A evening concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater, featuring colorful lights.

Step beyond textbooks and learn directly from the professionals who engage with Colorado State Music Business.  Hear how a music festival operates from a founder of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.  Get the scoop about recording contracts or life on the road touring from Big Head Todd or Griz as well as members of Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers, Eagles and Phish.  Discover the opportunities in agency and management or other careers from folks in firms that have represented Elton John, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen and/or run major labels, publishing companies, marketing firms, and more.

The Minor in Music Business is a 21-credit program covering key foundational business knowledge and practical skills involving the contemporary music business.  This Minor prepares you to understand and navigate an industry unlike no other.  The primary function is to offer graduates a fundamental understanding of the music business marketplace by learning the vocabulary and workings of the industry, identifying major stakeholders, and exploring career and entrepreneurial opportunities within this growing field.  Whether you’re preparing for a career as a performer or plan to impact the industry with a supporting role as a producer or engineer, at a record label or publisher, in concert promotion, as an agent or artist manager, as legal representation, or an array of other endeavors, the Music Business Minor lays the foundation for a career in an evolving, exploding, and fast-paced industry.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion, students will be able to:

  1. Construct and analyze financial and operating reports, and use this information to make various business decisions.
  2. Explain the appropriate basic business principles, and how to apply those principles in various contexts.
  3. Perform quantitative analyses, explain the results, and use the information to make decisions.
  4. Speak the unique language of the music business and communicate with industry professionals.
  5. Utilize skills in operations, marketing, intellectual property, finance, and other business skills to make various Music Business contributions.

CSU MUSIC BUSINESS
Office in Rockwell West, Room 210E
(970) 491.4308

Chuck Morris, Director Music Business
Chuck.Morris@colostate.edu

Eric M. Griffin, Assistant Director Music Business
Eric.Griffin@colostate.edu

Effective Fall 2023

Students must satisfactorily complete the total credits required for the minor. Minors and interdisciplinary minors require 12 or more upper-division (300- to 400-level) credits.

A minimum grade of C (2.000) or better is required in all courses. 

Additional coursework may be required due to prerequisites.

Required Courses:
ACT 205Fundamentals of Accounting3
BUS 250Music Business--Shifting the Social Landscape (GT-SS3)3
BUS 361Principles of Music Marketing3
BUS 362Making Money in Music3
BUS 363Concerts and Live Events3
Select one course from the following: 13
Fundamentals of Management
Fundamentals of Marketing
Select one course from the following:3
Legal and Ethical Issues in Business
Ethics in Contemporary Organizations (GT-AH3)
Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship
Integrated Marketing Communications
Professional Selling
Digital Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Program Total Credits:21
1

If a student selects MKT 305, they may take any of the course options below. If a student selects MGT 305, they must take BUS 205, BUS 220, or MGT 340.