The Collective lives on: former ICON Collective staff have started new educational programsOn May 30, 2025, students arriving at ICON Collective in Los Angeles to continue their music production studies were hit with a blow. A piece of paper hanging on the locked front door delivered an abrupt message: the school had been shut down.
“Dear Students,
As of Thursday, May 30th, 2025, ICON Collective has officially ceased operations. The building is closed and no further classes or administrative functions are taking place. We understand this news may come as a shock and we are deeply sorry if you’re learning about it for the first time here.”

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A statement published by ICON owners cited financial difficulties for the shutdown, leaving hundreds of students with unfinished educations and dozens of instructors and staff without jobs.
However, after the school closed, ICON’s community proved that the commitment to music the school curated will live on. Different goodbye events popped up. Students, staff, and alumni started a massive Instagram group chat, and within weeks, new educational programs were available to any aspiring producer who sought to follow the same path as SLANDER, NGHTMRE, Jauz, Mindchatter, Kayzo, Sullivan King, Pauline Herr, Wenzday, SIPPY, Lumberjvck, Skellytn, and numerous alumni who have gone on to play the biggest events, organise their own festivals, and earn Platinum records.
Two of such programs are Resident Artist House and Futureproof Music School.
“I saw a true community of people really creating and working towards a craft. Not working towards a degree or a piece of paper,” says Vito Finamore, director of Resident Artist House and the former director of student services at ICON Collective.
“It was full of people who were dedicated to their art and were encouraging each other in the best way, both the teachers and the students,” says John von Seggern, former Director of Educational Technology at ICON and founder of Futureproof Music School.
Here’s how these new programs are building on ICON’s community through individual educational philosophies.
John von Seggern. Image: Press
Resident Artist House
Resident Artist House (RAH) is a platform for “real artist development,” which the directors of the program describe as such:
“Real artist development goes back to the core of what artistry is and what music is. It’s the expression of human emotion through vibration. It’s not a product. It’s not a franchise,” says Chevy Bhorntus, Director of RAH and former Chief Operating Officer at ICON Collective.
Bhorntus mentions he knows A&Rs who have been laid off from major labels, as business models are shifting towards investing in artists based on metrics.
Finamore remembers when it was the opposite. “When a label used to sign you, they invested in you. They genuinely had a passion for what you were doing,” he says.
The directors of RAH, all of whom are working music professionals, will invest in the artists who sign up and provide individual guidance on whatever element of their journey needs attention. Whether it’s related to music production, performing, branding, or anything else.
Resident Artist House. Image: Press
To that end, RAH is not the place for an aspiring artist who is still learning the basics of Ableton Live:
“The ideal person for us is someone who has been making music. They are passionate about what they’re making. They’ve had a reasonably decent response from their immediate circle, but they need help taking the next steps,” says Bhorntus.
There are two tiers through which artists can move forward with RAH. The Ground Floor provides access to the community. For $10 per month, users can join weekly live streams to engage with the directors and other artists, get feedback on their music, and attend in-person events in locations like their current home base of Apex Art Studios in North Hollywood.
The second tier, called Full Development, essentially hires the RAH directors as the artist’s personal team. Manager. Branding specialist. Mastering engineer. This tier requires an application to ensure the artist is ready for this phase, and if they are, “We have the ability to go big,” Bhorntus says.
“It’s not one size fits all. It’s not ‘Come and learn how to produce music.’ We’re the next step,” Bhorntus adds. “We are offering the ability to work in custom with every artist on what they need.”
Protohype. Image: Press
Futureproof Music School
Futureproof Music School was developed by Seggern and Protohype, the prominent bass artist, former instructor, and alumnus of ICON. Their goal is to create sustainable music careers by providing educational options that keep up with the constantly changing music industry.
As the former Director of Educational Technology, Seggern oversaw ICON’s online program, handling all the logistics such as filming courses and organising mentor sessions.
Futureproof follows a similar model, except it isn’t tied to a specific curriculum like ICON was. For $99 a month, students get access to a monthly mentor session with a professional producer and the full library of courses, which includes topics such as “How To Make Dubstep” and “How To Promote Your Music In 2025: Facebook Ads.”
However, after running ICON’s program, Seggern has built Futureproof in a way that is much more adaptable. One example of this methodology involves filming simpler courses with relevant information that can be updated as new techniques arise. At ICON, he produced videos that had an extremely high quality visually, but were very difficult to alter once they were complete.
“We’re trying to make a structure that can stay flexible and move quickly instead of getting out of date rapidly,” says Seggern.
With such a large library, students will sign up and select their own goal for their music career. Then, Futureproof’s proprietary AI system, Kadence (which Seggern developed), will lay out a custom lesson plan based on the courses available, but also provide guidance outside of their offerings.
“It’s future-proof because it can create a roadmap for any goal,” Seggern says. A test goal he delivers to Kadence is “I want to be a world-famous breakcore DJ, but I don’t know anything about music, and I just started learning FL Studio.”
“If I put that in, it does a bunch of AI-powered research trying to figure out how I can become a breakcore DJ in 2025. I’ve also told it certain information sources, like music industry sites and blogs to search. Then it’ll set you a goal for the end of the year,” Seggern says. “Maybe your goal should be releasing your first EP. That’s a pretty good goal, considering you’re starting from not knowing anything. The intention of the program will be to achieve the goal that you set when you joined. Instead of the goal being some arbitrary thing that we made up.”
Futureproof also embraces Kadence within its courses. Seggern designed it to help by offering tips on mixes and similar advice for producing. Plus, it has a deep memory attached to every student’s activities at the school. The more they participate, the more personalised the advice. But don’t worry, Seggern ensured that students can’t cheat with Kadence.
“I put a thing in there not to help the students with quizzes,” Seggern says. “The homework is mostly making tracks. Kadence can’t make tracks. You have to make them yourself. But it can tell you if you’re more or less on the right track for the assignment you’re doing.”
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