572 Best Music colleges in India - Courses, Fees, Admissions 2023

Music is an art of expressing and modulating emotions with the help of vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way that it produces beauty. It has three basic categories, i.e. western art music, folk music, and popular music. Music helps change someone's mood, get them excited, or make them calm and relaxed. It makes people feel nearly or possibly all emotions that they experience in their lives. It is an important part of our lives and fills the need or urge to create music.

Many students, who have an inclination towards fine arts and special interest in Music can study this as a subject in higher education format. Some of the popular specialisation that are offered by Music colleges in India are:

• Tabla

• Hindustani Classical Vocals

• Violin

• Sitar

• Sound Recording

• Veena

• Flute

• Percussions

• Mrindangam

• Guitar

India is home to some of the best colleges/ universities to pursue Music courses. These include Whistling Woods International Institute of Film, Communication and Creative Arts, Mumbai; Amity University, Noida; Lovely Professional University (LPU), Delhi; Gulshan Kumar Film and Television Institute of India, Noida; Fergusson College, Pune; The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (MSU), Vadodara; Rabindra Bharati University (RBU), Kolkata; Ramjas College, Delhi; Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi; Hindu College, Delhi, etc.

Some of the key skills required by a Music professional are mentioned below:

• Knowledge of music

• Must have completed the basic course in music

• Should have a special inclination towards music and can devote hours 

• Creative and innovative

• Must have a creative frame of mind and can come up with new tunes

• Should possess a sense of rhythm

• Hard worker

• Ability to work for hours

• Team worker

• Discipline and punctuality

Music Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria for Music courses is different at UG and PG levels. UG courses are of three years duration each and PG Courses two years duration each. The candidates: 

• UG eligibility [BA Hons in Music, BFA (Music) and BPA (Music)]: Must have passed Class 12th from a recognised board with a minimum of 50% aggregate score.

• PG eligibility: Should have passed an undergraduate course in Music (either Vocal or Instrumental).

There are approximately 460 Music colleges in India that offer Music courses, out of which about 130 colleges are private, 160 are public and rest are public-private. These offer full-time, distance-learning and part-time modes of study.

Here is the list of some of the top private and public Music colleges in India:

Private Colleges	Course Fee (in Rs lakh)
Whistling Woods International Institute of Film, Communication and Creative Arts, Mumbai	14 - 27
Amity University, Noida	2.4
LPU, Delhi	1.38 - 2.36
Gulshan Kumar Film and Television Institute of India, Noida	-
Fergusson College, Pune	-

 

Public Colleges	Course Fee (in Rs)
MSU, Vadodara	1,800 – 27,180
RRBU, Kolkata	-
Ramjas College, Delhi	22,680 – 40,480
BHU, Varanasi	-
Hindu College, Delhi	52,770

 Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview:

Note: Y-axis refers to the number of colleges in the above graph.

There are several Music colleges in major cities across the country such as Delhi/ NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, etc. Various entrance exams accepted in India for Music include LPU NEST, CUCET, JET, BHU UET, WWI Entrance Exam, AUCET, BHU PET, TUET, SAT India, SEE, etc.

Career Scope for Music Candidates

Candidates looking forward to build a career in Music have ample opportunities and a great variety of positions to choose like singers, guitarists, music therapist, composer, conductor, etc. Music is a performing art that involves years of arduous training and practice. Students can also select job titles like Singers, Instrumentalists, Music Composers, Songwriters, Music Arrangers, Transcriber, Music Sequencer, Choir Director, Producer, etc. Some of the popular job profiles that candidates can consider selecting after completing the education in Music alongwith the salary offered are mentioned below:

Job Position	Average Salary (in Rs LPA)
Music Composer	2-3
Singer	3-3.5
Band Leader	2-2.5
Lyricist	2-3
Sound Engineer	2-3

Placement Opportunities after Music Courses

After a degree course in Music, one can get innumerable jobs in varied fields like Education, Events, Functions, Bollywood/Hollywood industry, etc. Below is the list of few top colleges that place Music graduates alongwith their placement ratings:

Colleges	Placement Ratings (Based on Reviews)
Whistling Woods International Institute of Film, Communication and Creative Arts, Mumbai	4.5
LPU, Delhi	4.3
Hindu College, Delhi	4.3
Ramjas College, Delhi	4.2
BHU, Varanasi	4.2

Music Modes of Study

Music courses can be pursued from various colleges through different modes such as full-time, distance-learning and part-time. Nearly 440 Music colleges offer the full-time courses and the rest of the colleges offer distance-learning and part-time mode to students planning to pursue Music courses. Some of these colleges are tabulated below:

Full-time Mode of Study

Some of the popular colleges/ universities that offer full-time Music courses are:

S.No.	Colleges	Location
1.	MSU	Vadodara
2.	RRBU	Kolkata
3.	Whistling Woods International Institute of Film, Communication and Creative Arts	Mumbai
4.	Amity University	Noida
5.	LPU	Delhi

Part-time – Classroom Mode of Study

Following colleges offer part-time classroom mode of education:

S.No.	Colleges	Location
1.	MSU	Vadodara
2.	Alagappa University	Karaikudi
3.	LPU	Jalandhar
4.	Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU)	Rohtak
5.	Sri Venkateswara College (SVC)	Delhi

Distance/ Correspondence Mode of Study

Colleges/ universities that offer courses through distance/ correspondence mode are as follows:

S.No.	Colleges	Location
1.	IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University)	Delhi
2.	Andhra University	Visakhapatnam
3.	Annamalai University (Distance Education)	Tamil Nadu
4.	University of Madras, Institute of Distance Education	Chennai
5.	Uttarakhand Open University (UOU)	Haldwani

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview:

Note: Y-axis refers to the number of colleges in the above graph.

How affordable is studying in Music Colleges in India?

Based on the below pie chart, it can be estimated that pursuing Music courses in India is economical as 75% of the colleges have annual fees of less than Rs 1 lakh. Some of these colleges are:

• MSU, Vadodara

• Ramjas College, Delhi

• University of Madras, Institute of Distance Education, Chennai

• Hindu College, Delhi

• Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Approximately 13% of the Music colleges have fee structure ranging from Rs 1-2 lakh. Some of these colleges are:

• LPU, Delhi

• UNIPUNE - Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune

• LPU, Jalandhar

• Banasthali Vidyapith, Jaipur

• Sri Sri University (SSU), Bhubaneswar

Approximately 5% of the Music colleges have fee structure ranging from Rs 2-3 lakh. Some of these colleges are:

• LPU, Delhi

• LPU, Jalandhar

• Amity University, Noida

• Mumbai Music Institute, Mumbai

• Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong

Approximately 4% of the Music colleges have fee structure ranging from Rs 3-5 lakh. Some of these colleges are:

• Jagran Lakecity University (JLU), Bhopal

• NMIMS University, Mumbai

• Christ University, Bangalore

• Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts And Communication (SACAC), Delhi

• Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM, Kanchipuram)

Approximately 3% of the Music colleges have fee structure of more than Rs 5 lakh. Some of these colleges are:

• Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM, Kanchipuram)

• Whistling Woods International Institute of Film, Communication and Creative Arts, Mumbai

• JLU, Bhopal

• NMIMS School of Performing Arts, Mumbai

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview of the break-up of Music Colleges in India basis fees:

Music Specialisations offered in India

Music colleges in India offer diversified specialisations in Tabla, Hindustani Classical Vocals, Violin, Sitar, Sound Recording, Veena, Flute, Percussions, Mrindangam, Guitar, and so on. The most popular ones are Tabla followed by Hindustani Classical Vocals and Violin.

 

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview:

Which are the most popular Music Exams in India?

Most popular entrance exams for studying Music courses in India are LPU NEST and CUCET. While scoring good marks in LPU NEST will help you land in Music colleges like LPU Delhi and Jalandhar, CUCET is your ticket to colleges like Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ).

Rest of the colleges accept JET, BHU UET, WWI Entrance Exam, AUCET, BHU PET, TUET, SAT India, SEE, etc., for admission into their colleges.

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview:

Note: Y-axis refers to the number of colleges in the above graph.

Shiksha Singh