#019 - Chris Sampson

Chris Sampson is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Southern California. He's the founder of the Popular Music program at the revered Thornton School of Music at USC. He's had a multi-faceted career as a producer, arts administrator, performer, and has presented collaborative seminars with Patrice Rushen, Steve Miller and more. Chris currently teaches Popular Songwriting and Music Industry studies. In this episode, we speak about his career and how he ended up as a Professor at USC, the importance of the path itself versus the result, what it took to create the Popular Music program at the university, the prevalence of hip hop and electronic music within education, the importance of collaboration and more.