About

Jonathan Kuuskoski is the Chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship & Leadership and an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He specializes in helping artists self-start their careers through extensive programming that includes career advising, a performing arts venture incubator, co-curricular training resources, and a graduate certificate and undergraduate minor. As Director of the EXCEL Lab, he oversees the distribution of over $100,000 annually in student project, venture, and internship funding, supporting the incubation of student ventures, projects, and internships worldwide. Under his leadership, the department has expanded its faculty and curricular offerings and collaborates with leading arts organizations and institutions to connect students with the professional performing arts community. Kuuskoski has presented at prominent institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Yale, and the Vienna Music and Performing Arts University, and has provided commentary on arts sector issues for CNN, Forbes, and Inc.com. His research includes an empirical study on the impact of arts business training on artist earnings, which has been covered by Forbes and the NEA Arts Research Quarterly. He previously served as Director of Entrepreneurship and Community Programs at the University of Missouri School of Music, where he re-launched and re-branded community music programs and developed the region’s first Music Entrepreneurship program. A classical pianist by training, he has performed across North America, Europe, and New Zealand, and remains active in the piano pedagogy community, contributing to scholarly publications and conferences.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Art
• Political Science
• Management
• Visual arts
• Economics
• Economic growth
• History
• Art history
• Media studies
• Geology
• Labour economics
• Law

Selected publications

• Narrowing the Gap

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2024-03-25 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This paper investigates whether entrepreneurship training subsequently impacts artists’ labor market outcomes. Collecting data from major universities, we find that only 9.7% have arts entrepreneurship certificates; just 11.4% have any required arts entrepreneurship classes. Analyzing data from the American Community Survey (ACS) and controlling for demographic factors, fine arts graduates are 1.3% less likely to be employed and earn 8.7% lower annual earnings. However, individuals with both arts and entrepreneurial business training earn more and offset the earnings disadvantage by roughly a half. These results underscore the importance of integrating art entrepreneurship education with the sustainability of the arts sector.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Narrowing the Gap: Implications of Arts Entrepreneurship Curricula on Artist Labor Market Outcomes

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023 · 3 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Labour economics
  • Political Science
  PublisherDOI

• The Labor Market and Public Policy Implications of Arts Entrepreneurship

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech by William Deresiewicz

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2021-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition by Sally Anne Gross, George Musgrave

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2021-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  We all know that making a career in music isn't easy. The field is hypercompetitive, full of uncertainty, and high-risk. A common principle in the work of mentoring aspiring professionals, then, is to reinforce the idea that they must dream big and stay the course. Achieving success requires diversifying capabilities, hustling through the early years, and maintaining an open mind to every potential opportunity. Disappointments are inevitable, we tell our mentees, and carving out a satisfying, sustainable, and impactful career will demand grit, creativity, and an unwavering belief in yourself. Sure, that might seem hard, but we hope each new musician we work with will look back one day and say, "Yeah, that was worth it. I'm a stronger artist and human being having gone through those early struggles. Thank goodness I went for it." We want to believe that they all have a fair chance at finding individual pathways to success.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Book Review: The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech by William Deresiewicz

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2021

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Art
  • Art history

  Jonathan Kuuskoski reviews William Deresiewicz’s The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Book Review: Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition by Sally Anne Gross & George Musgrave

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2021-11-13

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Book Review of Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition by Sally Anne Gross & George Musgrave (University of Westminster Press, 2020)

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Canvas Detroit by Julie Pincus Nichole Christian

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2020

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Geology

  wasn't about establishing a career. It was about making art as life support. And no matter who they were or what they did or where in the city they lived, or even if

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Book Review: Canvas Detroit

  Artivate A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts · 2020-05-22

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The title Canvas Detroit fulfills a promise long-understood in the Southeastern Michigan community: the Motor City, despite its rough and tumble journey into the 21st century, is home to a vibrant and flourishing arts scene. Far from a standard coffee table book, though, this rich—yet surprisingly accessible—volume functions as a visual ethnography of the artists who define that scene. Hundreds of beautiful images complement dozens of profiles of natives, adopted locals, and famous visitors, who collectively shape Detroit’s culture while representing the resilience of a population indelibly linked to the city’s Rust Belt origins.

  PublisherDOI

• Heifetz, Daniel

  Oxford Music Online · 2015-05-28

  reference-entrySenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christos Makridis

  Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence

  7 shared

• Boris Schwarz

  1 shared

• David Cope

  Telio (Norway)

  1 shared