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TylerWard
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TylerWard
Where Davidson becomes genuinely unique in the American education landscape. Pairing creative students with entrepreneur students on shared capstones, shared businesses, and shared wins. A student run creator label at the center of it all.
A songwriter needs a manager. An entrepreneur needs a story. Davidson students help each other become both.
The old model: artists found labels. The new model: artists become labels. Every creative in 2026 is either building their own brand or working for someone who is. Managers, marketers, producers, and storytellers are no longer behind the curtain. They are the business. Entrepreneurship is the future of entertainment, and the line between artist and operator is disappearing fast.
That shift is why the Davidson Creator Label exists. Not to recreate a 1990s record deal, but to teach students what it actually takes to be a creator today. The artist DNA work of knowing who you are and what you stand for. Plus the operator skills of running a real business built around that voice.
This applies to anyone heading into the entertainment or creative business world. Singer. Songwriter. Producer. Filmmaker. Podcaster. YouTuber. Brand builder. Agency founder. Or a role that does not exist yet. Every path through this program starts at the same foundation: know your DNA, build your brand, and run the business like it is yours.
The Davidson Creator Label is a student run operation based at Davidson. Artists, managers, marketers, and storytellers running a real business together under Tyler's supervision and the Song House network. It is a magnet for enrollment. A moat no other school can easily replicate. And a preparation for the creative economy that is already here.
Fifteen specific collaborations. Some happen weekly. Some happen once a year. All of them put artist students and entrepreneur students in the same room, solving real problems, building real things, sharing real wins.
A student run creator label with A&R, marketing, legal, and creative departments staffed by both tracks. Real artists, real releases, real P&L. This is the flagship.
Business students produce the event from tickets to sponsorships to promo. Artist students perform. Both tracks document it as a case study for what they are building.
A student run agency serving local Nashville businesses with songwriting, branding, and content services under Tyler's supervision.
Each creative student builds their personal brand as a real business with an entrepreneur student co founder handling the business side.
Year end capstone where each pair launches a single or EP as a real business. Marketing plans, revenue targets, filmed content, the whole build.
Both tracks collaborate to run Davidson Academy's social media presence, turning the school itself into a case study in modern creator marketing.
Both tracks run a podcast interviewing industry guests Tyler brings in. Wayne Brady, label execs, managers, writers, and viral creators.
Artist students create concepts and designs. Business students run the ecommerce, shipping, and customer service. Real revenue.
Both tracks collaborate on a year long film documenting the program itself. Wins, failures, breakthroughs, and real student stories.
Business students handle warm and cold outreach to real Nashville brands to secure sponsorships for artist students. Real deals, real contracts, real revenue splits.
A one day conference hosted at Davidson, organized by students, featuring speakers from Tyler's network and Song House alumni.
A celebration event each semester where entrepreneur students launch their companies and artist students create the launch performances and content.
Once a semester, live. Shark Tank style. Students pitch their real businesses to a panel of Nashville investors. Real money on the table. Some students walk away funded.
Wayne Brady, Loretta Lynn family network, Song House alumni, and label friends teach joint classes throughout the year. Real industry, real access.
Annual gala where business students run the show and artist students perform. The capstone moment of the program each year.
The smallest possible version of this program can launch in Fall 2026 without Davidson having to restructure a single thing. It runs like a varsity sport. Students audition in. It stays opt in. And it gives the school a low risk, high visibility proof of concept to build on.
One monthly after school session. Open to interested students in grades six through twelve. Rotating guest artists from Song House and Tyler's network.
Runs two to three afternoons a week, like varsity athletics. Students audition in. Small first cohort of eight to twelve students who commit to the full year.
The two tracks meet quarterly for collaborative sessions. By year end, at least one joint release or launch from a pair in the program that everyone can point to.
Student feedback and growth. New family inquiries driven by the program. Media coverage. One or two real breakout projects for year two.
Agree on one pilot track for Fall 2026 launch.
Set a follow up meeting to lock program structure.
Identify two or three early student candidates.
Draft a one page partnership agreement.
Announce to Davidson families in May.