Contrasting Innovations: Berklee Offers Online Music Biz MBA, Renman Joins CreativeLIVE
Opportunities for learning about the music industry via the web continue to grow. Two recent additions illustrate the range of possibilities from a formal Music Business MBA offered jointly by Berklee Online and Southern New Hampshire University to a day-long seminar on music business networking featuring Steve Rennie and offered by CreativeLIVE. The promo trailers illustrate their different approaches to innovation and branding.
The online MBA in Music Business announced by Berklee and SNHU appears to be a traditionally structured educational partnership between two well-established entities. The polished corporate tone of this video speaks volumes:
The Benefits of SNHU and Berklee Online's MBA in Music Business
The MBA in Music Business combines traditional MBA coursework from Southern New Hampshire with music business-oriented coursework from Berklee Online. Coursework includes:
"nine MBA courses online at SNHU in areas such as managerial accounting, production and operations management, finance, information technology, and marketing strategy, and then apply what they learned to the music industry through courses to be taken with Berklee Online include Music Business Structures and Strategies, Music Marketing Strategies, Music Business Finance, and Music Business Leadership and Ethics."
It sounds like a well thought-out offering from two solid educational entities.
Music Business 101: Networking with Steve Rennie
Steve Rennie's CreativeLIVE workshop on Music Business Networking comes from what traditional higher ed terms "continuing ed" which the web has helped turn into a disruptive opportunity for reaching professionals.
CreativeLIVE is a growing educational service that offers live creative and entrepreneurial workshops online for free and then charges for later access to courses. It's been a surprisingly powerful approach resulting in millions in investments and a gradual expansion into areas such as music.
Steve Rennie's workshop is one of the few related to music. He made a previous appearance on CreativeLIVE in an interview on successful careers in music which is still available for free.
The above video communicates a tone that fits CreativeLIVE. A highly experienced, upbeat yet world weary pro tells you what's up in a format that bypasses traditional educational structures.
To be honest, based on my experience in higher edu including graduate coursework online, Berklee's video likely speaks more to the institutional brand than to the classroom experience while Renman's is likely to give one a better sense of what one's actually getting.
It's an interesting example of how the presentation of the two programs reveals the sustaining nature of Berklee and SNHU's innovation versus the disruptive innovation of CreativeLIVE while speaking to the needs of differing populations.
[Thumbnail image courtesy Beth H aka periwinklekog.]
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
Hey Clyde,
Thanks for posting this.
I wrote and will be teaching a couple of the courses that are part of this Berklee / SNHU Online MBA in music business.
I think you’re right about the idea that the internet provides many options for music education for differing populations. We’ve been working on all sorts of options, from the free, low-touchpoint online courses we are doing with Coursera, the Berklee Shares lessons we launched years ago, the Bit Torrent bundle we launched a couple months back, on up to the 12-week online courses we do, and this new SNHU MBA partnership.
No doubt the promo videos have a different approach and feel, but I think that they (or ours, at least) might not be the best indicator of what the online classroom experience itself is like. What we have happening is super interactive, high touch, and totally up to date and forward thinking. We’re bringing folks into the weekly online live chats that are absolute experts in their fields, like Benji Rogers, Rachael Yamagata, Kevin Breuner, etc, to talk about how they are running their businesses, new initiatives they are working on, and what is working for them. Steve Rennie has actually taught some online courses for us in the past, too.
Anyway – just a quick comment from me. I love the work you do, and my students find a ton of value in what you and Bruce are doing with Hypebot. Happy to answer any questions you or anyone else has on what we are up to: mking [at] berklee.edu
Mike