Entrepreneurship in Commercial Music Community – CMUS 372

Course Description

A study of the music entrepreneur and basic principles, founded on a biblical worldview, for starting a business within the context of the commercial music community: discovering their unique value in the music marketplace, developing their brand, finding and connecting with their customer/fan, potential revenue streams, budgeting, and cost analysis of their business.

Rationale

Many students want to earn a living in the Christian commercial music industry but need guidance on creating and running a profitable business. An understanding of the Christian music industry helps identify organizations, marketing and distribution partners, funding, and revenue streams that can help make this possible.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be 200 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. For each thread, the student must provide 1 citation showing the rationale that influenced the initial post. In addition to the discussion, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ posts. Each reply must be 150 words.

The purpose of this assignment is to help the student begin the process of formulating his entrepreneurial business plan. To do so, he will answer a series of questions regarding his commercial music business. For the music entrepreneur, the business is YOU, the business owner. This assignment will help the student think through and answer some fundamental questions about his key resources for success. Each question will help his abstract ideas begin to take concrete shape and help him establish the foundation for his unique business plan as a music entrepreneur.

This assignment will help the student understand who his customer/fan might be, their needs, and what his business has to offer that will attract them. The better the student understand the customer/fan, the better he will be able to bring value to their needs and interests. This assignment will help the student develop his unique brand and define what makes his business valuable to his market.

Now that the student has a better understanding of who his customer/fan is and the value his business brings them, he will need to figure out how he will reach them and establish an ongoing relationship that will be mutually satisfying and rewarding. This assignment will help the student think through these important elements of his business – the channels he will use to reach his customer, and how to establish this ongoing relationship.

Now that the student has a vision and a grasp of his customer, their needs, the value his business brings, and has a plan to find them and establish a relationship - he is ready to dig into the steps and activities required to accomplish these goals! This assignment will move the student toward his goals by helping him think through the key activities that are relative to his particular music business. 

Now that the student knows his music business key activities, he or she may be feeling overwhelmed! However, the music industry is broken down into people and organizations who are ready and able to become his partners and help him accomplish his goals. This assignment will help the student think through these potential partnerships and decide who he will need and want to work with toward his success.

The Final Project is an exercise in collecting the information from each of the previous assignments into a one-page overview (a Business Model Canvas) and an 8-10 page written paper.

The student's plan is taking shape and he now understands his customer/fan, what his business has to offer, how to reach the customer, the activities his business will require, and where his business can make money. This assignment will give the student the opportunity to consider what it will cost to establish and run his/her business and help him/her avoid surprises that could cause trouble later on. 

The student's completed BMC and business plan have brought his dream and vision into a workable plan. However, he may need additional funds to bring it all into fruition. This assignment will help the student develop and articulate a plan for raising financial support and assist him in implementing the things he has learned in this course.