Music Business
Picture yourself tweaking the board during sound check at Red Rocks. Or signing an indie band you discovered to a three-album contract for your label. Imagine arranging an orchestra to perform a symphony you composed. Or sweetening the final mix of a record you produced.
This is the music industry. And it’s as full of career opportunity as it is glamorous. Whether you’re interested in the recording and production side or in music composition, live performance, and teaching, the music industry includes hundreds of careers that require expert skills and talent from its professionals.
The Music Business program at MCC helps you gain the knowledge you need for a career in the music industry. It helps you build your technical skills through classroom instruction, written assignments, business plan design, and presentations. The program provides you with hands-on experience in real-world situations through the production and administration of actual performing arts projects. And ultimately you develop an aesthetic and creative understanding of performance as both an art and a profession.
Quick Stats
- Example Titles
- Promoter
- A&R Executive
- Disc Jockey
- Music Journalist
- Composer
- Session Musician
- Types of Employers
- Record Labels
- Radio Stations
- Music Publishers
- Event Production Companies
- Artist Management Companies
- Recording Studios
Career Profile
The music industry is comprised of many different aspects including: recording, manufacturing and production, marketing and promotion, advertising, retail, wholesale, repair, rental, lessons, songwriting, publishing, licensing, merchandising, live performance, event production, broadcast production, and technology development.
While, careers in the music business are competitive, the live performance sector and the publishing and licensing sectors have seen steady growth over the last years, even as traditional record labels continue to decrease their operations and labor force. One in five Americans owns a musical instrument and this provides for stable job growth in the instrument development, manufacturing, retail, rental and repair sectors of the music industry. The consumption of digital music products including music, software, and hardware is booming and steady growth is projected over the next five years and beyond.
Music business professionals:
- Work with microphones, cameras, tape recorders, and control panels
- May work on location, and often work indoors
- May work evenings and weekends
- Often train through broadcast technology or electronics courses
- Take courses to keep skills up to date
Available Associate Degrees and Certificates
| Degree / Certificate | Title | Required Courses |
|---|---|---|
| Associate in Applied Science (AAS) | Music Business | Required Courses |
| Certificate of Completion (CCL) | Music Business | Required Courses |
Meet with an Advisor
Before signing up for classes, you’ll want to meet with an academic advisor. Together, you’ll lay out a program and career path that suits you best. This step is essential to your academic success, so don’t skip it, okay?
Advising for the Music Business program is available through the Music department. You can also contact Advisement & Registration Services for general advising. Both will help you determine the exact courses you need to get the education you’re looking for.
Get Started
Other resources
- Detailed program information at the Music Business website
- Programs of Study in Music
- Music Department
- Advisement & Registration Services
