Music Business

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Want to pursue your love of music while learning how the industry works behind the scenes? The Music Business program helps you do both. You’ll build on your performance skills while exploring the marketing, financial, and entrepreneurial sides of the music world. As the nation’s oldest music business program, we offer the experience and connections to help you turn your musical passion into a successful career.

Experiential Learning

Like other music degrees, you audition on an instrument or voice and are considered for music scholarships. Once enrolled, you’ll complete foundational music courses in theory, ear-training, keyboard skills, and history while improving your musical skills through applied lessons and ensemble performance. You’ll also learn business basics through courses in sales, accounting, finance, and marketing. Music and business converge in your coursework through experiential activities and professional internships.

Additional opportunities:

Study in Hollywood as part of our Hollywood Semester
Travel in faculty-led expeditions to music industry hubs
Work in our student-managed Hilltop Studios

Program Details

Required Courses – 66 hrs.

Applied Music (min. of 4 semesters) (8 hrs.)
Ensemble (Each semester) (4-8 hrs.)
MUS 001: Recital lab (Each semester) (0 hrs.)
MUS 161: Music Theory I (2 hrs.)
MUS 162: Music Theory II (2 hrs.)
MUS 163: Elementary Ear-training and Sight Singing (1 hr.)
MUS 164: Elementary Ear-training and Sight Singing (1 hr.)
MUS 165: Keyboard Skills (2 hrs.)
MUS 166: Keyboard Skills (2 hrs.)
Two of the following:
MUS 380: Western Music to 1750 (3 hrs.)
MUS 381: Western Music 1750-Present (3 hrs.)
MUS 382: Music & World Cultures (3 hrs.)
MUS 383: History of American Music (3 hrs.)
MUS 101: Intro to Music Business (3 hrs.)
MUS 120: Music Industry Seminar (1) (4 hrs.)
MUS 320: Advanced Music Industry Seminar (1) (2 hrs.)
MUS 303: Music Products Industry (3 hrs.)
MUS 304: Music Licensing and Contracts (3 hrs.)
MUS 307: Music Agency and Fine Arts Administration (3 hrs.)
CFA 301: Cooperative Education/Internship (2-6 hrs.)
ATG 157: Accounting Principles (3 hrs.)
ML 350: Managing in Organizations (3 hrs.)
MTG 315: Principles of Marketing (3 hrs.)
FIN 322: Business Finance (3 hrs.)
ECO 100: Economics and Contemporary Issues (3 hrs.)
or ECO 221: Principles of Microeconomics (3 hrs.)
MTG 304: Professional Selling (3 hrs.)

Career Opportunities

Graduates work at record labels, publishing companies, musical instrument manufacturers and retailers, symphony orchestras, and movie music supervision companies.

Minors

The 21-credit Jazz Studies Minor is open to all students, without audition. It will strengthen your understanding and performance of jazz through ensemble participation, music theory, jazz improvisation, jazz composition and arranging, and American music history.

This minor is easily paired with majors across campus.

The music minor, open to all students by audition, strengthens your understanding and performance of music through individual vocal or instrumental lessons in the area you select and courses in theory, history, keyboard skills, and ear-training.

You’ll also participate in one of the music department’s 15 ensembles. Designed for personal growth or career preparation, the minor can easily be paired with majors from across the university.

The 18-credit hour music industry minor is open to any student, regardless of major, with no audition requirement. You’ll be immersed in courses representing all facets of the music industry.

Electives allow you to focus on specific disciplines or you may complete the minor as part of the Hollywood Semester program.

This 20-hour minor, open to all students, includes courses in Acting, Piano, Music Theory, and Ear Training/Sight Singing. Acting the Song and History of American Musical Theatre. You’ll be involved in Theatre Arts productions through our Practicum program, and you’ll work closely with a Theatre Arts advisor, to keep you on track.

This minor pairs well with majors in Music, Theatre Arts, communication, TV arts, creative writing, and other majors within the fine arts, or the liberal arts and sciences.