The Business of Songwriting: Protecting, Marketing and Monetizing Your Craft

Isabeau Miller

Authored by Isabeau Miller

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Course Code: OSONG-235

In this undergraduate songwriting course, you examine the business realities of a songwriting career, from copyright and publishing to branding and long-term strategy. Through practical tools and real-world scenarios, you learn to evaluate opportunities, build professional assets, and sustain creative and financial momentum.

Level 2
Intermediate
Modality
Online
Duration
12 Weeks
3-Credit Tuition
$1,575
Semester Starts
June 29
Accreditation
NECHE

Key Learning Outcomes

  • Explain fundamental copyright principles, publishing deals, and revenue flows in the music industry
  • Build a personal strategy for generating income through diverse publishing, licensing, and monetization avenues
  • Develop effective networking and marketing approaches to build industry connections and promote your work
  • Create a personalized pitch deck that highlights your unique brand, music samples, and professional narrative, tailored to industry decision-makers
Overview Syllabus Requirements Instructors Related Music Career Roles
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Course Description

This course provides an in-depth exploration of the business elements integral to a songwriter's career. You will gain a foundational understanding of copyright law, publishing deals, revenue streams, branding, marketing, team building, sync licensing, and long-term career sustainability. Through guided lessons, practical assignments, and the innovative “Opportunity Tracker” exercise, you will learn how to navigate the music industry's complex infrastructure, identify and evaluate opportunities, overcome obstacles, and leverage creativity and strategy for sustained success. You will also develop the entrepreneurial mindset that distinguishes working songwriters who build lasting careers from those who treat the craft as a hobby.

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You will leave the course with a clear roadmap for your career, a refined personal brand, a professional pitch deck, and an outreach strategy for connecting with industry decision-makers.

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

  • Explain fundamental copyright principles, publishing deals, and revenue flows in the music industry
  • Apply a perseverance mindset to navigate rejection and sustain forward career momentum
  • Develop effective networking and marketing approaches to build industry connections and promote your work
  • Build a personal strategy for generating revenue through diverse publishing, licensing, and monetization avenues
  • Evaluate songwriting opportunities using structured decision-making tools
  • Create a personalized pitch deck that highlights your unique brand, music samples, and professional narrative, tailored to industry decision-makers
  • Assemble a long-term career roadmap that aligns creative goals with legal, financial, and strategic planning
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Syllabus

Lesson 1: Songwriting as a Business

  • The Music Business Mindset
  • Goals and Objectives for Your Songwriting Career
  • The Opportunity Tracker Concept
  • Identifying Career Influences
  • Artist Statements for Different Contexts
  • Practice Exercise: Drafting Your Artist Statements
  • Journey of a Song: The Spark
  • Assignment 1: Artist Statements and Opportunity Tracker

Lesson 2: Copyright Fundamentals and Protection

  • Copyright and Its Purpose
  • Music Copyright: Musical Work and Sound Recording
  • Registration and Protection Methods
  • Practice Exercise: Copyright Registration
  • The Six Exclusive Rights of Copyright Owners
  • Avoiding Infringement: Fair Use
  • Case Study: Dissecting a Copyright Dispute
  • AI and Copyright: When Machines Learn from Us
  • Assignment 2: Copyright Analysis for an Original Song

Lesson 3: Publishing

  • What Is Music Publishing?
  • Publishing Deals
  • Revenue Streams in Publishing
  • Money Flow in the Publishing Ecosystem
  • Finding Your Publishing Lane
  • Choosing the Right Publishing Partners
  • Journey of a Song: Finding a Publishing Home
  • Assignment 3: Publishing Lens and Strategy

Lesson 4: Revenue Streams and Administrative Planning as a Creative Director

  • Mapping Out Your Revenue Ecosystem
  • Practice Exercise: Mapping and Prioritizing Your Revenue Streams
  • Balancing Creative Work and Administrative Duties
  • Delegation and Outsourcing
  • Practice Exercise: Delegate or Protect?
  • Strategic Scheduling and Batch Processing
  • Journey of a Song: Earning over Time
  • Assignment 4: Revenue Streams Map and Weekly Framework

Lesson 5: Your Team and Finances

  • Building Your Team
  • Thinking Outside the Traditional Team
  • Mentors and Advisors
  • Your Professional Infrastructure
  • Financial Awareness for Songwriters
  • Financial Stability and Creative Longevity
  • Journey of a Song: Evolution of a Team
  • Assignment 5: Three-Year Budget and Mentor/Advisor Profile

Lesson 6: Music Rights Organizations and Tech Integration for Business Growth

  • Music Rights Organizations: An Overview
  • Performance Rights Organizations (PROs)
  • The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)
  • Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) and Other Organizations
  • From Knowledge to Impact
  • AI in Songwriting and Business
  • Integrating Technology, Structure, and Strategy for Growth
  • Practice Exercise: Tech Stack Audit
  • Journey of a Song: A Song That Functions
  • Assignment 6: AI Application and Analysis

Lesson 7: Agreements, Contracts, and Five-Year Plans

  • Songwriting Agreements: The Foundations
  • Protecting Your Interests and Self-Advocacy
  • Long-Term Relationship Building
  • The Five-Year Plan to Thrive
  • Practice Exercise: Draft Your Five-Year Plan
  • Journey of a Song: The Long View
  • Assignment 7: Split Agreement and Five-Year Plan Drafts

Lesson 8: Advanced Monetization and Long-Term Catalog Strategies

  • Expanding Revenue Beyond Traditional Streams
  • Choosing What Fits: Evaluating Opportunities with a Longer View
  • Long-Term Catalog Management and Exploitation
  • Advanced Licensing Frameworks
  • Strategic Partnership and Brand Extensions
  • Future-Proofing Your Business Model
  • Journey of a Song: A Second Life
  • Assignment 8: Advancing One Revenue Stream

Lesson 9: Industry Executives, Networking, and Marketing

  • The Roles of Key Industry Professionals
  • Strategic Networking in a Global, Digital Landscape
  • Marketing Strategies for Differentiation
  • Leveraging Social Media, Podcasts, and PR Opportunities
  • Integrating Networking and Marketing Efforts
  • Journey of a Song: Carried by Community
  • Assignment 9: Networking and Marketing Outreach Plan

Lesson 10: Professional Presentation and Brand Communication

  • Matching Production Quality to Opportunity
  • Refining a Personal Brand
  • Interviewing and Media Training
  • Aligning Production, Branding, and Media Strategies
  • Practice Exercise: The Alignment Check
  • Journey of a Song: A Story with Context
  • Assignment 10: Short Media Kit

Lesson 11: Songs for Visual Media and Pitch Deck Preparation

  • Understanding Sync Licensing
  • How Sync Decisions Get Made
  • Pitching Strategies for Visual Media
  • Assembling Your Pitch Deck Components
  • Practice Exercise: The Song Readiness Check
  • Your Pitch Deck as a Working Document
  • Journey of a Song: Found by Picture
  • Assignment 11: Draft Pitch Deck

Lesson 12: Elevating Your Songwriting Business: Brand, Strategy, and Vision

  • Personal Brand Alignment and Cohesion
  • Presentation Techniques for Impactful Storytelling
  • Integrating Feedback and Iteration
  • Future-Proofing Your Career: Sustainability and Opportunity Mapping
  • Journey of a Song: Cleared for Takeoff
  • Assignment 12: Culminating Experience

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements 

Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Students should have:

  • Basic knowledge of music theory and songwriting craft (assumed from prior study or experience)
  • Familiarity with basic recording tools

Textbook(s)

Recording

  • Students are required to submit MP3 files of their songs for assignments. You will not be evaluated on arrangement or production quality in this course, but melody, harmony, and lyric should be clearly audible. A basic audio recording tool is available inside the learning environment. Alternatively, you can use software such as GarageBand (Mac) or Audacity (PC).
  • Students are required to record video for their assignments. Options for recording video include:
    • Smartphone
    • Digital camera
    • Webcam (using either video recording software, or the video recording tool that is built into the learning environment)

Software

  • Office suite, such as Microsoft Office, Google Drive (free), Apple iWork, Apache OpenOffice (free), etc.
  • Software for basic graphic design, building a pitch deck, and brand identity development, such as Canva (free plan sufficient)

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

Isabeau Miller
Isabeau Miller

Author & Instructor

Isabeau Miller is an accomplished songwriter, entrepreneur, published author, and vocalist. Passionate about inspiring the next generation of songwriters and industry professionals, Miller draws on her 17 years of experience as a professional songwriter in Nashville, where she penned chart-topping hits with pop and country music artists and producers such as David Archuleta, John K, Cason Cooley, Nate Dodge, Will Champlin, Jamie Kenney, Risa Binder, Morgan Myles, and more. Miller’s catalog, represented by Me Gusta Publishing, spans more than 1,500 songs, and grows by about 100 songs yearly. In addition to her work in the arts, Miller is also an entrepreneur and frequent contributor to several publications. Miller’s focus in life and in music is on telling authentic stories through radical truth-telling and intuitive collaboration.

What's Next?

When taken for credit, The Business of Songwriting: Protecting, Marketing and Monetizing Your Craft can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:

Related Certificate Programs

Related Music Career Roles

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

Lyricist

Music Publisher

Performing Songwriter

Songwriter-Producer

Staff Writer

Top-Line Songwriter

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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