Belmont University and Avid Establish Five-Year Software Subscription Agreement to Augment Media & Entertainment Studies

Starting in January 2021, Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee will be giving students a more powerful learning environment based on a new generation of software and solutions from Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID). The university’s strategy to augment its facilities for media and entertainment studies will ensure that students can stay on track and accelerate toward their degree goals, whether attending on campus, remotely or in a hybrid model.

The centerpiece of Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business strategy is its adoption of a five-year software subscription agreement for several hundred seats of Avid’s editing and creation tools, Media Composer® and Pro Tools®, and the open MediaCentral® platform that will enable students to work on their stories and productions from any location on their laptop or mobile device. With this upgrade, students will also be able to edit and manage projects collaboratively in real time with access to more than a petabyte of Avid NEXIS® media storage.

As part of this commitment, the college will also upgrade the current Avid S5™ Fusion console in its state-of-the-art Johnson Center Dolby Atmos theater to a new dual-operator Avid S6™ audio control surface. The Johnson Center, which opened in 2015, includes the world’s first Dolby Atmos® mix stage at a higher education institution, giving Belmont students a unique opportunity to learn how to deliver immersive Dolby Atmos theater experiences.

Located next to Music City’s renowned Music Row creative community, the Belmont University Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business is a powerful magnet for aspiring creative professionals and is consistently ranked among the top U.S. institutions for media and entertainment studies. For more than 20 years the college has applied Avid technologies to help prepare thousands of students for professional careers in television, film and music. The school is now an Avid Media Campus program partner, which guarantees volume pricing that enables it to grow its infrastructure with optimal cost efficiency. This special designation, combined with continuous releases of new product enhancements and capabilities through Avid software subscription, ensures Belmont students can enter their chosen profession with up-to-the-moment expertise in the emerging technologies shaping how media is created, presented and experienced.

“Belmont University’s strategic priorities are ready to adapt to change and embrace new technology so we can innovate—and this approach has prepared us for today’s very challenging environment,” said Ron Romano, Technology Specialist, Belmont University’s Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. “Our new agreement with Avid plugs right into this philosophy and gives our programs a technical foundation to evolve and thrive over the long run. In the end, we’ll be able to do an even better job of helping our students stay focused on strengthening their creativity and storytelling expertise and then get into the workforce with confidence.”

Avid collaborated with longstanding certified channel partner Marshall Graphics Systems, the iconic media technology supplier to the creative community throughout Nashville and the southeastern U.S. Marshall Graphics Systems specified, designed and deployed the Avid solution at Belmont University.

“Belmont University and Avid share a commitment not only to bring forward new generations of media professionals, but also to ensure their full command of technology that will advance the impact and reach of their ideas and stories,” said Jeff Rosica, CEO and President, Avid. “Today the school is moving fast on its exciting vision to create an even more extraordinary professional-grade environment for its students and the Avid team is thrilled that our products and programs will provide the flexibility to evolve and grow.”

About Avid Media Campus

With exclusive education discounts and flexible solutions specifically tailored to the needs of educational institutions, the Avid Media Campus program prepares students for the distinct career advantage of industry-recognized Avid certification. It facilitates a deeper engagement with Avid across its comprehensive creative tools and workflow solutions—spanning film/video/TV, sports, graphics, journalism, music/audio production, live sound and theater.