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Vanderbilt University

Understanding the Music Business: What is Music Worth?

This course will examine the music industry in the United States, with the unique perspective gained by Vanderbilt University’s location in Nashville, TN. Nashville is a major center of music in the United States, and the music created here has a global reach, particularly in the country, rock, pop, singer-songwriter, and Americana genres. However, students will learn that the basic principles of recording, marketing, copyright, licensing, and live performance are the same, regardless of musical style or genre. The music business is one of the most rapidly changing industries in the US today. It is also an industry filled with contradiction, and media headlines and anecdotal stories often add to the confusion. Here are just a few statements paraphrased from recent news stories: * The music business has collapsed * Demand for music is expanding at the greatest rate in history * Historic recording studios are closing at an alarming rate * More people are making recordings than ever before * Musicians usually lose money touring * Musicians usually make money touring * Major artist pulls songs off streaming services because they don’t pay fairly * Major artist makes a fortune from streaming services * People won’t buy records anymore * Vinyl record sales are soaring This course will attempt to make sense of these seemingly contradictory trends and data, outline the basic structure and mechanisms of today’s music industry, and encourage students to think critically and entrepreneurially about the future of music. Leaders from various areas of the music business will lend their perspectives through in-depth interviews, and footage from a recording session will give learners a behind the scenes look at how a song goes from the spark of an idea hummed into a cell phone to a finished recording. Participants will grapple with questions about art and commerce which are both timeless and crucially important today, and will emerge from this course with tools allowing them to make more informed decisions as creators, promoters, and consumers of music. Course launches February 19, 2016.

Status: Live Streaming
Status: Business Modeling
Course18 hours

Featured reviews

BE

5.0Reviewed Oct 11, 2022

I​t was a great learning experience for me.T​he course modules is concise and straight to the point.

AG

4.0Reviewed Jul 18, 2016

This class featured valuable interviews of industry professionals and provided an up-to-date and realistic view of many aspects of the popular music business in the USA today

GR

5.0Reviewed Mar 6, 2016

Really interesting course even for someone who's kids begged me not to sing a lullaby to them.

IM

5.0Reviewed Dec 13, 2016

it's great, all vivid content and clear explanations.

GG

5.0Reviewed Mar 1, 2016

Loved it.It gave me insight to how thing work in this business.Great Job.

GT

4.0Reviewed Mar 19, 2019

Good content - videos are very helpful. Enjoyed the written assignment. But the peer-review pro

GP

5.0Reviewed Nov 16, 2019

It feels like a formal training.I thank the team for a lot of valuable informations

BS

5.0Reviewed Oct 6, 2016

A course of great value, with very important informations. I wanna another course like this, approaching music marketing! Thank you

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