Music Business and Management

The music business has been profoundly transformed by digital technology, yet it remains one of the most creative and commercially significant sectors of the global economy. Streaming, social media, direct-to-fan platforms and the fragmentation of traditional gatekeeping have changed how music is made, distributed and monetised, creating new opportunities and new challenges for managers, labels, publishers, promoters, agents and the many other professionals who support music careers. Understanding this landscape, both its commercial structures and its creative technologies, is the business of music business and management as a degree.

At Nottingham Trent, this three-year full-time programme develops the advanced skills, knowledge and technological understanding needed to work as a multifaceted music business practitioner. You will study the music industry's commercial structures, including record labels, publishing, live music and sync licensing, alongside the creative technologies that are transforming how music is created, produced and distributed. You will engage with management theory, marketing, entrepreneurship and intellectual property law as they apply in the music context, developing both the business acumen and the cultural fluency that a career in music requires.

The programme is designed for students who want to work within the music industry rather than as performing artists, and its focus on the business dimensions of music reflects the breadth of roles available beyond the stage and the studio.

Graduates move into artist management, record label roles, music publishing, live events and touring, music marketing and promotion, booking agencies, streaming platform roles, music technology companies and creative entrepreneurship. Some graduates go on to postgraduate study in music business or arts management.