Music Supervision for Games, Social Media, and Emerging Technology

Vickie Nauman

Authored by Vickie Nauman

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Course Code: OMBUS-640

Explore how music supervision and licensing are evolving across video games, social media, XR, branded content, and generative AI. You’ll analyze emerging business models, balance the needs of rightsholders, platforms, and audiences, and build strategies for new music-technology opportunities.

Level 6
Graduate
Modality
Online
Duration
12 Weeks
3-Credit Tuition
$2,874
Semester Starts
Sept 28 Sept 28
Accreditation
NECHE

Key Learning Outcomes

  • Develop music supervision and licensing strategies for video games, social media, XR, branded content, and other emerging digital platforms
  • Evaluate how generative AI shapes music selection, licensing, revenue models, and audience engagement
  • Examine the competing motivations of rightsholders, technology companies, and end users to identify opportunities for mutually beneficial value exchange
  • Apply a transferable framework for recognizing patterns and evaluating new music-technology opportunities as they emerge
Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors Related Music Career Roles

Enrollment for this course will open soon.

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Course Description

This course will open for June 2027 enrollment in April 2027.

Music and technology are colliding faster than ever, shaping how we create, value, and experience music. That collision plays out across video games, social media, virtual and mixed reality, podcasts, branded content, and tools powered by generative AI. New formats are changing how music supervisors choose, use, and license, in many cases, faster than the industry can establish the rules. This course explores what music supervision means when the playbook is still being written.

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Creative problem-solving sits at the center of this course. You'll learn to recognize patterns, anticipate where formats and technologies are heading, and evaluate opportunities as they emerge. Through case studies, industry research, and perspectives from people working at the front of the field, you'll dig into the creative and business decisions behind music in games, XR, social media, and AI-driven platforms, from selection and licensing to audience engagement, and from the buy side to the sell side. Along the way, you'll build a professional strategy deck and a new mindset you can take straight into this field.

This course prepares you for emerging roles in music supervision, digital strategy, licensing, creative technology, and music-tech partnerships. You'll come away with the ability to apply music supervision thinking to platforms that haven't yet been standardized, and to the ones still emerging.

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

  • Assess the impact of ongoing technological change on the music sector and the trends shaping its future
  • Analyze the role of music supervision and licensing across emerging technology formats, including interactive and digital platforms and tools
  • Examine the competing motivations of rightsholders, technology companies, and end users to identify opportunities for mutually beneficial value exchange
  • Evaluate how generative AI shapes music selection, licensing, revenue models, and audience engagement
  • Develop music supervision and licensing strategies for video games, social media, XR, branded content, and other emerging digital platforms
  • Apply a transferable framework for recognizing patterns and evaluating new music-technology opportunities as they emerge
Read Less

Syllabus

Lesson 1: A Brief History of Technology and Music

  • Technology and Music Creation
  • Technology and Music Distribution
  • Technology, Copyright Laws, and Music Rights
  • Technology Development and Adoption
  • Music Is the First Field to be Disrupted
  • Assignment 1: Music Industry Adaptation to Tech

Lesson 2: The Unpaved Road of Today's Music and Tech Landscape

  • Digital Music
  • Startups
  • Enterprise Companies and Music
  • Our Connected World
  • Tech/Music Culture Clash
  • Assignment 2: Love/Hate and Music/Tech

Lesson 3: Buy/Sell Side, Licensees/Licensors—Understanding Opposing Views

  • Licensees/Licensors
  • Tech Side Value Chain
  • Music Side Value Chain
  • Puzzle Pieces
  • The Problem with Abundance
  • Assignment 3: Opposing Viewpoints

Lesson 4: Digital Music Business Models and Copyright Laws

  • Revenue Shares
  • Flat Fees
  • Territories: US vs. ROW (Rest of the World)
  • Asking for Forgiveness vs. Asking for Permission
  • New Model Creation
  • Assignment 4: Business Model Creation

Lesson 5: Data and Money Flow

  • From Card Catalogs to Data Silos
  • Music Metadata and Standards
  • Revenue and Payment Movement
  • Unattributed Money
  • The Lack of Efficiency
  • Assignment 5: Inefficiencies vs. Modernization

Lesson 6: Verticals – Digital Platforms: Social Media and Streaming

  • Value Proposition to End Users and Music Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between Social Media/DSP Platforms and Rightsholders
  • DSPs, Social Media, and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Social Media Platform Perspectives
  • Digital Streaming Services in Practice
  • Assignment 6: DSP and Social Media Analysis

Lesson 7: Verticals—AR/VR/XR: Music in Mixed Reality

  • Value Proposition to End Users and Music Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between Mixed Reality and Rightsholders
  • Mixed Reality and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Building Music Experiences in XR
  • Hardware Ecosystems and User Adoption
  • Assignment 7: Music in Immersive Systems

Lesson 8: Verticals – Video Games and Virtual Worlds

  • Value Proposition to End Users and Music Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between Video Games and Rightsholders
  • Video Games, Virtual Worlds, and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Music Integration in Video Games
  • Music in Virtual Worlds and Online Communities
  • Assignment 8: Music in Video Games and Virtual Worlds

Lesson 9: Verticals Case Study – Online Fitness

  • Value Proposition to End Users and Music Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between Online Fitness and Rightsholders
  • Online Fitness and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Music-Driven Fitness Platforms
  • Music Licensing in Online Fitness
  • Assignment 9: Music in Online Fitness

Lesson 10: Verticals—Brands and Music

  • Value Proposition to End Users and Music Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between Brands and Rightsholders
  • Brands and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Brand Strategy and Music Partnerships
  • Rightsholder Perspectives on Brand Partnerships
  • Assignment 10: Music and Brands

Lesson 11: Verticals – Artificial Intelligence, Generative Music, and Final Project

  • Value Proposition to Artists and End Users/Fans
  • Business Models and Supply Chain Between AI/GenAI and Rightsholders
  • AI/GenAI and Music: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Generative AI Companies and Music
  • Rightsholder Perspectives on AI and Music
  • Assignment 11: Culminating Experience – Emerging Music Technology Strategy Deck

Lesson 12: Navigating Constant Change and Staying Innovative

  • Recognizing Patterns
  • Evaluating User Needs vs. Rightsholder Needs vs. Platform/Tech Needs
  • Sizing an Opportunity or a Disruption
  • The Importance of Curiosity
  • Staying Relevant

Requirements

Proof of a Bachelor's Degree

Proof of a bachelor's degree is required to enroll in this non-degree, graduate-level course.
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Requirements coming soon.

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

Vickie Nauman
Vickie Nauman

Author & Instructor

Vickie Nauman is a digital music and technology leader who helps companies navigate the complexities of music rights, business model creation, licensing, and sync. Her clients include Harman Kardon, Beat Saber/Meta, Riot Games, Spotify, and Bose, and she has spearheaded in-game music licensing for Riot Games, Meta Platforms, Roblox, Ubisoft, and more. She has also led artist activations such as David Guetta in Roblox; driven social media music licensing initiatives; and developed licensing strategies for every imaginable kind of licensed use for music in telcos, platforms, games, generative AI, radio-streaming, interactive streaming, and tethered models. Nauman has advised on industry mergers and acquisitions totaling over $500 million, including Downtown Music’s acquisitions of FUGA and CD Baby.

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Beginning her digital music career at MusicNet, one of the first licensed digital music services, Nauman then helped design and build early DMCA-compliant digital services at KEXP. From there, she led business development at Sonos during the rise of streaming, and later served as president of North America for 7digital before founding CrossBorderWorks, a leading music technology consultancy. Her work has earned her a Webby Award, the Copyright Society of California’s Apollo Award, and recognition as one of SPIN’s 25 Most Influential People in Music, as well as MusicBiz’s Digital Innovator. Read Less

What's Next?

When taken for credit, Music Supervision for Games, Social Media, and Emerging Technology can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:

Related Certificate Programs

Related Degree Major

Related Music Career Roles

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

Music Coordinator

Music Supervisor (Film, TV, Video Games)

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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