The Business of Music: Incubation & Launch

Catalog description

This course provides students with essential knowledge, a framework, the inspiration, and courage to translate their ideas involving music into new business opportunities and startup ventures. Through case studies, project work, reading, research, self-reflection, and interactions with guest speakers, students learn and experience entrepreneurship as a way of thinking and acting, and as a process that leads to new venture creation. The principal focus of this class is on the start-up process and the creation of new ventures that produce value. Students learn key factors associated with venture success and critically evaluate their own prospects for entrepreneurship. Emphasis is given to design thinking approaches, methodologies and tools that can be used to help accelerate ideas and opportunities that students are most passionate about. The different elements of a business plan are learned in class and through skill-building exercises and writing assignments. Working alone and in collaboration with others, students take their ideas from concept to launch. By the end, students gain the skills and confidence to effectively communicate, present, and defend their ideas, and a solid methodology to put their ideas into action.