The highly competitive entertainment market demands a professional who is both managerially proficient and artistically savvy. Unfortunately, there exists a significant dichotomy in the skill sets and perspectives of business/finance professionals and creative artists. This dichotomy tends to create problems within entertainment organizations. It is essential that the business professional understand where the artistic mindset is coming from and how to manage that relationship to maximum mutual advantage.
This concentration provides students with an opportunity to gain an enhanced level of knowledge about the commercial side of creative businesses.
Description of fields for which concentration prepares students:
The concentrations listed below seek to expand opportunities for students by including interdisciplinary options in broadcasting, film, telecommunications, the internet, and music. A business foundation is enjoined with courses from programs throughout USC. The program also seeks to clearly identify those students committed to a business career within a creative industry and acknowledge the completion of a curriculum that will enhance their performance in the field.
Description of the academic content and requirements for concentration:
Two foundation courses provide an introduction to various creative industries in which business professionals are hired. The first recommended course assures breadth in training by introducing the student to the creative industries through (a) a review of how these industries are organized and operate and (b) critical discussions of the pressing issues that these industries face. The second recommended course features business development and models for products and services delivered through increasingly pervasive networked digital platforms (NDI), focusing on the convergence of telecommunications, IT, software, content, and media. From this foundation the student steps into a specific area of interest or selects an assortment of courses from those listed below.
Four courses constitute a concentration. Please take note of the Nine-Unit Limit at the bottom of this page.
Foundation Courses:
- BAEP-575: Entrepreneurship in the Media and Entertainment Industry
- CNTV-525: Entertainment Marketing in Today's Digital Environment
- DSO-556: Business Models for Digital Platforms
- GSBA-555: Management and Organization of the Creative Industries
Industry Specializations:
Telecommunication / Mass Media
- CMGT-542: Business Strategies of Creator Firms
- CMGT-545: Communication and Global Competition
- CMGT-558: International Entertainment Marketplaces
- LAW-772: Intellectual Property
- MKT-561: Strategic Marketing in the Creative Industries
Interactive Media / Digital Entertainment
- CMGT-549: Case Studies in Digital Entertainment
- CMGT-558: International Entertainment Marketplaces
- CNTV-524: Digital Technologies and the Entertainment Industry
- CNTV-525: Entertainment Marketing in Today's Digital Environment
- ISE-544: Leading and Managing Engineering Teams
- ISE-585: Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation
- LAW-772: Intellectual Property
- LAW-773: Internet Law
Cinema / Television / Entertainment
- CMGT-558: International Entertainment Marketplaces
- Finance
Making Money with Movies (~ CTPR-562)
Entertainment Industry Finance and Economics (~ CTPR-562)
Feature Film Financing and the Studio System (CNTV-523) - The Business of Representation (CNTV-563)
- Marketing
Entertainment Marketing in Today's Digital Environment (CNTV-525)
Publicity for Cinema and Television (CNTV-561)
Strategic Marketing in the Creative Industries (MKT-561) - Film/Motion Pictures
Feature Film Financing and the Studio System (CNTV-523)
Seminar in Motion Picture Distribution, Budgeting, and Management (CTPR-560)
Anatomy of a Studio (~CNTV-589)
A Motion Picture Studio and How it Operates (~ CTPR-562)
The Role of the Producer in Motion Pictures and Television (~ CNTV-589)
The World of the Producer (CNTV-521) - Television
The World of Television ... How Does it Work? (~ CNTV-522)
Revolution or Evolution: How New Technologies are Changing Television Programming (~CNTV-589)
TV in Revolution: What will the future bring? (~ CNTV-589)
Global Cable and Syndication - Where the Big Dollars Are in TV (~ CNTV-589)
Television Programming (~CNTV-589)
The Television Industry: Networks, Cable and the Internet (CNTV-522) - Producing
The Role of the Producer in Motion Pictures and Television (~ CNTV-589)
The World of the Producer (CNTV-521) - Technology
Revolution or Evolution: How New Technologies are Changing Television Programming (~ CNTV-589)
Digital Technologies and the Entertainment Industry (CNTV-524)
New Technologies in the Entertainment Industry (~ CNTV-589)
The Internet and the Entertainment Industry (~ CNTV-589)
Music
- CMGT-547: Distribution of Recordings: Media, Retail and Online Channels
- CMGT-558: International Entertainment Marketplaces
- LAW-653: Music Law in Practice
- MUIN-570: The Music Industry
Sports
- DSO-578: Fundamentals of Sports Performance Analytics
- DSO-579: Advanced Sports Performance Analytics
- MOR-579: The Business of Sports Entertainment
- MKT-533: Branding Strategy
- LAW-660: Trademark Law in Practice
| Note: | Most non-business classes require a D clearance to register. Check the Schedule of Classes for the appropriate phone number or email address and request your D clearances early. |
| Law: | Marshall students are welcome to register for law classes after the JD and LLM students register. If there is space available in a course, graduate students from other USC departments wishing to enroll need to obtain the permission of the instructor via a signature on one of the law school's academic petition forms. In lieu of a signature we have accepted an e-mail from the instructor approving the student's enrollment. |
Nine-unit Limit:
Students earning a Marshall master's degree are expected to complete their graduate electives within the Marshall School of Business by taking courses that begin with prefixes ACCT, BAEP, BUCO, DSO, FBE, GSBA, MKT, and MOR.
MBA students: Unless the student is completing a dual degree program, MBA students may complete up to nine units of graduate-level course work at USC outside the Marshall School of Business for elective credit. A request for an exception to take a non-Marshall course must be submitted via petition (Marshall General Petition Form) to the student's program office prior to registering for the course. Units beyond the maximum 9.0 units are not counted toward the student’s MBA degree.
- An exception is made for those students completing the Business of Entertainment Certificate through the School of Cinematic Arts, which requires 4 Cinema courses (16.0 non-Marshall units).
- For MBA students who participate in Marshall’s International Exchange Program, a maximum of 15.0 units of USC-500O may be applied to the MBA degree. No other non-Marshall coursework may be applied to the MBA degree.
- Further exceptions to the maximum 9.0 units of non-Marshall course policy are rarely approved, and only if the student is on the Dean’s List with a minimum GPA of 3.60, coupled with a compelling reason for why the course uniquely aligns with their academic and career goals.
- Only courses beginning with the Marshall prefixes may be applied to the Marshall portion of a dual degree program.
MS, MMS, and Graduate Certificate students: Students in MS, the MMS, and Graduate Certificate programs may not apply non-Marshall courses to their degree unless (a) the courses are included in the published curriculum of the program or (b) permission is granted by the Academic Director of the program prior to taking the course. A request for an exception must be submitted via petition (Marshall General Petition Form) to the student's program office prior to registering for the course.