DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas G. Brint Ryan College of Business and College of Music will introduce an MBA in music business this fall.
The new offering will instill future music professionals with an interdisciplinary mindset by blending business-administration and music-entrepreneurship curricula.
Students from all musical backgrounds will learn management, marketing, finance, media and other skills needed for direct application to the music industry. This program will help students build financially and professionally satisfying careers that positively impact their communities.
“I am truly excited to launch this collaborative program. The MBA in music business brings together UNT’s world class College of Music with its highly ranked Masters of Business Administration in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business. This innovative degree gives musicians the business skills they need to succeed in their careers along with access to a whole new set of entrepreneurial and management opportunities,” said G. Brint Ryan College of Business Dean Marilyn Wiley.
UNT is known for its development of unique academic programs that prepare students for the music industry’s changing needs. The internationally-ranked College of Music debuted the world’s first Jazz Studies degree program in 1947 and, in 2018, launched a new intercollegiate, interdepartmental curriculum in Music for Media, including music scoring for film, games, TV and related digital media in partnership with the Department of Media Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
The MBA in music business grew out of the College of Music’s existing Music Business and Entrepreneurship program, which “Billboard” magazine listed among the nation’s Top Music Business Schools for the last four years. Each year, the program awards $20,000 in cash prizes to budding student entrepreneurs in the UNT Music Entrepreneurship Competition.
“There are very few such degrees offered in American higher education today, and none to our knowledge within a public-university context. This new partnership leverages the strengths and expertise of two distinguished faculties and provides an impressive, interdisciplinary curriculum at a terrific value,” said College of Music Dean John Richmond.