Music Business

New technologies and innovations are emerging almost daily within the music industry. Forward thinking companies and entrepreneurs are presenting new ideas that artists, managers, independent labels, and business savvy folks are using to not only redefine their relationship with the existing music business model, but also to succeed in this evolving environment. Berkleemusic’s Music Business Master Program is our most extensive business certificate program. Throughout this nine-course program, you’ll gain the business, marketing, management, and touring background (a HUGE part of the music business) you’ll need to understand the industry as it currently exists and to realize the possibilities available to you in the near future.

The program begins by providing a broad overview of the inner workings of the music business and how the various segments operate on a day-to-day basis. In Music Business 101, you’ll study the relationship between the recording, music publishing, and live performance businesses, and learn about the career opportunities that are available within these different segments. You’ll learn where and how money is generated, who the key players are, how deals are made and broken, how to protect your interests, and what developments in digital technology are opening the doors to new licensing, publishing, and distribution options.

Once you’ve covered the past and present of the business, you’ll move on to discover the innovations, technologies, and powerful trends that are affecting the future of the industry. In The Future of Music and the Music Business, you’ll examine non-traditional outlets for distributing and marketing music, and uncover new opportunities available to forward-thinking musicians and music business people.

From there, you will take a detailed look at the marketing segment of the music industry. Building a “critical mass” of fans is the goal of all marketers, and our two marketing courses provide a step-by-step path to connecting with and expanding your fanbase. In Music Marketing 101, you’ll learn low-budget, do-it-yourself promotion tactics that any independent artist can implement with a budget of $5,000 or less. You’ll learn about the basic tools available to you, the terms you need to know, the intricacies of social networking, and more. Music Marketing 201 moves on to cover more advanced marketing concepts that can be used to create an effective worldwide marketing strategy. The course focuses on the major music marketing segments of publicity, radio promotion, physical and online retail and distribution, merchandising, Internet, advertising, and touring. You’ll take an in-depth look at these individual segments and incorporate what you learn into creating a living, working, active marketing plan that can be tailored to your own needs.

Following these marketing-focused courses, you’ll explore the role and importance of an artist manager—what they do and how they impact the career of the artist and their brand. Artist Management is designed to help a range of new or seasoned professionals—those interested in building a career in artist management, current managers attempting to improve and grow their business, self-managed artists who want to take control of their careers, and record label owners looking to improve their effectiveness in dealing with their artist managers. By the end of the course, you will be able to implement key methods for success in management, whether you are interested in managing other artists or yourself.

The required courses in this program conclude with an in-depth study of one of the most crucial areas to the success of an artist: touring. In Concert Touring, you’ll cover the essential components of a successful tour—management team assembly, typical types of industry deals, alternative streams of income, and who gets paid what in the end—and learn how to develop a plan that works for your particular situation. By the end of the course, you’ll understand the preparations and logistics involved in developing, budgeting, and executing everything from individual performances to entire tours—from start to finish.

In addition to the six required courses in this program, this master certificate provides three elective choices designed to allow you to personalize your study experience.

Substitutions may be requested for electives. Please contact our Continuing Education Registrar at registrar@berkleemusic.com or call (617) 747-2146 to see if your request suits the overall academic requirements for your chosen program.