Take a midday stroll around any college campus, a weekend trek through a mall or a workout session in any gym, and you’ll notice dozens of people doing the same thing: listening to downloaded songs on their iPods.
Those light, portable digital audio players are revolutionizing the way people listen to music and having an impact on what is taught at the University of Miami’s Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music.
In the school’s Music Business and Entertainment Industries program (MBEI), students are learning how the demand for online music is changing the industry, from its relatively recent emergence as a newer form of distribution to the licensing and royalties that go with it.
The program prepares future executives for a multibillion-dollar music industry that now has more record companies, retailers and publishers than ever before. The curriculum has adapted to the world of online music by teaching students about other areas of profit such as ringtones, which can potentially bring in more revenue than more traditional forms of music.