Master

Master’s degree in programming, management, and marketing of musical performances

Inactive for the 2016/17 academic year

Learning objectives

The first-level Master’s Degree Course in “Planning, Management and Marketing of Musical Performances” intends to train graduates from Conservatoires, Academies and, more generally, institutions of higher artistic, musical and dance education, as well as University graduates, so as to prepare them for the new needs that are emerging in the context of musical and artistic production (organisation, planning, design of the artistic event and musical performance). All this taking into account the market conditions, the opportunities provided by public and private funding sources, the regulatory conditions concerning the performing arts and cultural organisation. Artistic production today presents a real market, within which cultural organisations, foundations, but also companies and enterprises operate. In order to promote their own career or projects, an artist must make themselves aware of the mechanisms at work in the music production sector and the roles with which they will have to interact, proving themselves to be capable and well-prepared interlocutors.

A professional who wants to manage the career of an artist, or, reporting to a client, develop an entrusted task – such as organising and articulating a show project, a musical event, a concert programme – must know how to cultivate the basic idea, specify it from an organisational point of view and promote it to the media. Furthermore, they must be able to optimise the results, based on the given economic conditions. Project management must also be able to produce important moments of verification, in order to correspond to the requirements of the client.

Description of professional profile, opportunities and outlets

Musicians are increasingly required to deal with aspects of communication and organisation of artistic production.  It seems important to plan and organise, with well thought-out and analytical planning, all aspects of artistic choices. A concert programme, as well as a composition project, must take into account the context in which they are intended to operate. Musicians who want to be incisive in their artistic proposal must therefore be able to project their work into the conditions in which they want to operate. It is important for artists to come into contact with professional skills, which are crucial today with respect to career development. These skills relate to knowledge of the economic context of music, which is marked by the record and music publishing industry, the professional functions linked to the world of theatre, as well as the media, and, today, the new media.  Knowledge in the field of management, such as law, management of performing arts businesses, cultural associations and foundations, will be important as well.

If a preparation of this kind appears to complement the primary, essential skills of the musician, in that it endows him with a capacity for concrete action within the artistic production market, it becomes evident how he could configure himself in autonomous terms, and draw up a specific professional profile, which refers to figures such as the Artistic Director, who plans concert seasons, selects and coordinates concert programmes, and evaluates the best choices of artists, according to the cultural design overseeing a concert programme, without losing sight of the available resources, to which he/she must also know how to relate in order to find the most appropriate choices, in terms of compatibility with the contexts of action. Think also of the increasingly present role of the consultant or collaborator of public bodies for the programming of cultural and performing arts activities. In this case we are talking about a professional, who is in charge of designing and fleshing out aggregative events. Increasingly, this corresponds to a minutely defined professionalism, which must produce an idea, in relation to a client, but then design it, follow up on it, develop it, express it in all its potential, and convey it to the media, taking into account the assigned budget conditions, and also putting in place essential verifications, regarding the result, to evaluate the merits and critical aspects of the productions.
Or think of the role played by agencies that promote concerts or artists. The spectrum of possible applications for such a professional profile is very broad, and calls for expertise in many fields, from specific, and very in-depth, knowledge in the field of music, to media mechanisms, to entertainment law and legislation, not forgetting the economics of music.

In summary, this is the list of some important profiles related to the project, which can be defined as targeting the following professions:

• Freelance activities, in a market environment, of the performing musician and composer;
• Expert in the field of cultural and artistic organisation, artist management, copyright and performing arts;
• Artistic director and programme manager of concerts and complex activities, at theatres, orchestras, concert associations, musical and performing arts organisations;
• Collaborator and consultant for public and private organisations for the programming of cultural and performing arts activities;
• Collaborator and consultant for the realisation of musical events;
• Construction and management of cultural, musical and performing arts activities, independently, through cultural associations, foundations, or other legal structures;
• Promoter of documentation centres for musical, artistic and performing arts activities;
• Responsible for marketing and financing in structures for art and concert initiatives;
• Responsibility and management jobs in agencies promoting concerts and/or artists;
• Responsible work in the field of communication and promotion related to music and performing arts initiatives.

Access Requirements

First level academic diploma from a Conservatoire (or a “Istituto Musicale Pareggiato”): Traditional Diploma (combined with High School Diploma), or First Level Academic Diploma, Experimental Three-year Higher Diploma; or other qualification of equal level, obtained at another institution of High Musical and Coreutic Artistic Education (Academies – of Fine Arts; National of Dramatic Art; National of Dance; and ISIA – Higher Institutes for Artistic Industries); or other qualification of equal level obtained abroad; or First Level University Degree (of all Faculties). Students who plan to obtain an academic degree, from a Conservatoire or other institution of higher musical and coreutical education, or even a university degree, in the winter session (February-March) may also apply for admission to the Master’s Course, with provisional enrolment.

Addressees

The Master’s course is aimed at those who intend to specialise, update or complete their academic studies at the Conservatoire or other institution of higher artistic, musical and dance education, or even their university degree course, addressing the issues of planning, management and marketing of artistic production, as well as the organisation, marketing and promotion of artistic, musical and performing arts initiatives, composition production projects, and cultural animation of the territory, considering the developments brought about by the new media, which invest the economy by directing it towards the rather innovative criteria of the new economy.

The first edition of the Master, held in the 2006-07 academic year, saw students from all over Italy and abroad. In particular, 70% of those enrolled came from the Trentino Alto Adige region, 20% from the remaining Italian regions and 10% from abroad.

The Master addresses a diverse range of participants. Students may be musicians as well as non-musicians. A musical qualification is not prescribed for admission, but, in more general and open terms, a first-level qualification obtained in the field of higher education: university, or artistic, musical or coreutic. Observing the course of study, it is evident that the main topics of interest are those of organisation and cultural production, the economics of music, and the law and legislation of the performing arts, with particular attention paid to the knowledge and analysis of the various contexts in which cultural, musical and artistic production is expressed, according to recognised and consolidated structures. Strong attention is paid to the history, criteria, practices, techniques, current trends and development perspectives of communication and media. An important introductory part relates to the cultural changes that are affecting music, creativity and the professions today, observed from various points of view, where the powerful capacity for effect, including the redefinition of contexts, horizons of thought and sensitivities, by the new digital technologies and the Internet stands out. The Master’s course can be a coherent approach for student musicians, in possession of a first level degree, from Conservatories and peer music Institutes, who wish to be trained in the fields of study of the course. Similarly for students from Academies and ISIAs. Also for university students, where a polarisation of interest is noted in the fields of law, economics, sociology, cultural heritage and music, while a possibility of grafting from all university faculties is emphasised.
In short, it can be said that the course’s addressees are more generally all those students, in possession of a first level higher education qualification (from Conservatoires, Academies, and Universities), who are interested in taking an in-depth look, also assuming important technical skills, at the topics addressed by the Master’s course.
In view of the first edition of the Master’s Course, the data on the educational backgrounds of the enrolled students reveal that 40% of the participants pursued music-oriented studies, while the remaining 60% pursued studies in the legal, economic and social fields.

Structure

Enrolment numbers: minimum 8 enrolled; maximum 20 enrolled. An amendment to this maximum number may be considered by the Conservatoire’s governing bodies and the Master’s programme management structure, depending on demand and organisational possibilities.

Total training hours 1100. Of these, approximately 250 consist of lectures. An internship period of approximately 150 hours is expected, conducted at partner institutions, which collaborate in this way with the didactics carried out in the Master’s course, and the work project, which will be defined by the student with the guidance of a lecturer, and presented as the final examination. Part of the work within the course may be defined in relation to study experiences and in-depth studies, conducted for seminars, conferences, symposia. Individual study hours (measured at approximately 700) must also be taken into account. In addition to the final examination, intermediate examinations may also be included.