Courses

The goal of this course is to provide students with the tools necessary to understand the functions of the various arts industries and learn what is required to succeed with entrepreneurial arts ventures. Students will examine the challenges and changing nature of entrepreneurship and innovation that are unique to the arts. For example, students will gain an understanding of how intellectual property rights protect creative expression and how honoring and referencing the work of others can be accomplished without infringing upon creative rights. A goal of this course is to provide examples of entrepreneurial challenges and explore how they are addressed by arts industry leaders. Entrepreneurs and leaders in the various arts industries are invited to join our classes and share their experiences with students. We will explore special topics from the music, film, television, theatre, live performance industries and others. As careers in music can dovetail into other major media, we place special emphasis on the music industry and its practices to include that of copyright, music rights, licensing, fees and royalties; issues that must be understood in the formal use of intellectual property in all media. Overall, students will learn to navigate challenges prevalent in arts entrepreneurship, such as crafting meaningfulness, audience cultivation, social media, marketing and genre.