The Audio Recording Academy

What The Audio Recording Academy does

The Audio Recording Academy (TARA) is a private career college founded in 1992 in Ottawa, Ontario, by Shannon Murray out of Raven Street Studios. It operates a single 30-week, 600-hour Applied Audio Recording diploma covering 17 modules from signal flow and drum recording to MIDI sequencing, live sound, music business, and Foley/ADR. The school's distinguishing structural feature is that it operates inside a fully functioning professional recording studio — three studios with varying analog and digital console configurations — and integrates students into real sessions with working session musicians, guest lecturers, and recording artists (the facility has hosted Snoop Dogg, Queens of the Stone Age, Avril Lavigne, Ashanti, Walk Off the Earth, and others). Cohorts are intentionally small at 5–7 students per group, with annual enrollment of approximately 30 students and 150 hours of individual studio time allocated for student projects.

TARA is registered as a private career college under Ontario's Career Colleges Act, 2005, which makes OSAP financial aid available to qualifying Ontario residents. The business model is direct-to-consumer education: tuition is set at $15,450 CAD inclusive of all fees, required textbooks, and a one-year ProTools software subscription, paid as a one-time fee per enrolled student. Marketing is multi-channel but low-intensity — website, Facebook, Instagram, organic search, print, OC Transpo signage, radio mentions, and word-of-mouth referrals — and admissions is conducted through an online application portal, phone inquiries, and in-person facility tours followed by interviews. The school serves the Ontario/Canadian domestic market only, and no public funding rounds, acquisitions, or external investors are indicated.

The operation is small (~6 employees listed, ~30 students/year) and founder-driven, with Shannon Murray currently serving as registrar. Historical footprint included a Toronto campus opened in 2002 and a past partnership with EMI Music Publishing, but current activity is concentrated at the Ottawa headquarters at 1540 Raven Avenue. The next cohort is scheduled to begin September 8, 2026. There are no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, no software product offering beyond the educational program itself, and no evidence of recent scaling activity.

Name

The Audio Recording Academy

Legal name

The Audio Recording Academy

Website

https://tara.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Audio Recording Academy (TARA) is a private Ottawa-based career college, founded in 1992, that delivers a single 30-week Applied Audio Recording diploma to ~30 students per year through three on-site professional recording studios with class sizes of 5–7.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vocational Audio Recording Education

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (611610), Sound Recording Studios (51224)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMANAH

Music Production, Recording & Audio Engineering

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Music Education (Instrumental & Vocal)

SECONDARYEDAMAAAF

Music Production & Composition (Songwriting, Recording, DJing)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Arts & Creative Enrichment (Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Dance)

SECONDARYEDAMANAE

Music Schools & Conservatory Prep (Pre-College)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Music Education (Instrumental & Vocal)

Keywords

• Audio recording education
• Diploma recording program
• Career college training
• Studio engineering courses
• Music production training

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Tuition Revenue: One-time tuition fee for the 30-week Applied Audio Recording diploma program. Current tuition is $15,450 including all fees, required textbooks, and ProTools software (1-year subscription). Financial Aid available for qualifying Ontario residents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Audio Recording Academy delivers a 30-week, 600-hour Applied Audio Recording diploma program delivered entirely inside three functioning professional recording studios. Students spend 150 hours on individual projects and work alongside professional musicians, bands, and industry guest lecturers on real recording sessions covering music production, live sound, post-production, Foley/ADR, MIDI sequencing, and music business fundamentals.

Product overview

The Audio Recording Academy (TARA) offers a single core educational program — the Applied Audio Recording Program — delivered through three on-site recording studios. The program is a 30-week, 600-hour diploma course that combines faculty instruction, industry guest lectures, and hands-on studio time. Students work with professional session musicians and real bands to gain practical experience in recording, mixing, mastering, live sound, and post-production across genres including music, film, gaming, and broadcast. TARA is registered as a career college under the Ontario Career Colleges Act, 2005.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Applied Audio Recording Diploma Program A 30-week, 600-hour diploma course providing hands-on audio recording education in three in-house studios for prospective audio industry professionals. Students learn advanced recording techniques through faculty instruction, 150 hours of individual project time, and participation in real-world studio sessions with professional musicians and bands.

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• EMI Music PublishingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTARA maintained a partnership with EMI Music Publishing, which provided students networking opportunities in the music industry. Cameron McLellan noted 'I liked the partnership TARA had with EMI Music Publishing, as half of the music industry is who you know.' Grads were allowed to use EMI studios and build experience working on their c24 console.
• Raven Street StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTARA was founded in 1992 by Ottawa's famed Raven Street Studios. The school operates out of these industry-active recording studios, providing students real-world experience. The partnership allows students to work alongside professional artists and participate in actual recording sessions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves4 records

Direct peers

• SAE Institute: Global audio engineering and creative media education provider operating across multiple continents. Directly comparable audio engineering diploma/degree model, with broader geographic reach and similar hands-on studio pedagogy.
• Harris Institute: Toronto-based private audio production, engineering, and music business college. Directly comparable Ontario audio recording program at the same diploma-granting tier, competing for the same local student pool.
• Musicians Institute: Los Angeles-based school offering programs in audio engineering, music production, and instrument/vocal performance. Direct competitor in the same private audio school category with comparable hands-on studio ethos.
• Metalworks Institute: Ontario-based audio, music production, and performance school. Most direct Canadian competitor, sharing the Ontario regulatory environment and the private career college model targeting similar prospective students.
• Full Sail University: Florida-based career college offering dedicated audio recording, music production, and entertainment technology degree programs. Closest direct peer in the private audio-engineering education category, though at much larger scale and with degree (not diploma) credentialing.

Broad incumbents

• Columbia College Chicago: Liberal arts college with strong audio/music production programs and in-house production studios. Overlaps in audio production pedagogy but operates as a broader degree-granting institution rather than a niche career college.
• Berklee College of Music: Premier global music and audio production degree-granting institution. Overlaps in audio engineering and music production curriculum but operates at vastly larger scale and confers degrees rather than diplomas.

Emerging players

• Pyramind: San Francisco-based music production and audio engineering school integrated with an active commercial studio. Closely mirrors TARA's 'teaching studio / working studio' hybrid model, though operating in a different geography.
• Recording Connection: Alternative audio engineering education model pairing students with mentor engineers in working studios rather than a dedicated school. Competes for the same aspiring audio professional segment with a more distributed, lower-overhead structure.

Regional players

• Okanagan College Audio Engineering Program: Public Canadian college offering audio engineering diploma programs in BC. Adjacent Canadian competitor operating in a different province, competing for the same national pool of audio production students.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TARA.ottawa
• Instagraminstagram.com/ravenstreet.tara
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-audio-recording-academy

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Audio Recording Academy