As the music industry continues to rapidly evolve, the Music Business Certificate serves both aspiring and established music industry executives, artists, producers, managers, songwriters, and publishers who desire up-to-date information on the principles of the music industry in the areas of A&R, touring, marketing, legal issues, publishing, and artist management.
Application & Candidacy Fee: $200*
Estimated Program Tuition: $7,450
Estimated Cost of Textbook/Materials: $550
Duration: 1 year (Full-Time pace) to 3 years
Unit Requirement: 40
Minimum GPA Requirement for Certificate Completion: 3.0
*This program is open admission. The Application & Candidacy fee establishes your candidacy in a certificate for a period of time covering normal progress toward completion and allows you access to a variety of program benefits.
The program is open for enrollment in any quarter for both domestic and F-1 Visa students.
To apply for and establish your candidacy in the Music Business Certificate click here!
Course scheduling and fees subject to change without notice.
Please note that required courses will only count once toward the overall unit requirement for the certificate program.
Click on a selection from the right navigation menu for complete program requirements and quarter by quarter enrollment recommendations.
Program at a Glance
4 Required Courses (16 units)
| Course No. | Title | Units | Fall | Winter | Spring | Summer |
| MUSC X 446.2 A&R: Making Music from Acquisition to Release | 4 | I/R | I | ||
| MUSC X 448.86 Touring, Tour Budgeting, and Merchandising | 4 | R | I | ||
| MUSC X 448.35 Legal and Practical Aspects of the Music Business | 4 | I | I | I | |
| MUSC X 447.31 The Insider’s Guide to Music Management | 4 | I | I |
Select 1 Marketing Course (4 units)
| MUSC X 448.80 Do-It-Yourself Music Marketing | 4 | O | I | O | |
| MUSC X 451 Entrepreneurship for the Indie Artist | 4 | H(R) | I | H(I) |
Select 1 Publishing Course (4 units)
| MUSC X 448.17 Music Publishing: Law and Business | 4 | R | |||
| MUSC X 448.81 Music Publishing: A Creative and Business Perspective | 4 | I/O | I/R |
Select 1 Production Course (4 units)
| MUSC X 448.6 The Record Production Process: Professional Practices | 4 | R | I | ||
| MUSC X 441.3 Audio Recording Theory | 4 | I | O | O | O |
| MUSC X 424.8 The DJ as Music Producer: Ableton Live & DJ Technology | 4 | I |
Select 3 Electives (12 units)
Students must complete 3 electives (12 units) from courses numbered X 400-499 in Music Business, Music Production or Film Scoring. Below is a list of suggested electives. New electives are added regularly.
Chart Legend: I = In-Person | R = Remote | O = Online | H (I/R) = Hybrid (In-Person/Remote)