This course shares practical tips and strategies to help you take your first step into launching your career as a musical artist. We’ll cover everything from developing your unique identity as an artist and how to lead a band all the way to planning and recording your first independent record with the help of crowdfunding.
Offered By
About this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
62%
29%
Students should either be an independent music artist themselves or be working as a manager and/or producer with an indie artist.
What you will learn
Describe and discuss your identity, vision, and intention and identify strategies to balance the management of the band and the creation of the music
Develop your musical brand, build and leverage a network of industry professionals, and discuss the benefits of partnering with other brands
Develop a vision for a recording project and engage in a professional conversation with producers
Plan, design, and launch a crowdfunding campaign
Skills you will gain
Learner Career Outcomes
62%
29%
Students should either be an independent music artist themselves or be working as a manager and/or producer with an indie artist.
Offered by

Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For more than half a century, the college has evolved to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. Berklee serves distance learners worldwide through its award-winning online extension school, Berklee Online.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Welcome!
Welcome to Building Your Career in Music: Developing a Brand and Funding Your Music! Before you begin the course, we will cover all the details about the course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.
Your Foundation
In this lesson, we will begin to lay the foundation for who you are as an artist and a leader. We'll discuss the importance of having a strong sense of your identity, vision, and intention and we'll also how leverage your natural skills as a musician, like intuition and collaboration, to work for you as an entrepreneur. Finally, we'll discuss how to become a better band leader.
Your Brand
Now that you have a strong foundation (your IVI), we'll discuss building your brand and your fanbase. We'll go over tips for building a presence on social media and how to connect to your fans and potential business partners on a personal level by learning how to network effectively. Finally, we'll discuss the trend of artist-brand partnerships and why a brand partnership might be a smart move for independent artists.
Your Record
In this lesson, we'll focus on planning your recording project, whether it's a full length album or an EP. We'll discuss the role of the producer and the very special relationship that exists between producers and musicians. We'll also discuss how to cast a vision for your project by choosing the right songs, feel, and instrumentation. Finally, we'll learn how to set up a simple recording budget so you can keep track how much your project will cost.
Your Money
The majority of this lesson will focus on planning, launching, and managing a crowdfunding campaign. Crowdfunding is a great way to gain support for your music, but running a campaign requires careful planning and preparation. We'll also share a some tips on how to turn your band into a sustainable business.
Your Career
Congratulations! You've made it through the course content and now it's time to put what you've learned into practice for your final project.
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM BUILDING YOUR CAREER IN MUSIC: DEVELOPING A BRAND AND FUNDING YOUR MUSIC
This course has helped me a lot in finding put the driving forces to accomplish my career goal as a musician. Moreover it helped me to identify the various music brand partnership around the globe.
As a Marketing student, I have to admit that I really liked this course. It gave me a clearer idea of the music industry and suggestions from a Marketing perspective on how to promote an artist!
This course is really helpful for those who want to build a career in music or want to build a band and managing them. Great Class, simple concepts, and connecting it all to your dream.
Fantastic course! Thank you for being really detailed with how musicians should go around dealing with some of the marketing and finance aspects of pursuing this career!
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