Music Business Policy

Casey Rae

Authored by Casey Rae

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Course Code: OMBUS-664

Explore how global laws and regulations shape the music industry and the livelihoods of artists. This graduate-level music business course unpacks complex policy issues through real-world case studies, helping you understand, navigate, and influence the systems that define the future of music.

Level 6
Graduate
Modality
Online
Duration
12 Weeks
3-Credit Tuition
$2,874
Semester Starts
Apr 6
Accreditation
NECHE

Key Learning Outcomes

  • Make strategic music business decisions by accounting for how local, national, and global policies shape access, compensation, and market participation
  • Map stakeholder positions in music policy debates and use that mapping to anticipate policy outcomes and industry impact
  • Develop policy-informed positions on issues affecting recorded music, digital distribution, broadcast, and live performance
  • Formulate approaches to improving equity and participation for artists by working within existing policy frameworks
Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors Related Music Career Roles
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Course Description

Music policy determines what is possible in the evolving global marketplace for music. It is no longer enough to learn the nuts and bolts of the business; long-term sustainability also requires a working knowledge of the laws and regulations around the world. The goal of this course is to expand your knowledge base around policy and cultivate leadership to help solve persistent problems in the global music industry. The course demystifies complex topics and inspires confidence to engage in these important issues. Music policy has a direct impact on the paychecks of working artists and entrepreneurs, and seizing opportunities means taking a proactive role in the debates that are shaping the future of creativity and commerce. In addition to understanding the systems and structures that govern music, you will learn real-world strategies via case studies featuring musicians such as My Morning Jacket, R.E.M., OK Go, and more. By the end of the course, you will recognize how creators, technology, and fan communities can work together to effect positive change. More importantly, you will be able to use this knowledge to make a difference in your own communities all the way up to the international policy arena. 

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

  • Trace how music-related legislation moves from proposal to implementation and identify points where artists and organizations can intervene
  • Construct historically grounded arguments for or against proposed copyright reforms affecting music businesses
  • Apply statutory rate-setting frameworks to real music uses and project their financial consequences for creators and companies
  • Integrate emerging technologies into policy-aware music business strategies while accounting for regulatory constraints
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Syllabus

Lesson 1: Introduction to Music Policy

  • What Is Music Policy, Anyway?
  • Recorded, Broadcast, and Live Music
  • How We Got Here: A Brief History of Federal Policy and Music
  • Making Change in Music Policy
  • Assignment 1: Policy Analysis

Lesson 2: Music as a Special Interest

  • Government Branches and Music Policy
  • Trade Industry Associations
  • How Music Policy Gets Made
  • Stakeholder Bingo: Interested Parties and Agendas
  • Assignment 2: Profile a Stakeholder in Contemporary Music Policy Debates

Lesson 3: Schoolhouse Rock!

  • How Policy Is Constructed
  • The Federal Agencies
  • Music Policy Case Study: Low-Power FM Radio
  • Leverage: Who Has It, and How They Got It
  • Assignment 3: Determine What Agency to Petition

Lesson 4: Recorded Music Policy

  • Copyright and the Music Industry: An Awkward Evolution
  • It’s Not Just Labels vs. Technology
  • Policy Response (and Non-Response) to Technological Disruption
  • Legacy Frameworks vs. Policy Reinvention
  • Music Policy Case Study: The Digital Public Performance Right for Sound Recordings
  • Assignment 4: Describe an Ideal Policy Framework for Sound Recordings

Lesson 5: Recording Artist/Label Challenges and Opportunities

  • Music Licensing and the Quest for Parity
  • Music Policy Case Study: The Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA)
  • Rate-Setting Standards for Sound Recordings
  • The Problem of Global Harmonization
  • Policy Pain Points
  • Assignment 5: Problem/Solution

Lesson 6: Songwriter/Publisher Challenges and Opportunities

  • The History of PRO Consent Decrees
  • The Morass of Mechanicals and Rate-Setting Standards
  • Rate-Setting Standards for Musical Works: Which Works Best, and for Whom?
  • Direct vs. Statutory Licenses for Publishers and Songwriters
  • Assignment 6: Royalty and Licensing Policy Solution

Lesson 7: Music Policy and Digital Distribution

  • The Development of Online Music
  • Net Neutrality and Music Entrepreneurs
  • Access as Business Model
  • Assignment 7: Music Application or Digital Storefront and the Policy Framework

Lesson 8: Rights Enforcement in the Digital Age

  • The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Internet Safe Harbors, Part II
  • Lessons Learned from the Failed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
  • Voluntary Agreements as Alternatives to Legislation
  • Assignment 8: Three Anti-Piracy Proposals

Lesson 9: The Quest for Industry Transparency

  • The Three Types of Music Transparency
  • Transparency as a Political Problem
  • Copyright Ownership Databases: Practical Necessity or Industry Fantasy?
  • Emerging Technologies for Data Transparency
  • Assignment 9: Music Rights Database

Lesson 10: Radio and Broadcast Policy

  • Radio and Music: From The Greatest Love of All to Heartbreak Hotel
  • Music Policy Gone Haywire: Commercial Radio Ownership Consolidation
  • Payola: Pernicious, Pervasive, and Problematic
  • Public, Noncommercial, and Low-Power FM Radio
  • Assignment 10: Radio Policy Framework

Lesson 11: All Politics Are Local

  • Local Music Communities: Key Players
  • Local Music Communities: Cultural Infrastructure
  • Government Arts Agencies and Music Communities
  • Music and Civic Engagement: Strategies and Solutions
  • Assignment 11: Plan of an Artist Collective, Global Music Policy

Lesson 12: All Politics Are Global

  • How US Federal Policy Shapes the Global Music Industry
  • International Treaties and Agreements
  • Incompatible Legal Frameworks
  • Harmonizing Global Music

Requirements

Proof of a Bachelor's Degree

Proof of a bachelor's degree is required to enroll in this non-degree, graduate-level course.
Ready to submit an unofficial copy of your transcript?


Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Music Business Revenue Streams and Music Business Law or equivalent knowledge and experience is required.

Textbook(s)

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

Casey Rae
Casey Rae

Author

Casey Rae is Director of Music Licensing at SiriusXM satellite radio, a service with more than 40 million listeners in the United States. He is responsible for the direct licensing of repertoire for transmission across 150 channels, overseeing metadata, royalties, and performance. Casey was previously CEO of the Future of Music Coalition, a Washington, DC-based education and advocacy organization for musicians and composers. He is also a musician, recording engineer, professor, and author. He regularly speaks on issues such as emerging business models, creators' rights, technology policy, and intellectual property at worldwide conferences, universities, and in the media. He has testified before Congress on copyright and has written hundreds of articles on the impact of technology on the creative community in scholarly journals and other publications. Casey is an in-demand commentator in media outlets such as NPR, Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Billboard, L.A. Times, CNBC, and more. Casey is a member of the faculty at Georgetown University and Berklee Online, and serves as board President for the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. In his “spare time,” he runs the DC-based label Lux Eterna Records.

Allen Bargfrede
Allen Bargfrede

Instructor

Allen Bargfrede focuses his work on building a better world for creatives. An American lawyer, he leads the music strategy firm Avance Advisors and works actively with a range of music clients, including artists, writers, labels, and publishers. He is also the founder of Creative Wave, a global music think tank, and has co-founded two music technology companies.

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Allen’s past experience includes founding Berklee’s Rethink Music initiative in partnership with Harvard Law School and launching the graduate music business program at Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain. Earlier in his career, he also owned an artist management firm and record label. Read Less

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Music Business Policy 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?

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