Associate of Arts students in instrument performance programs (Bass, Drums, Guitar, Keyboard Technology, Vocals) may opt for a combined course of study which is a combination of the performance program and a music industry program (Audio Engineering, Film, Guitar Craft, Music Business, Independent Artist).

Enrollment in such programs is dependent upon admission approval and space availability.

*Associate programs are vocational and do not include General Education requirements or specific preparation for study at the Baccalaureate level.

Music Business Certificate
The Certificate in Music Business program (two quarters/30 credits) provides intensive, hands-on preparation for a business career in the music industry. Students gain the knowledge and practical skills needed to apply for entry-level employment in record companies or music industry firms specializing in public relations, artist management, artist booking, music publishing, music supervision, A&R, artist marketing & promotion, copyright, radio/record promotion and more. The program emphasizes practical experience, including guaranteed industry internships and workshop-style classes and projects taught by active music industry professionals, and MI’s location in the heart of Hollywood provides the ideal setting in which to study all aspects of the contemporary music business.

Major area

Music Law 1: The Fundamentals
An overview of the various areas of music law and basic legal concepts that play a significant role in music industry transactions, including Property Law; Intellectual Property; Personality & Publicity Rights; Name & Likeness; Equitable Principles & Remedies (Injunctions & Declaratory Relief; Indemnification); Common Law & Statutory Enactments; Contract Law; and Constitutional Principles (Fair Use exceptions, free speech, commercial speech, etc.). Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Computers in Business
Overview of essential software in the music business workplace, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Hands-on projects include preparing visual presentations, business letters and spreadsheets. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

The Record Company
An inside look at record companies, including an analysis of the various departments within a record company and how they interact with each other to build an artist’s career. Students analyze the similarities and differences in company structure and artist deals between major and indie labels. As a final project, each student seeks out an independent artist CD and writes a full A&R report, including demographics, genre of music, radio airplay, marketing ideas, suggested record producer, etc. with guidance from professional A&R representatives. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Your Music Business Career
An overview of the varied career opportunities available in the music business, including job descriptions ranging from on-air radio personality to production manager to music-related teaching. Students receive individual career planning advice from the Music Business Program Director and guest speakers provide professional insights. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Agents and Attorneys
Booking Agents and Music Business Attorneys are important industry job titles as well as essential members of an artist’s management team. This course discusses their responsibilities, how they interact with artists, how they are paid and how artists can choose among agents and attorneys. Guest lectures by attorneys and agents as available.  One lecture hour per week for one quarter. 

Internet Marketing
The Internet has forever changed the music industry. This course covers all aspects of how the Internet has impacted music industry distribution, promotion, marketing, and retail practices. Topics include blogging, podcasts, widgets and online retail. Students engage in real-time research. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Music Publishing
Publishing remains one of the most lucrative segments of the music industry. Topics covered include how to copyright songs and recorded works using the online form CO, how royalties are paid to writers and publishers, and the functions and responsibilities of the Performing Rights Organizations — ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Personal Management
An overview of the responsibilities of personal managers and the nature of the relationships they maintain with their artists. Topics include developing the artist and preparing a career plan, contractual agreements between the artist and manager, the steps a manager takes to fulfill those obligations, and management responsibilities with regard to negotiating and concluding recording and publishing contracts. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Music Law 2: Contracts
This course provides students with hands-on experience in analyzing, drafting and negotiating common music industry agreements. Practical exercises include supervised mock negotiations of music contracts, licenses, releases and other common transactions. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Media Relations
Learn the difference between publicity and public relations and how to write artist bios, press releases, news releases and eye-catching news headlines. Skills apply to independent artists as well as those aspiring to work in the industry. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Music Distribution
Effective distribution is one of the most important elements in a successful career. This course focuses on traditional and innovative means of distributing music including radio, retail, TV, Internet, and infomercials, as well as how sales results are tallied through SoundScan, Mediabase and BDS. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Concert and Tour Production
Learn how to produce a live concert, musical event, festival or tour. Topics include security, drug laws, capacity, security deposits, all-age shows, fire laws, exit laws, booking venues, minimizing risks, ticket sales, selling merchandise and much more. Guests include booking agents and concert promoters. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Music Industry Internship
Students gain firsthand experience within the music industry by working as interns for music-related companies. Students are coached on specific areas of music business employment, such as writing professional résumés, personal interview skills and professionalism. Specific firms, positions and duties vary according to availability. Average of twelve internship hours per week for one quarter. Students must present a letter of completion to earn course credits.

Networking Strategies
Success in a changing music industry is determined by the strength and longevity of personal contacts: who you know, what you know and, most important, who knows you. In this practical, application-oriented course, students analyze and practice different types of communication, social techniques, and presentation skills important to making personal contacts in all strata of the music business and building a professional support network. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Music Licensing and Supervision
Artists can open up significant additional revenue streams by licensing their recordings to international record labels, TV, film and video games. This course explains how to submit your music to labels and music supervisors and how deals are typically structured. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

ELECTIVES
Music Business students must complete their elective requirements by choosing among the following courses only:

Business Writing
Learn how to use words as a productive business tool to establish a professional image. This course prepares students to communicate clearly and efficiently in written communication, including business letters, email, press releases and website content. One lecture/workshop hour per week for one quarter.

Getting Gigs
Learn the most efficient ways for artists and bands to book live shows and tours. Subjects include where to play, checking out the venue, personal appearance contracts, getting paid, and putting together your own tours. Guest speakers (as available) include club owners, promoters, booking agents and touring artists. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

The Touring Musician
Learn how to plan tours, including planning the itinerary, creating a budget checklist, and establishing anchor dates, plus how to make the most of sales, concessions and press. As the culmination, students plan a ten-day tour. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Sponsorships and Endorsements
Sponsorships and endorsements provide a variety of resources that can advance an artist’s career. In this course, students learn strategies for approaching companies and presenting successful proposals. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

News and Industry Trends
Students and instructor review and discuss all of the latest music business news as reported in Billboard, trade websites and newspapers and general media. Discussions center on how the news impacts the industry and students’ own careers. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Intro to Music Journalism
Learn the tools needed to pursue a career as a music journalist. Topics include writing headlines, conducting interviews, writing album and live performance reviews, and conducting artist research. Guest journalists lecture in class when available. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Leadership
Learn methods for developing the leadership qualities that enable music business professionals to set an example for employees and motivate them in the workplace. Class discussions include: What are the qualities of a leader? Why do some lead and others follow? How to hire the best workers, rewarding your employees, identifying employee behavior and how to motivate people. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Legal Issues
Practical application of music industryrelated legal doctrines and fundamentals. Includes research and analysis of historical disputes in the industry followed by lectures and discussions aimed at determining how they could have been avoided or minimized through negotiation or appropriate contract provisions. Students conduct a mock trial of a breach-of-contract case between artist and record company. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Certificate in Music Business (Music Entrepreneur)
The three-quarter/45 credit-unit Certificate in Music Business (Music Entrepreneur) program combines comprehensive training in music business fundamentals with an emphasis on developing independent music entrepreneur skills. In addition to preparing students for entry-level employment in fields such as public relations, artist management, booking, music publishing, music supervision, A&R and marketing & promotion. Students also develop the business, legal and management tools to establish and operate independent music-related businesses or to manage their own careers as independent artists.

Preparing Your Business Plan
Learn how to develop and write a professional plan for starting and growing your business. Topics include market and industry analysis, management and organizational structure, financial projections, estimating start-up costs and more. As a final project, each student presents a complete plan for his or her own music-related business. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Start Your Own Record Label
This course details what is needed to start your own label from the creative perspective. Topics discussed include defining the label’s genre, finding and signing artists, setting recording budgets, selecting producers and studios and choosing a distributor. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Social Networking and Fan Management
Learn to use social networking tools to build a fan base, attract attention, build a reliable network of listeners and harness the energy of fans for marketing, promotion and outreach. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Showcase Promotion
Students evaluate and select five Los Angeles-area independent artists from the Independent Artist Marketing class, then promote and produce a live industry showcase concert at a local venue. Students carry out all aspects of promotion, marketing and publicity under instructor supervision. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Broadcast Strategies
Learn how to use radio to promote independent music. Topics include techniques for securing radio airplay from college and commercial radio, approaching music and program directors and different broadcast formats, including mix shows, specialty shows, satellite radio and Internet radio. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Independent Artist Marketing
Learn do-it-yourself grass-roots marketing strategies designed for limited budgets. Each student guides an independent artist’s CD through the entire marketing process, including defining an image, brand, position, and format, identifying the target audience, creating practical plans for booking live shows, gaining access to radio, Internet, press, and video promotion, advertising and sponsorships, sales and distribution, film and TV licensing, and development and distribution of press kits. As the final project, students track, compile and report on marketing results. This is the real thing! Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

Owning and Operating A Music Business
Learn the legal aspects of starting a business, including trademark searches and clearances, DBAs, licenses, setting up the tax structure and obtaining business loans and grants. Topics also include managing daily business operations such as hiring employees, taking inventory, basic business accounting and more. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter.

MUSIC BUSINESS ELECTIVES AVAILABLE TO ALL ENROLLED STUDENTS

Music Business Basics
A survey of essential elements of the music business as they pertain to musicians and songwriters. Topics include publishing, copyrights, management, A&R, and getting gigs. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Doing Business as a Band
An in-depth discussion of the creative and business aspects of operating a band. Topics include auditioning band members, protecting your band’s name, delegating responsibility, partnership papers, rehearsal tips, putting together a killer live set, and promoting your band’s image and music. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

From the Streets to Success
This class reveals how to deal effectively with obstacles encountered by artists as they move to a professional career status. Topics include rehearsal tips, press packages, dealing with the press, getting gigs and creating a buzz. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

Business of Working Musicians
Learn to manage a career as a working musician. Topics include managing life on the road, negotiating an employment contract, calculating per diems, key-man clauses, equipment endorsements, working with unions (AFM and AFTRA), band membership agreements and more. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

The Record Producers
Each week, a different guest producer brings demo and final master recordings of artists’ songs for analysis and comparison, critiques students’ original song productions, and discusses record producers’ career preparation, development and responsibilities. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter. May be repeated for credit.

New Music Markets
Students explore ways of making money in new and different music markets, including getting endorsements, applying for showcases, grants, festival gigs, college shows and sponsorships. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

The Global Music Marketplace
A region-by-region overview of the global music marketplace. The Internet carries music to every corner of the world — learn how payment and distribution differs in various territories, the varying influence of radio, and the impact of online music distribution. One lecture hour per week for one quarter.

The Songwriters
Seminar series featuring a different successful guest songwriter each week playing demos of songs recorded by major artists as well as discussing how to break into the business of songwriting and maintain a career. Each class includes a Q&A session with students. Two lecture hours per week for one quarter. Repeatable for credit.

Music Internship
Gain firsthand experience within the music industry by interning for a music-related company. Positions vary according to availability but typically include music publishing, management, record label, promotion or marketing. Specific responsibilities and working hours vary by position; minimum of ten weeks/three hours per week. Course enrollment is contingent on placement in a position. The MI Internship Coordinator will assist in placing students but cannot guarantee placement during a given quarter. May be repeated for credit.