Class
Music Business
Class Type
- In-Person
- Online
Learn more about Music Business
Instructors
Description
Ten Week Music Business Lesson Plan
Helpful Material (optional): “All You Need to Know About the Music Business, Eighth Edition” by Donald S.Passman
Curriculum
- Introduce myself and allow students time to introduce themselves.
– Get to know what each student’s wants to get out of this course and where they are at in their own music/music business journey
- The Many Sides of the Music Industry
– What it means to be on the musician end and what it means to be on the business side
– Options/ pros and cons of doing both
- Positions in the Industry
– How to hire a team or be a part of one
– Personal manager
– Tour Manager
– Attorney
– Financial Advisor
– Agency
– Record Label
– Musicians/Artists
- How to Market Yourself or a Band
– Target audience
– Utilizing strengths
- The Importance of Social Media
– Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTik, and Snapchat
– Timing of posts
– Online interaction with fans
– Activity logs
- The importance of Networking
– How the people you know can make a big difference
- Physical Promo
- How to Build a Following
- Roles of Each Team Member on Tour
– Manager
– Creative team
– Performers
– Promoters
– Crew - Money and Finances
– Deposits
– Costs
– Down payments
– Fees
- How Promotion Comes into Play
- Pricing/Ticket Sales
- Merchandising
- The Levels of Artists and How it Effects Touring
- Overview of the Record Business as a whole
– Industry structure
– Do you need a record label?
– What’s a record?
- Advances and recoupment
– 360 deals and royalties
- Extended Major Deal Points
- Producer and Mixer Deals
- How to get Started as a Songwriter
– The importance of connection
– Where to begin
– Understanding your craft
- The Basics of Copyright
- Publishing Companies and Major Income Sources
– How to actually make money
– What a publishing company is used for
- Songwriter Deals
- Advanced Copyright Deals
– Work for hire
– Right of termination
– Who owns the copyright
- What Goes on Behind the Scenes
– Who does what
- What if you are your Own Creative Team?
- The Importance of Visuals
- During week seven we are going to introduce a project to help us really understand the things we’ve spent six weeks learning. We will each use ourselves, our band, a friend, or a famous person and created a press release kit/music resume. We will spend class reviewing examples of what a press release, EPK, and Music Resume may look like. We will go through what promotors and record companies are looking for. Then they will pick who they want to do their project on and which version they want to tackle.
- Everyone will Share and Present their Project from the Previous week
– We will talk about what stands out about their project and how to capitalize on it
– Give reviews and feedback
- Go Over the “Why” Behind the Project
- Why it is Important to Make Sound and Well Thought Out Decisions in the Music
Industry
– How all business decisions make a big impact
– No decisions should be made based on groupthink
– What is groupthink?
- Theories Behind Making a Decision
- Talk About Real-Life Decision Examples
– Scooter Braun vs. Taylor Swift
– Chance the Rapper vs. Pat Corcoran
- Quick Ten-Week Class Overview
– Review important topics we covered
– Leave time to discuss any questions or things left unclear
- How to Apply What We Learned Moving Forward
– What’s our next few options
– Local places to take advantage of these options
- Conclusion and Goodbyes!
