—poetry, rap, drawing—the speaker argues that in today’s economy, marketable skills, not expensive degrees, determine earning potential. The core advice is for aspiring creatives to avoid spending large sums on music and art degrees and instead focus on developing practical, employable abilities.

Chapters

$85,000 a year and this is what they're teaching? The Berklee College of Music students are paying $85,000 a year for a music degree and some are taking an AI class they're saying is an absolute waste of money. Frankly, I think the whole degree is a waste of money if you ask me. $85,000 for music, who's paying for that? They have a course called Bots and Beats basically teaching them that AI is going to replace them in the future. Now listen, I love creativity, I love art, I am a creative. I grew up writing poetry, writing raps, and drawing. But in this economy, the market is not paying for tuition receipts, it's paying for skills. You can love your craft and earn an income around it. Those are not two different things. If you want to be a creative, do not go and pay $85,000 for a music and art degree. But listen, no one's going to save you from making $85,000 mistake. That's on you to catch before you sign. If I had to coach any creative navigating the job market right now, I would first and foremost tell them to not waste their money on this type of nonsense.