Outline

Overview

Music Business Skills is designed to prepare graduating students for the non-musical aspects of their forthcoming career. The unit is designed as an overview of the many different facets of the music industry, including setting up a small music business (including taxation overview and responsibilities), funding sources and alternatives, tour planning and budgeting, producing and designing promotional tools, dealing with record companies/music publishing, and other essential techniques and requirements of running a successful music business in today's competitive arts environment.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	JAZZ3631
Academic unit	Jazz
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	None
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Jeremy Rose, jeremy.rose@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Jeremy Rose, jeremy.rose@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Sam Gill, sgil6233@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Mission Statement and artist biography Write a mission statement, goals and artist bio.	10%	Week -03 Due date: 15 Aug 2023 at 23:59	500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Digital Portfolio and Small Business workbook candidate will create a Digital Portfolio and Small Business Workbook	40%	Week 08 Due date: 26 Sep 2023 at 23:59	2,000 words plus visuals/video links
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Project Presentation Present a work-in-progress project outline and description	0%	Week 09	3 minutes + 2 minute feedback
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Grant Application Candidates must research and plan a large project	50%	Week 13 Due date: 14 Nov 2023 at 23:59	2,500 words plus budgets
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Mission Statement and Biography

Mission statement and goals (300 words)

Artist Biography (200 words)

Digital Portfolio and Small Business Workbook

The Digital Portfolio and Small Business Workbook will contain industry documents that prepare the student for building their own creative small business.

Press Release detailing an upcoming hypothetical album release tour or award (one page)
Visuals: Press Photo Video and live video links (if available)
Links to soundcloud, social media links, websites, where relevant
Using a spreadsheet, create a contact database for yourself. Create separate tabs, each tab with columns containing data such as website, email address, physical address (where relevant) and relevant notes. Include at least 10 national and 10 international.
- Media: reviewers, bloggers, online magazines, journals, print media, radio
- List of targeted festivals and contact for submission
- List of targeted venues
- List of available prizes awards and grants available to you
- Showcase events
- Influencers and champions of your work

The Workbook will demonstrate that students have engaged with each of the units and incorporated them into a business structure aligned with their career goals. This will include

A basic marketing and social media plan (300 words)
Outline of Business Structure
A testimonial (100 words)
A creative business budget demonstrating accounting and tax practices (estimates from 1 year after launch of business and 5-10 year goals)

Project Presentation (3 min) + Peer Feedback
Present your work-in-progress project to the class in 3 minutes and provide peer feedback to others

Week 10 and 11

Grant application

Task based on Australia Council for the Arts - Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups

Apply for any activity relevant to your career. Please read the critera in the link below and discuss with your tutor if you have any questions.

https://australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/arts-projects-for-individuals-and-groups/

The requested income for the project must be between $10-50k. Suggested projects include:

A 6 - 8 Australian tour for an ensemble of which they are either currently a member of planning to form or a hypothetical group.
An online video concert series
Setting up a recording studio/production house
An album recording/music video and release plan
Masters program overseas

Assessment criteria

The following assessment criteria are used for written work in this unit of study:

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Demonstrates high level of initiative in research and reading; sophisticated critical analysis of evidence; high level engagement with theoretical issues, innovative use of reading/research material and impressive command of underlying debates and assumptions; properly documented and written with style, originality and precision.
Distinction	75 - 84	Demonstrates initiative in research and wide, appropriate reading; complex understanding of question and ability to critically review material in relation to underlying assumptions and values; analyses material in relation to empirical and theoretical contexts; properly documented; clear, well-developed structure and argument with some signs of literary style.
Credit	65 - 74	Evidence of broader understanding than pass level; offers synthesis with some critical evaluation of material; coherent argument using a range of relevant evidence; some evidence of independent thought, good referencing. A high credit (70-74) shows some evidence of ability to problematise and think conceptually.
Pass	50 - 64	Written work meets basic requirements in terms of reading/research; relevant material; tendency to descriptive summary rather than critical argument; makes a reasonable attempt to avoid paraphrasing; reasonably coherent structure; often has weaknesses in particular areas, especially in terms of narrow or underdeveloped treatment of question; acceptable documentation.
Fail	0 - 49	Work may fail for any or all of the following reasons: Unacceptable paraphrasing; irrelevance of content; poor spelling; poor presentation; grammar or structure so sloppy it cannot be understood; failure to demonstrate understanding of content; insufficient or overlong word length.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Late submission will normally be penalised by a deduction of marks according to the official policy (§11 of the Faculty Resolutions). In exceptional circumstances, dates may be negotiable; please discuss this with the Unit Coordinator in advance. Students who have genuine grounds for the late submission of an assignment or for missing one altogether should fill out an Application for Special Consideration.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Getting Started, The New Industry and the Power of Goal Setting Tutorial: Goal Setting, mission statement and elevator pitch.	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 02	Business Structure, not for profit organisations, selecting and protecting a name Tutorial: Setting up your business	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 03	Performing Live, Booking Agents, Managers Tutorial: Developing your approach email and visual/audio assets	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 04	Releasing Music, Music Distribution and Copyright Tutorial: Building your own contact database	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 05	APRA/AMCOS Guest Lecture Tutorial: Writing a Press Release (one-sheet)	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 06	Marketing and PR Tutorial: Writing a marketing and social media plan for a project. Write a testimonial.	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 07	Financial planning and taxation Tutorial: Prepare a tax invoice, start your business financial plan and budget	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 08	Australia Council for the Arts Guest Lecture Tutorial: Assess Grant applications (give scores) and provide feedback. Starting your own project.	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 09	Funding Your Music: Philanthropy, Crowd Funding, Sponsorship, Grants Tutorial: Presentations week 1	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	Record Deals and Record Companies Tutorial: Presentations week 2	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 11	Music Publishing Tutorial: Working on your project budget and getting quotes	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)
Week 12	Technology, Music and Business: The Future Tutorial: Project Timetable, Support Letters and Self Reflection	Lecture and tutorial (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90% of timetabled activities for a unit of study, unless granted exemption by the Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned. The Dean, Head of School or professor most concerned may determine that a student fails a unit of study because of inadequate attendance. Alternatively, at their discretion, they may set additional assessment items where attendance is lower than 90%.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Simpson, S., & Munro, J. (2006). Music Business: A musician's guide to the Australian music industry. Omnibus Press.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. set up and run a music business as a legal entity
LO2. view personal artistic practise as a business
LO3. develop short, medium, and long term goals for your career
LO4. demonstrate a general understanding of the value of self-promotion, and a general knowledge of techniques required to promote a music business
LO5. demonstrate an awareness of key funding sources, and have a basic ability to access these sources in a competitive and professional manner
LO6. self-design a project and grant application for your career, such as a tour, release, concert series or artistic development
LO7. investigate ways of diversifying a performance income.
LO8. Gain an overview of market trends and shifts in the music industry

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

One of the assessments has been scaffolded, so that part of it is due in week 3. Examplars will be provided for all assessments. Content has been taken out and simplified. More professional guests will be invited for shorter spots within each lecture (Phillip Mortlock - Origin Music, Jackson Harrison - copyright lawyer) and more tbc. Tutorials will work more in groups and present their work regularly to the class.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

JAZZ3631: Music Business Skills

Semester 2, 2023 [Normal day] - Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect