IO Music Academy - Los Angeles, California

Casey Clare

IO music academy has been the most amazing experience I could have ever asked for! As a singer songwriter I always wanted to understand the production side of making music and IO has showed me every detail of making music that I could ever need! They have been so kind and patient and understanding in the learning process of production and provide an atmosphere where you feel comfortable to ask as many questions as you need and are always providing more than enough tools and resources and guidance you could ever need for you to accomplish your production and music dreams! There workshops are amazing too and highly recommend as well as there studio spaces to practice in! I feel so much more confident walking into a studio with professionals after learning from IO and feel more ready than ever to take on my projects and take my career to the next level and will always keep IO as a part of the team! Thank you IO for everything!! 🙂

~Casey Clare

Cylus Young

I learned so much from my time at IO Music Academy, from mastering production techniques to gaining a deeper understanding of the music industry. The mentorship I received was invaluable, and the sense of community is unmatched. I not only met lifelong friends but also gained the confidence to share my music with the world. IO Music Academy truly helped me step into the artist I've always aspired to be

Melanie Cebula

IO music academy has been a great way to go from zero to hero with making electronic music.

Really enjoyed the remix class, secret sauce, and the synthesizers class going deep on sound design.

Nice homework assignments and final projects to push yourself, and community workshops too. I love the private lessons and studio time to really lock in and refine an idea with the instructors. They're all great.

Attached my last project from the synthesizer class cuz I had it in my recents folder haha. Really fun constraints on this project!!

Zach Reisler

I've taken 4 courses at IO Music Academy and it has been such a rewarding, motivating, and engaging experience that has formed me as a house music producer. This is a school for people who work full/part time but still want to grow, advance their music abilities, and be surrounded by other passionate, driven musicians. The night classes and balanced amount of coursework allow you to go as deep as you want, led by instructors that are all patient, kind, and talented.

What I've loved about IO is the access to treated music studios for solo work or collaborations, the tight knit community, and the 1:1 lessons where you get an hour of undivided individualized attention to your projects. The in-person classes are 10x more engaging than an online program, and I say that as someone who studdied individually online for 2 years before going to IO. Plus having other sharp students who ask questions and being able to ask live questions when they pop up is key. The final projects and graduation presentations create skin in the game and a sense of achievement that pushes you forward on your journey in a healthy, supportive way. As an alum and an active community member, I can't recommend this school enough.

Rhiannon Roze

This is my go-to school for in-person music production education in Los Angeles. I love that you don't have to commit. You can go for just a 2-hour workshop or a 4-week mini course, or a full semester course, there's no obligation to commit long-term. The instructors are super nice, grounded, and talented and the classes are fun (I can't handle academia sans humour). Almost all classes are recorded and available online to review as well. I highly recommend IO!

Michelle Han

IO Music Academy is an incredible place to learn music production. I’ve been taking classes at IO for 6 months now, and I can’t believe how much I’ve learned. The staff is super friendly and always willing to help. In addition to the classes, there are so many amazing benefits, like networking events, workshops, discounts and more. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn and sharpen their music production skills!

Seth Eisenberg

The incredible instructors at IO facilitate the perfect environment for music producers at any level to further improve their skills. I've taken four classes, and found each one to be hugely beneficial to my skillset.

One class per week made it easy to integrate into my life with a corporate 9-5 job. The class size made it easy to get my questions answered, while forming relationships with my classmates. Everyone that enrolled took their craft very seriously while also being able to approach everything in a relaxed way.

Final presentations were one of my favorite parts of IO. It was the culmination and celebration of everyone's hard work. While nerve wracking to share my work in front of so many people, I always left inspired by others and encouraged to keep working towards my goals.

Additionally, IO consistently hosts free workshops and events which enriches the community that participates in them.

I couldn't recommend this institution enough for producers of any skill level who want to learn something new.

Erika Flores

I thoroughly enjoyed taking classes at IO Music Academy. They come with many perks, talented instructors, and is a bang for your buck. The instructors do an excellent job meeting every individual's unique need, being a class of 1:10 or less, teacher to student ratio.

The classes are about 8-10 lectures (depending on the course or program), once per week. You can pick from a weekday class (late night slots are avail!) or a Saturday class, which are amazing options for working students. Every class period is 2 hours, which is enough time to learn about the topic of the day and complete several exercises. At the end of the lecture, we are sent home with detailed instruction for the homework assignment, which are explained thoroughly and communicated very well. They definitely leave you with everything you need to be able to do the assignments comfortably without straining to remember what was explained during class. We are also given a guidebook (Course Notes) in Circle with the lecture notes and class recordings for future reference (and these don't expire?! So, I can access these in 10 years!?)

I have learned since completing Building Blocks and Making Waves, such as learning new ways/perspectives on how to approach and produce your tracks. Prior to attending IO, I would always start a new track, but then be plagued with writer's block and never finish or know how to flush out my ideas. I have so many unfinished pieces, but now I can confidently say I have the knowledge and skills to be able to complete them. IO shows you multiple ways you can go about producing music. I credit them for being the place where it all "clicked." Before attending this school, I studied classical music in college and have always wanted to compose, but got nothing done because I didn't have a mentor to tell me what comes next or giving me the "big picture". Throughout my studies, I gained more and more confidence in my music production skills and composition knowledge and was thus finally able to put myself and my music out there. Since finishing my studies at IO Music Academy (all in the span of 6 months), I've landed several film scoring projects and finally kickstarted my media scoring career. Thanks IO Music Academy!

Student Discounts: A variety available! While enrolled, you get Melodics and Splice for free for 3 months depending on the course you're taking. You must have Abelton, which is **60% off with the proof of student enrollment. (It's recommended to purchase Abelton Live SUITE as opposed to Standard, though the instructors are super kind and will accommodate regardless of what version you're running). IO also has discounts for certain sample packs, plug-ins, and hardware.

Location and environment: Hollywood, right across from the Paramount building on Hollywood Blvd and Gower. The school is a small building that has multiple studio spaces that they share with other companies/producers. The classroom is on the second floor, each desk has a midi controller (Push and/or keyboard), a laptop stand, and an audio interface for lecture usage. Must provide your own laptop, mixing headphones, and headphone jack to plug into audio interface.

Parking: Street parking, metered parking, or you can park at the LA Fitness outdoor lot 1 block away (IO provides a parking voucher, pack of 5 for $40)

Other perks: The community is great; there are multiple forums on Circle where you can chat with your classmates and alumni, as well as submit your tracks for feedback. Access to amazing studios for music production, recording, and collabs, available for reservation via Circle. Studio spaces and private lessons alone make IO Music Academy classes worth it! Once in a while they provide scholarship opportunities, so follow them in Instagram and be on the lookout for these generous offerings.