Music Business Leadership and Ethics

David Purcell

Authored by David Purcell

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Course Code: OMBUS-360

Explore what it takes to be an effective leader in today’s music industry. Using examples from real music industry professionals, this undergraduate music business course will teach you how to make smart and ethical business decisions, whether you’re already a leader or aspire to be one.

Level 3
Intermediate Plus
Modality
Online
Duration
12 Weeks
3-Credit Tuition
$1,575
Semester Starts
Apr 6
Accreditation
NECHE

Key Learning Outcomes

  • Develop a personal leadership framework that aligns career goals with ethical decision-making in the music industry
  • Apply leadership and decision-making models to real-world music industry scenarios involving risk, uncertainty, and competing interests
  • Evaluate ethical challenges in the music business and determine responsible courses of action that balance creative, legal, and financial considerations
  • Create a career roadmap that integrates leadership growth, ethical responsibility, and measurable professional goals
Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors Related Music Career Roles
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Course Description

Leadership, decision-making, and ethics represent vital foundations for anyone seeking a career in music and the music industries. Regardless of your music industry focus, possessing sound judgment and leadership ability will help create the roadmap to move a career plan from the drawing board toward the realization of one's goals.

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The course begins with an examination of notable leaders, leadership approaches, and industry scenarios important to anyone in the music field. You will explore ethics from a wide variety of industries to gain an understanding about why ethical choices are important in sustaining your career. The music industry is, of course, no stranger to controversy or ethical inquiry. This course work will illuminate current issues such as:

  • The treatment of artists
  • Intellectual property rights
  • Revenue sharing
  • Digital media and distribution

You will apply specific decision-making approaches and ethical frameworks toward group activities that mirror the real world. You will explore some controversial issues that have existed for decades and emerging issues that are reshaping the modern music business. You will fine-tune your career plans as you progress through the lessons and you will learn to anticipate decision-making, and ethics challenges. You will create a blueprint for sound decision-making, effective leadership, organizational planning, and ethical awareness that you can immediately apply toward advancing your career.

This course gives vital insight in to the overall role of leadership and ethics in the music business, other industries, and in your daily life. 

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Analyze leadership decisions from key moments in music industry history to understand their long-term ethical and business impact
  • Compare leadership styles and assess how different approaches affect teams, organizations, and outcomes in music-related settings
  • Assess ethical responsibilities related to contracts, touring, management, and revenue generation within music organizations
  • Adapt leadership strategies in response to industry change, emerging technologies, and evolving professional standards
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Syllabus

Lesson 1: Leadership and Ethics Considerations in Business and Organizational Settings

  • Leadership Considerations: Your Vision and Mission
  • Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
  • Seminal Examples of Leadership
  • Music Industry Practices and RIAA vs. Napster Litigation
  • Recorded Music Industry Decision Making Revisited
  • Recording Sector Basics
  • Assignment 1: Laying the Groundwork for Your Leadership and Decision-Making Approach

Lesson 2: Business Leadership: Historical, Industry Sector, and Organizational Considerations

  • A Condensed History of the Modern Music Industry
  • Leadership Vision and Synergy: Emerging Opportunities in the Digital Age
  • Leadership Vision
  • Organizational Structures in the Greater Music Industry: What’s your Choice?
  • Laying the Foundation: Building a Team
  • Assignment 2: Business Leadership and Ethics Considerations

Lesson 3: Ethical Considerations in Differing Industries and Contexts

  • Ethics Considerations in the Music Industry
  • Recoupment
  • Ethics and the Right to Contract
  • Re-Recording Restrictions
  • Other Industries
  • Ethics and Your Values: Leadership in Action
  • Assignment 3: Ethical Considerations in the Music and Entertainment Industries

Lesson 4: Leadership Styles and Characteristics: Framing Issues in the Decision-Making Process

  • Leadership Styles: Autocratic, Participative and Delegative
  • Picking your Approach: Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Styles
  • Framing: Putting Your Goals, Objectives and Career Considerations in Context
  • Establishing the Tone: Your Leadership Model
  • Ahmet Ertegun
  • Assignment 4: Setting the Leadership Tone

Lesson 5: Customizing Decision-Making Approaches: Looking Ahead with Ethics Awareness

  • Expanding on Your Vision: Looking to the Future
  • Alternatives and Contingencies
  • Industry Scenario: Touring Complications
  • Decision Making Models
  • Advanced Ethics Considerations and Examples
  • Assignment 5: Leadership and Decision-Making Plans
  • Leadership Approaches Combined
  • Assignment 5: Leadership and Decision-Making Plans

Lesson 6: Working With Others in the Leadership and Decision-Making Process 

  • Decision-Making Considerations: Your Options and Choices
  • Decision-Making: More Factors for Consideration
  • Ethical Considerations and Organizational Objectives
  • Revenue Generation
  • Accountability and Responsibility
  • Assignment 6: 10 Decision Making Factors and Your Plan
  • Working with Others: Energizing Your Team
  • Assignment 6: 10 Decision Making Factors and Your Plan

Lesson 7: Advanced Ethics Concepts and Industry Application

  • Evolution of Ethics
  • Ethics and Popular Culture
  • Music Industry Ethics and Leadership in Real Time
  • Digital Download Revenue Breakdown
  • Leadership: Alternative Decision-Making Options and Approaches
  • Leadership Responsibilities: Effecting Change
  • Assignment 7: Ethics in Music
  • Leadership Responsibilities: Effecting Change
  • Assignment 7: Ethics in Music

Lesson 8: Measuring Leadership

  • Measuring Leadership: Additional Leadership Considerations
  • Leadership: Rewards, Compensation, and Ethics
  • Hedging Against Uncertainty
  • Competitive Edge
  • Assignment 8: Evaluating Leadership Processes

Lesson 9: Government, Codes, Laws, Regulations, and Standards

  • Setting the Tone and Example for your Team and Organization
  • Corporate Structures
  • Wait a Minute - Corporations Are People, Too?!?!
  • Leadership Conflicts of Interest in the Music Industry – Artist Management
  • Leadership – Fostering Individual, Team and Organizational Potential
  • Facilitating Relationships
  • Assignment 9: The Rules of the Game

Lesson 10: The Big Picture

  • Advanced Music Industry Leadership and Ethics Considerations
  • Terrestrial Broadcast Performance Royalties
  • Responsible Leadership and Decision-Making: The Ford Pinto Case
  • Artist Management Leadership
  • Financial Considerations in the Decision-Making Process
  • Break-Even Analysis
  • Assignment 10: Your Leadership Philosophy

Lesson 11: Organizational Behavior and Human Resources

  • Human Resource Considerations
  • Values and Victories
  • Hoping For The Best; Planning for the Worst
  • Worst-Case Scenarios
  • Applying One of the Four Concepts
  • Assignment 11: Your Leadership Philosophy and Approach

Lesson 12: Ethics, Leadership, and the Future

  • Born Leaders: Learning Leadership
  • Evaluating Others
  • The Continual Quest for Improvement
  • The Music Industry Ecosystem
  • Negotiating
  • Assignment 12: Putting it All Together

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Business Trends and Strategies, or equivalent knowledge and experience is required.

Textbook(s)

Hardware

  • Recommended: Printer, if you would like to print out examples used in the course.
  • Recommended: Scanner or digital camera, if you plan to handwrite assignments.

Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.

General Course Requirements

Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course. 

Mac Users

  • macOS Monterey 12.0 or later

PC Users

All Users

  • Latest version of Google Chrome
  • Zoom meeting software
  • Webcam
  • Speakers or headphones
  • External or internal microphone
  • Broadband Internet connection

Instructors

David Purcell
David Purcell

Author & Instructor

David Purcell, Esq., is the founder and president of Music Royalty Solutions, a business management firm specializing in business management and financial solutions for independent recording, performing, and songwriting artists, as well as independent companies and startups in the entertainment industry. He works as a business and legal affairs consultant for such clients as Roadrunner Records and Robot of the Century Music Publishing.

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In addition to teaching with Berklee Online, Purcell is the assistant program director of music business at New York University and runs the summer Music Business Institute, "What Makes A Star." Courses he has taught on both the undergraduate and graduate levels include Landmark Cases in Music Copyright Law, Business Structure of the Music Industry, Economic and Legal Settings of the Music Industry, Village Records (an NYU student-run recorded music label), Village Records Leadership section, Music Industry Internship Supervision, and Managing the Performing Artist.

As a professional drummer and percussionist, Purcell has extensive performance experience both in the U.S. and internationally and has performed and/or recorded with Jesse Malin, Ashford and Simpson, Tom Wopat, Debbie Harry (Blondie), Jody Watley, Neil Patrick Harris, Mink Stole, Princess Superstar, John Cameron Mitchell, Ian Astbury (The Cult), The Rocky Horror Show, Phantom of the Opera, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical. He is a proud graduate of Berklee College of Music and The University of Wisconsin Law School. Read Less

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Music Business Leadership and Ethics can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:

Related Certificate Programs

Related Degree Majors

Related Music Career Roles

Employers look for skills learned in this course, when hiring for the following music career roles:

A&R Director

A&R Representative

College Marketing Representative

Marketing Manager

Marketing Representative

Music Director/Curator (Radio/Streaming Service)

Record Company Executive
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Questions?

Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.

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