ICON Collective, a pillar of digital music manufacturing schooling primarily based in Los Angeles, has formally shut down. The varsity introduced its everlasting closure on Could twenty ninth, citing monetary difficulties as the rationale behind the abrupt transfer.
ICON had filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety on August sixth, 2024 in an effort to restructure and protect operations earlier than in the end deciding to shut.
“It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that we share the news that ICON Collective will be permanently closed as of May 29,” wrote co-founder David Alexander Valencia in an announcement posted to the varsity’s web site. “ICON has faced financial circumstances that require a prompt closure to protect the refunds and tuition payments potentially due to students.”
Though the varsity’s web site stays energetic, its official Instagram account has gone offline. A discover on the door of its Downtown Burbank campus now directs college students to an on-line portal for info on educational data, tuition restoration and steering. The stakes are particularly excessive for worldwide college students, who’ve simply 15 days to both switch to a brand new faculty or go away the nation.
In a prolonged assertion, which you’ll learn in full under, ICON co-founder David Alexander Valencia revealed he’d been funding the varsity’s operations since 2022 and had shunned taking a wage since. The current choice by the US State Division to halt visa interviews with international residents, which he known as “devastating,” was basically a loss of life knell.
“This created an immediate and significant impact on our projected enrollment so severe that it made it impossible to continue operations without putting refund obligations and student interests at risk,” Valencia wrote. “That was a gamble I was not willing to take.”
“I made the decision to close ICON not out of defeat, but out of responsibility,” he added. “Continuing to operate without the ability to meet commitments to students would have caused greater harm. This path, though heartbreaking, was the only way to ensure a responsible wind-down.”
Launched in 2005 by Valencia and Christopher Wright, ICON was developed to supply a extra artist-centric strategy to music schooling. The varsity in 2017 earned nationwide accreditation earlier than opening a facility in 2020, serving college students each in-person and on-line. Identified for its hands-on studying surroundings and community-oriented tradition, the varsity turned a trusted vacation spot for aspiring DJs and digital music producers.
Over time, ICON helped launch the careers of many high-profile digital artists, together with NGHTMRE, SLANDER, Kayzo, Sullivan King, Kompany, Pauline Herr and the late i_o, amongst others. A number of have taken to social media to bemoan the varsity’s shutdown.
“Icon Collective changed EVERYTHING for us.. today is a very sad day for the music community in losing such a priceless resource,” SLANDER wrote on X. “We want to thank everyone at the Collective for all the blood, sweat, and tears they put into MAKING DREAMS HAPPEN.”
“RIP Icon Collective,” Kompany wrote. “That school changed the course of my life and career. Forever grateful.”
Former pupil James Choi, who performs and produces music underneath the alias SKYFVLL, says the varsity was instrumental in shaping his profession.
“I was lost in my artist project before ICON,” Choi tells EDM.com. “But after attending, I finally felt a sense of direction that no YouTube tutorial or Reddit thread would’ve shown. I’m still really close with my classmates, whether it’s working on collabs or going on songwriting trips, and I’m really grateful for the community that ICON gave me. It’s at ICON where I truly learned what it meant to be an artist and to be unique as one. Hands down the best decision I made in my life.”
You’ll be able to learn Valencia’s full assertion under. Extra details about ICON’s closure may be discovered on the varsity’s web site.
Expensive ICON College students,
Because the proprietor of ICON Collective. I wish to converse to you immediately and personally concerning the faculty’s sudden closure, and provide some transparency and context throughout what I do know is a complicated and emotional second.
First, I wish to say how deeply sorry I’m. I do know this information got here as a shock, and also you deserve to grasp how and why this occurred.
ICON filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in November of final 12 months to not shut down as in CH 7, however to restructure and protect the varsity. On the time, I used to be combating a authorized battle to achieve full possession after the previous proprietor stepped away from supporting operations. I bought every part and liquidated my life financial savings to make that potential, as a result of I actually believed within the mission and the neighborhood we’ve constructed right here.
For the previous two years, I’ve been funding operations out of my very own pocket and haven’t taken a wage since 2022. As a substitute, I invested my life financial savings again into ICON, to present ICON an opportunity to thrive. Once I formally gained possession in February 2025, I instantly started working with strategic companions to take ICON to its full potential within the new campus.
However this previous week, an surprising and devastating improvement occurred: the U.S. State Division halted visa interviews for worldwide college students. This created an instantaneous and vital affect on our projected enrollment so extreme that it made it not possible to proceed operations with out placing refund obligations and pupil pursuits in danger. That was of venture I used to be not prepared to take.
I made the choice to shut ICON not out of defeat, however out of accountability. Persevering with to function with out the flexibility to fulfill commitments to college students would have brought on higher hurt. This path, although heartbreaking, was the one method to make sure a accountable wind-down.
I perceive this brings uncertainty for you. Please know that we’re working to make sure college students obtain clear steering on refunds, transcripts, and teach-out choices. Updates can be posted on this web page so test again often. It is going to take a couple of days to supply the State with all of your data together with the refunds attributable to you to allow them to course of your accounts. We’ll replace a timeline within the FAQ under as we full the method. You might have as much as 4 years to assert your refunds if one is due. For college kids that paid for ICON Rising or just despatched deposits for future begins, we’ll contact you shortly to supply your refund immediately.
ICON was by no means only a faculty, it was, and all the time can be, a collective of artists, creatives, and heroes. That spirit lives on in all of us. The collective isn’t outlined by partitions or buildings, it’s outlined by the fervour we’ve shared and the neighborhood we’ve created. I’m extremely happy with what we constructed collectively, and I thanks for carrying that legacy ahead in your individual work and journey.
I hope this added transparency reassures you that we’re doing every part in our energy to honor our monetary obligations to you and to make sure this course of is dealt with with integrity and care.
Thanks for being a part of this journey. It has meant every part to me and the household I name ICON Collective.
