During the 1990s, leaders from the music products industry engaged in a series of conversations with SUNY Potsdam and The Crane School of Music related to challenges facing the industry and the possible solutions. The result was the creation of a Business of Music major within The Crane School of Music and a unique and entrepreneurial higher education-industry partnership, creating The Crane Institute for Music Business. This partnership takes advantage of SUNY Potsdam?s educational and intellectual resources to address the music industry's highest priority: to create qualified graduates well-versed in both music and business.