May 11, 2023

Online B.A. Music Business Degree

Online B.A. Music Business Degree

empty online classroom

Visible is offering a Music Business Degree online and in-person. Getting a music business degree online is certainly different than the traditional in-person experience. Then you might start to wonder just how different those two experiences are, and would an online path suit your career path?Study.com points out that online bachelors’s degree programs for music management are rare. If location, costs, current responsibilities in life or the current pandemic prevent you from attending class on campus, an online music business program might be one of your only options to pursue your career.While we can’t explain how every school does it, this article provides further details and a glimpse into an online degree for a music business program at Visible Music College.

Contents

Sample Online Degree Plan by Subject:

  1. Intro To Music Business
  2. Tour Management
  3. Publicity and Promotions
  4. Project Management
  5. Concert Booking and Promotion
  6. Music Publishing Administration
  7. Artist Management and Representation
  8. Music Marketing, Distribution & Merchandising
  9. Graphic Design & Content Management
  10. Business Administration

Online Learning Format:

  1. Fully Online
  2. Hybrid
  3. Platform Technology

Sample Online Music Business Degree Plan

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Intro To Music Business

This course is an introduction and survey of the business of commercial music. It calls for study of the historical development, business systems and functional roles, details of job position relationships, and other services that are related to music business.Students gain hands-on experience managing and marketing contemporary bands with practical application of key leadership principles necessary for effective band management.

Tour Management

This course gives a detailed overview of the complete touring management and music merchandising process.Amidst all of the innovations that are brought to us by technology, the Live Concert remains to be the best form of music promotion available.The successful music business professional must understand the inner-workings and the out-workings of successful touring.Things like:

  • Hiring the production team and road crew
  • Acting as the communication hub and liaison between management
  • Booking agent, promoter and band
  • And ensuring all aspects of the tour happen on time and within budget

Students gain the tools and techniques to organize transportation, scheduling,and the financial aspects of an artist’s time on the road.

Publicity and Promotions

This course lays out the overview of the publicity and promotion of musicians and events within the music industry.Students will be able to identify the various marketing mix disciplines and interpret how they work separately and together and operate within all of them with a professional degree of knowledge and expertise.Students get hands-on experience for class projects creating comprehensive, detailed social media campaigns. In addition, they create and assemble a personal publicityportfolio for either themselves or a Madison Line Records Release throughout the semester.Each student is expected to carry their equal weight and demonstrate the ability to collaborate both strategically and creatively with the entire class.

Project Management

This course offers an overview of project management processes and procedures. The course covers strategies and methodologies to keep projects within budget, on time, while creating the highest probability of success in the music industry.Subjects covered in the course include:

  • Project Risk Management.
  • PMI Best Practices
  • Critical Path Method (CPM)
  • Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS).

Students will apply project management techniques and tools to music business related projects such as recordings, tours, marketing campaigns, etc.

Concert Booking and Promotion

This course covers the fundamentals of concert booking and promotion.Students take a holistic look at these components:

  • Booking agency
  • Promoters
  • Contracts
  • Riders
  • Settlement procedures
  • Finance
  • Venue selection
  • Target marketing
  • Audience projections
  • Promotional packages and techniques

“I am very satisfied with the online learning experience here at Visible Music College. The Professors always go the extra mile to make sure the online students understand the material & provide excellent resources for us. The material from online classes is clear & easy to understand, I have no trouble keeping track of the assignments. Visible Music College makes the online learning experience smooth & enjoyable. I would like to add, even though the material is clear & easy to understand it is also challenging, in a good way. I am being challenged to use critical thinking skills to push myself academically.”Victor AguilarMusic Business Online Student

Music Publishing Administration

This course seeks to give the student an experience comparable to working for a music publishing company.The student will complete projects within the various departments of the company and work toward the acquisition and exploitation of music copyrights.Students will gain understanding and knowledge in the following areas:

  • Copyrights
  • Synch deals
  • New legislation
  • And day-to-day inter-workings of publishing

Practical application opportunities will be provided so that each student has a “real life” understanding of the principals and good practices of the industry.

Artist Management and Representation

This analysis and implementation course covers the various aspects of artist management:

  • Talent agencies
  • Personal management
  • Performance preparation
  • Recording contracts
  • Financial advising
  • Business management
  • Artist promotion

Any collegiate or professional degree level study in the area of Music Business must include aknowledge base and learning in the area of the management of artists and how to represent them.Students gain the ability to work with, lead, mentor and manage a creative artist as well as to represent them to the market place is critical to a long term career in this industry.

Music Marketing, Distribution & Merchandising

This course is a study of the fundamentals of marketing as it relates to recorded music.Marketing is the key element required after creative expertise and performance skills to make any musician successful. What commercial good is great music if no one hears it?The ability to properly frame, expose and place the music in the hands of customers who desire it, is one of the most critical needs in all of music business.Students will gain experience and understanding in the basic principles required to become asuccessful marketer of music products and musicians.

Graphic Design & Content Management

This course will familiarize students with the basics of graphic design.Examples include:

  • Form
  • Brand
  • Message development
  • Visual concepts
  • Fundamental design theory

Additionally this course is designed to give a student practical experience with the current and most used web content management systems.Students will be introduced to both applied aspects of content management technologies and the brand image strategies and issues involved.

Business Administration

This course is a presentation of basic business principles needed for administering independent music or ministry:Accounting principles, business planning, fund raising, resource management,human resources, and business ethics.Any collegiate level of study of the music business must include a knowledge base and understanding of independent business administration.The ability to create and execute a business plan with a reliable economic foundation along with proper resource management is critical to the success of the independent business executive.“I would rather have in person classes but Visible does manage to teach fairly when being online. When the pandemic hit most of our teachers had to run the extra mile to make sure we all were taught right and had everything we needed for the upcoming semester. I’m actually really proud of them for working so hard and always making sure we’re safe.”Abigail RoblesMusic Business Online Student

Online Learning Format

Fully Online

Online classes are an alternative delivery method that allows a student to engage the curriculum on a weekly schedule at their convenience.Students must maintain substantive interaction with the faculty throughout the course with required weekly participation that counts towards attendance. Material is presented as readings, videos, and audio files that students review and then submit assessments and assignments.There is no regular scheduled meeting with faculty, but there is a faculty facilitating the class and assessing student assignments as they are turned in. Because there is no lecture time, this allows the student to work ahead or work during times that are convenient to them.There is a strong need for students to be self-motivated in order to be successful in online curriculum and to not get behind in material. While there is faculty that initiate the course plan and weekly assignments, students are solely responsible for turning in assignments and completing course assessments.

Hybrid Online & In-Person

The distance education program covers two modes of delivery:

Remote Delivery (Synchronous)

Remote delivery classes use video-conferencing technology to deliver a live course from the primary teaching location to additional locations including teaching sites, branch campuses and online students.

Online (Asynchronous)

Online courses have course content and assessments delivered through one of our online delivery platforms.The primary distinction between traditional on-ground class and remote delivery is that the instructor is teaching through video conferencing software. Students joining from a remote location have the same classroom expectations as those present in the same physical location as the instructor.

Platform Technology

We serve our students through a web-based platform called Populi. It’s used for academics, admissions, and more.The journey to get a music business degree online shouldn’t be complicated, but convenient and fruitful for your studies. Students can monitor their academic progress in all of their courses at any time throughout the information system. Electronic databases for articles and music are available for academic support and accessible via the library portal.

Earn your degree in the field of Music Business from Visible Music College

The Music Business Program at Visible will prepare you for the music industry from a Christian worldview. Request more information about Music Business.