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M.S. Belmont University; B.S. James Madison University
Director of Music Business/Assistant Professor of Music Business

Assistant Professor David Rivers is the Director of Music Business at Radford University. He teaches courses in music business, social media and music marketing, contract and copyright law, Pro Tools-Music Production, Advanced Pro Tools-Music for Media, commercial songwriting, and The Beatles. He also coaches and oversees the Commercial Music Ensemble.

Prior to joining Radford University, Rivers worked for 25 years in the business and creative sides of the music business in Nashville and Los Angeles, as a songwriter, producer, and music publisher. He also served as the National Education Director for the Nashville Songwriters Association International. For the last decade, he has also been a committed educator, teaching music business and commercial music production and creation in Nashville and at Radford University.

As creative director and manager at Crossfire Entertainment/Almo Irving Music and Criterion Music Publishing, Rivers helped develop songwriters including Billboard and ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Dave Berg, Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin, The Wallflowers, Emmylou Harris), and The Crash Test Dummies. He also worked with songwriter/artists Lyle Lovett, Jackson Browne, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Rivers has produced and engineered artists in pop, country, rock, Christian, and roots music. He has written songs recorded by Grammy Award winning artist Mike Farris, Ken Mellons, Anthony Krizan (Spin Doctors), The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Ray Scott, Jon Nite and Saints of Havana as well as dozens of independent artists. His songs have appeared in film and television, including HBO’s hit vampire drama, True Blood, ABC’s Good Morning America, CMT, GAC, Heart and Home Network, and MTV.

His research includes gender inequity in the music industry and practical methods to initiate change. He is a member of The College Music Society (CMS), The Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).