ICON Collective Suddenly Ceases Operations After 20 Years

ICON Collective, one of the premier music schools in Los Angeles, has suddenly ceased operations after two decades due to financial circumstances.

ICON Collective has helped usher in waves of new artists looking to break into the music industry, but that two-decade-long run has now ended. Today, the school announced that it has officially ceased operations. While the website and many of the school’s social media accounts currently remain active, the official Instagram account has been deactivated.

“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,” the statement posted to the website reads. “ICON has faced financial circumstances that require a prompt closure to protect the refunds and tuition payments potentially due to students.”

This decision has not come easily. Like so many of you, we’ve invested our hearts, our passion, and our purpose into building a creative space where artists could grow and thrive. We are truly sorry for the disruption this causes to your educational journey.
ICON Collective

This sudden news shocked many in the electronic music scene. It arrived weeks after ICON Collective announced a partnership with Insomniac’s Discovery Project for EDC Las Vegas and other upcoming festivals.

ICON Collective founder David Alexander detailed why the school shuttered its doors in an apologetic email sent out to students. He begins by saying that ICON filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in November 2024, which was intended to help restructure and preserve the school. This was also amid a legal battle with the former owner, who “stepped away from supporting operations.” Alexander poured his savings into ICON, funding its operations out of his own pocket over the past two years and not taking a salary since 2022.

According to Alexander, this past week brought an “unexpected and devastating development” as the US State Department officially halted visa interviews for international students. “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,” he said in the email. “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. 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.
David Alexander

Notable alumni from ICON Collective include artists like NGHTMRE, SLANDER, i_o, Jauz, Wenzday, Dack Janiels, HVDES, KAYZO, MAKJ, Rinzen, Sullivan King, Ranger Trucco, Kompany, and Chef Boyarbeatz, among others. Many of these artists have begun taking to social media to share their thoughts on the closure.

“Can’t believe the news about Icon Collective,” Wenzday shared on X (Formerly Twitter). “I started my production journey there and am still friends with many of my classmates and former teachers to this day. Just…wow.” Her brother, Dack Janiels, also posted, saying, “The icon collective news is an absolute shock. Forever thankful for my experience there…my heart goes out to all the currently enrolled students.”

“Damn rip icon collective,” Chef Boyarbeatz said on X (Formerly Twitter). “That place really helped me grow and level up. a lot of special teachers there pushing people in the right direction. super sad to see this happen.”

ICON Collective was founded by Christopher Wright and David Alexander in 2005 to address the lack of education for independent artists in traditional music education programs. The school expanded beyond Los Angeles in 2014 and became accredited in 2017. Their facility in Downtown Burbank, which opened in 2020, offered multiple programs ranging from music production to those focused on the industry’s business side.

ICON was never just a school, it was, and always will be, a collective of artists, creatives, and heroes. That spirit lives on in all of us. The collective isn’t defined by walls or buildings, it’s defined by the passion we’ve shared and the community we’ve created. I’m incredibly proud of what we built together, and I thank you for carrying that legacy forward in your own work and journey.
David Alexander

The statement posted on the door of ICON Collective’s building, sourced by GDE, instructs students on how to get information on transferring their academic records, tuition recovery and refund eligibility, guidance, and more—the QR code links to the official website for the closure with more details.

Read the statement from ICON Collective: