When people hear Abbey Road, they think of legacy.That’s not what drew me in, though. What hooked me was the challenge: how do we make education in music actually mean something again in Australia?And if I’m honest, this journey didn’t start in a classroom. It started inside the studio.Before I ever ran a school, I was already running Studios 301, Australia’s largest and oldest recording studio, and quietly building an education ecosystem from the ground up.It was hands-on, built around real sessions, real artists, and real challenges. And it was compelling. We didn’t have lecture theatres. We had control rooms. Live rooms. Engineers who were in the trenches, not behind podiums.That was the foundation. And eventually, I got the chance to take it further. Merging Two Worlds Into One System That WorkedWhen I took on the role of CEO at Abbey Road Institute Sydney, I was still running 301.It wasn’t about juggling two roles.It was about consolidation and alignment.Taking everything we’d built at 301: the events, the masterclasses, the mentorship, the energy and embedding it around an advanced diploma.I wasn’t interested in separating theory from practice.So we stopped pretending they were different.Students could watch a chart-topping record being mixed in one room, then walk into a live workshop in the next.They didn’t just read about the industry. They rubbed shoulders with it.That overlap wasn’t a coincidence.It was the whole idea. Though it didn’t come without its significant challenges.What I’m Proud Of<ul><li>Rebuilding the RTO from scratch and relocating it from Melbourne to Sydney</li><li>Co-locating with Studios 301 and integrating education into a real working studio</li><li>Implementing writing camps as part of the curriculum, for Abbey Road students and also for Studios 301 interns, giving emerging creatives a space to collaborate, write, and pitch real projects</li><li>Spearheading the Global Songwriting Exchange, where students from Abbey Road Institutes around the world collaborated remotely, following the in-person writing camp I delivered at the 2020 global graduation in London</li><li>Launching the NATSIMO x Abbey Road x Studios 301 scholarship</li><li>Creating pathways where students weren’t just taught - they were seen</li></ul><img src="https://ezycourse.b-cdn.net/3887/cmopcz5bx7jr2mpqy6hx9bkzf.png" alt="image" containerstyle="width: 100%; height: auto; cursor: pointer; " wrapperstyle="display: flex">The Unexpected Part: I Was Always a Music Education CynicI was always an industry guy. Someone who navigated my way through on-the-ground experience, mentorship, and by staying deeply involved in the creative trenches.That’s the other truth.I was skeptical of the traditional music education model.Too often, it felt disconnected from the real industry. Too academic. Too out of touch.So even the idea of me running a school, let alone co-locating one inside a studio, came with a challenge.It had to be real. It had to be relevant. It had to be compelling.If I was going to stand behind it, it needed to reflect the kind of education I would’ve wanted, and the kind that would actually serve people trying to break into an evolving industry.We Never Had Fee-HelpGaining Fee-Help was always the goal, of course. From a business model perspective, we needed it, any long-term private RTO does.But the truth is: we didn’t have it for the majority of the time I was leading Abbey Road Institute Sydney.And that shaped everything.Because if someone paid 20 to 30K to study with us, it wasn’t subsidised.It was their money, their belief, their sacrifice.So our proposition had to hold up - not just sound good, actually be good. We built everything through the lens of:Would I pay for this? Would I stand by it?And if the answer wasn’t a confident yes, we weren’t done.This matters. Because once an RTO receives Fee-Help, the dynamic often shifts: the client becomes the government, not the student. And we never wanted to lose that line of sight, that sense of who we were actually here to serve.The 301 Foundation &amp; How It Bled Into EverythingBefore Abbey Road, we were already embedding education into Studios 301.We built the 301 Academy, we ran producer BBQs with ARIA, Masterclasses with Neumann, Roland, JBL.Live industry events. Dolby Atmos walkthroughs. Session breakdowns.Real artists. Real engineers. Real time. Education wasn’t a department, it was in the walls.When we co-located Abbey Road into that space, we weren’t starting from scratch.We were scaling what was already working.<img src="https://ezycourse.b-cdn.net/3887/cmopd1e0c8ar97xpa7525084j.png" alt="image" containerstyle="width: 100%; height: auto; cursor: pointer; " wrapperstyle="display: flex"> What I Took With MeOver those years - running a studio, leading a school, managing a team - I learned that the best education doesn’t look like education.It looks like participation.It’s in the unscheduled conversations, the after-hours questions.The way someone shadows a session and walks away changed.You can’t design that with a whiteboard, but you can build a culture where it happens every day.In 2023, my final year leading both Studios 301 and Abbey Road Institute, I organised and curated the first Music Industry Training Summit, bringing together 70 education and industry leaders from across the country.It was intentionally designed as a listen-fest, not a talk-fest. And what we heard was clear:The education system wasn’t keeping pace with the industry.There were massive gaps between theory and practice, between high school and higher ed, between training and employment.Students were graduating unprepared. Internships weren’t enough, mentors were scarce and the ones doing the real work were often too stretched to teach.We heard a deep need for practical training, flexible learning models, and real-world career pathways.We talked about burnout, access, community and what it means to build something sustainable, not just impressive.And in many ways, that Summit became the catalyst. Not just a proud moment, but a real shift in how I saw the future.It surfaced what the industry itself felt was missing, what students weren’t getting, what systems weren’t supporting, and what change might look like if we actually listened. <img src="https://ezycourse.b-cdn.net/3887/cmopd2zoen4q8atqx0sub790l.png" alt="image" containerstyle="width: 100%; height: auto; cursor: pointer; " wrapperstyle="display: flex">What We’re Building Now With Mentor AcademyThat’s what led to Mentor Academy. Not as a replacement, as an evolution.This time, we’re designing something new from the ground up, but carrying everything that worked with us.<ul><li>Mentor-led learning</li><li>Culture over curriculum</li><li>Real access, real outcomes</li><li>Structure that grows with you, not against you</li></ul> We’re not building a school. We’re building a platform that meets artists, creatives, and freelancers where they are, and connects them to people who’ve done the work and lived the journey.It’s not about chasing accreditation. It’s about building capability, confidence, and community in real time.Final ThoughtAbbey Road taught me how to lead inside a legacy.301 taught me how to embed education alongside industry.Mentor Academy is where both meet and evolve.So I’m still asking questions.Some of the same questions that came up in the Music Industry Training Summit - only now with more urgency.What if we stopped designing education around institutions and started designing it around the people actually doing the work?What would it look like to build a training model that’s practical, sustainable, and community-led - not dependent on outdated systems or fee subsidies?And how do we make sure students aren’t just graduating with knowledge, but with capability, confidence, and access?Still building.Still participating.Still figuring it out, but now with clarity, conviction, and community.If you want to see more - <a target="_blank" href="https://ronharyanto.substack.com/p/from-rebuilding-a-legacy-to-designing">https://ronharyanto.substack.com/p/from-rebuilding-a-legacy-to-designing</a>

When people hear Abbey Road, they think of legacy.
What hooked me was the challenge: how do we make education in music actually mean something again in Australia?

From Rebuilding a Legacy to Designing a New One

Across multiple different short form content streams, our Founders and Industry Leaders explore their key takeaways from industry events, challenges that creatives face, and everything in-between.

From Rebuilding a Legacy to Designing a New One

From Rebuilding a Legacy to Designing a New One

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