MUS394

This course explores the historical development and contemporary practices of the music industry. Students examine institutions ranging from small independent labels to multinational entertainment conglomerates, and address business models extending from Tin Pan Alley publishing houses in the late nineteenth century to Spotify-era strategies of music dissemination in an age of declining record sales. Other topics include the changing relationship between music and intellectual property, the role of technology in "disrupting" longstanding patterns of production and consumption, and the practical considerations faced by contemporary musicians as they navigate a market environment of shifting contractual obligations and consumer expectations.