Assemble a suite of promotional materials and tools to support your music career.

Jeffrey Nytch

Offered By

Musician’s Professional Toolbox: Your Portfolio Career SpecializationUniversity of Colorado Boulder

What you will learn

How to articulate your purpose as a musician in a professional mission statement and develop a personal brand and social media strategy.
How to assemble a portfolio of promotional materials, including a professional biography, headshot and resume/CV.
How to build tools for networking and task management.
How to create a visual representation of your intermediate and long-term career goals to help keep you on track and assess your progress.

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization

Learners completing this specialization will acquire the skills to launch and sustain a Portfolio Career consisting of a range of musical endeavors. Topics include building a professional network, identifying tools for developing a brand, promoting yourself through a variety of channels, developing strategies to find and book performances, and defining and tracking your goals. This course is the first of two specializations making up the Musician’s Professional Toolbox.

Applied Learning Project

Learners will produce professional materials to help launch and support careers as musicians, including cover letters, resumes, and headshots. Additional assignments allow learners to prepare to network successfully, build and maintain clientele, develop a personal brand and mission statement, and more.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Intermediate Level

Approximately 4 months to complete

Suggested pace of 2 hours/week

English

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Intermediate Level

Approximately 4 months to complete

Suggested pace of 2 hours/week

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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How the Specialization Works

Take Courses

A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.

Hands-on Project

Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.

Earn a Certificate

When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization

Course1

Course 1

Strategies for Success in your Music Career

The Musician's Professional Toolbox is more than just a collection of career-building skills: professional musicians need strategies in place that maximize the impact of those skills. Designed for musicians at any point in their career, this course will provide learners with foundational skills necessary for managing your professional music career, including skill assessment, time management, goal setting and networking. The course can be taken by itself or as the first course in the Musician's Professional Toolbox.

Course2

Course 2

Building Your Artistic Brand

In a world where musical content of all kinds can be found anywhere and everywhere, developing a distinctive artistic brand is critical to any musician's professional success. Whether you're an emerging professional musician or a seasoned pro looking to up your game, you will gain knowledge of basic marketing principles as applied to the performing arts. These principles include using visual and design elements to define your artistic identity, strategies for effective marketing through a variety of media and channels, and developing a social media strategy for their professional brand.

Course3

Course 3

Promotional Materials Every Musician Needs

They say that first impressions are the strongest, and that is definitely true in the arts! The materials you create to communicate who you are and why you're special are critical to your professional success. This course will provide you with the skills to generate effective promotional materials you will use in your music career, including bio, headshots and other promotional shots, resume/CV, cover letters, and, tying everything together, your website. Perfect for young professional musicians creating promotional materials for the first time, as well as for seasoned professionals looking to up their game!

Course4

Course 4

Launching Your Music Career

Instructor

Jeffrey Nytch

Director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music

College of Music

1,021 Learners

4 Courses

Offered by

University of Colorado Boulder

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the refund policy?
If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy.
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.
Can I take the course for free?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
This specialization consists of 16 weeks of content and assessments.
What background knowledge is necessary?
At minimum, a bachelors degree in music and/or experience as a practicing musician.
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
It is recommended that you take the courses in order, but not required.
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
No
What will I be able to do upon completing the Specialization?
You will be able to launch your music career with confidence.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

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Musician’s Professional Toolbox: Your Portfolio Career Specialization

What you will learn

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization

Applied Learning Project