Students can get associate, bachelor's or master's degrees in music management. Associate degrees do not offer a high rate of jobs in the music management field, but are useful for working at venues or becoming freelance musicians who must manage themselves. Many colleges offer music management degrees and most of them require a student to be proficient in an instrument. Some examples are Loyola University New Orleans, University of the Pacific, Berklee College of Music and Georgia State University.
Online schools most often offer a music business degree instead of a music management degree. Full Sail University offers an online Music Business Bachelor of Science degree. Online degrees do not require musical talent, but students must have a good understanding of music. Berklee has several online music business courses. They can be taken as for-credit courses or non-credit. West Texas A&M University has an online Applied Arts & Sciences degree with several online music business and music management courses.
Students in a music management program generally take courses related to the business of music. They may learn about business ethics, marketing, management and promotion. Students may also study copyright laws, music laws or finance. Often a college will allow a student to focus on a specific concentration including entrepreneurship, working in an industry developing music products or working in a corporate setting. Programs usually require students to get an internship at a recording studio, radio station, agency or music management company.
People with degrees in music management can take jobs as media managers, talent scouts, band managers, publicists, booking agents or entertainment lawyers. They can work at record labels or start their own. They may open consulting services for musicians. These jobs generally require a bachelor's degree or higher.
Most colleges or universities require a prospective student to perform an audition to be accepted into a music management degree program. Even though students wish to work in the business side of music, they must know and understand musical theory and composition. Auditions usually last about 15 minutes and each college varies on what type of music students should play.