Bachelor of Entertainment Management

The Bachelor of Entertainment Management at The Australian Institute of Music is a three-year degree for people who want to work behind the scenes in music, live events and the broader entertainment business. You study how the industry actually runs: booking and touring, artist management, venue operations, marketing and audience development, copyright and contracts, event production, and the money side of putting on a show. It is an entertainment degree taught inside a music institute, so the business content sits alongside people who are making the work you will eventually manage.

How the degree is structured

Australian bachelor degrees are normally three years of full-time study, and this one is no exception. The academic year usually runs across two semesters, with each semester made up of units of study worth a set number of credit points. You accumulate credit points across the three years until you meet the total required to graduate. Expect core units in entertainment business and management, plus electives that let you lean towards live touring, artist representation, or the commercial side of recorded music. Teaching mixes lectures and tutorials with project work, and assessment tends to be practical, business plans, event proposals, budgets, campaigns, rather than exams alone.

Work-integrated learning is standard in this field, and entertainment management is no different. Placements or industry projects put you with promoters, venues, festivals, management companies or record labels, where you apply what you have learned to a real event or release. Some students use these placements to build the contacts that lead to their first job. A final-year capstone project ties the degree together, usually a substantial piece of work such as a full event concept, a management plan for an artist, or a business case for a new venture.

What you actually learn

By the end you should be able to read a contract and spot the clauses that matter, build a budget for a tour or an event and know where the money goes, plan and market a show, and manage the relationships between artists, agents, venues and sponsors. You also learn how Australian copyright and licensing work, which matters if you stay and work here. The skills are practical: negotiation, project management, financial literacy, promotion, and the ability to keep a production on schedule when something goes wrong.

Who it suits

This degree suits someone who loves music and live events but wants to be the person running them rather than performing. If you are organised, comfortable with numbers and contracts, and happy dealing with artists, crews and sponsors, it is a good fit. It also works for people already working in venues or promotion who want a formal qualification. International students should note that while studying in Australia on a Student visa you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight during term, which is a chance to get real experience in the industry. After graduating, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream may let you stay and work in Australia, depending on your circumstances. English requirements for international applicants are set out by the institute and by the Department of Home Affairs for the visa; check the official pages for the current details.

• Artist manager or booking agent, representing musicians, negotiating gigs and tours, and managing day-to-day careers. Employers include management companies, agencies and independent artists.
• Event or festival coordinator, planning and delivering live events, from site logistics to programming. Festivals, promoters and event production companies hire here.
• Venue operations or programming, running the business side of a live music venue, including scheduling, ticketing and front-of-house. Pubs, clubs, theatres and arts centres all need this.
• Marketing and audience development, building campaigns for releases, tours and events. Record labels, promoters and arts organisations recruit for these roles.
• Tour or production manager, keeping a tour on the road, managing budgets, crew and schedules. Touring companies and production houses are the main employers.
• Record label or music publishing roles, A&R support, marketing, royalties and licensing. Independent labels and publishers in Australia and overseas hire graduates.
• Arts administration, working with government arts agencies, councils and not-for-profits on grants, programming and cultural policy.