The music capital of America, New York City, is the place to learn the slick, tricky and always changing rules of the music business. The music industry in New York is high-volume, fast-paced and challenging. Music educators use the city itself to teach students about music industry professions, networking skills, music marketing and publicity, as well as aiding talented musicians into successful careers. From larger colleges to small-scale schools, New York City offers inexpensive music business education at all levels.

CUNY: Baruch College: New York Music Industry Association

Baruch College, in the CUNY (City University of New York) network, excels in business courses. Baruch College features a special non-profit organization called NYMIA, the New York Music Industry Association. This non-profit student organization exposes students to the music industry via workshops, discussions, trips to trade shows, and networking events with executives and representatives from music corporations in the New York area. Students also learn about career opportunities in the music industry through club-organized events. The association offers jobs and internships to members interested in furthering their interest in careers. It prepares students for careers in: music production, label operations, publicity/marketing, merchandising, entertainment law, artist management, touring, music publishing and so on. The NYMIA is always growing and expanding in the number of courses and the depth of the current programs. This service is free.

CUNY: Baruch College: New York Music Industry Association 17 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10010 646-312-3870 baruch.cuny.edu; nymia.org

The New School: The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music

The New School, centrally located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, offers an incredibly diverse and challenging curriculum in the jazz school's Survey of the Music Business course. Through an overview of music business and the industry, students learn how business proposals and deals affect professional musicians, music educators and businesspeople. The Music Business course addresses copyright laws, performing rights, mechanical rights, agents, management, unions and benefits, the non-profit sector of the music industry, creating work, and discovering problems faced by professional musicians including poor career development. Students develop expertise on how to aid a musician's career using the Internet and social media tools. As of March 2010, the tuition is $1,076 per credit or $16,430 per full term.

The New School: The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music 55 West 13th Street New York, NY 10011-7958 212-229-5873 jazz.newschool.edu

New York University (NYU): Steinhardt

NYU features stellar undergraduate and graduate degree courses in the music business. Students in the Steinhardt program receive structured courses as well as interactive classroom projects, internships, and participation in NYU's record company, Village Records. NYU also requires in-depth research assignments, and encourages students to learn music business hands-on through participating with its WNYU radio station and the NYU MEISA (Music & Entertainment Industry Student Association). A full-time undergraduate tuition is $38,765, but per-credit cost depends on the amount of courses needed for a particular duration and instruction level. NYU awards close to $30,000 in financial aid to freshmen alone, so it is worth it to apply for aid. Auditing or taking courses individually is also available upon request.

New York University (NYU): Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions 35 West 4th Street, Suite 777 New York, NY 10012 212-998-5424 steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/business

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