The Entertainment & Media Business program at Madison Media Institute teaches students about many aspects of the media business, from accounting and legal matters to entrepreneurship, distribution, artist management, marketing, and more.
The Financial Accounting and Applied Finance for Media and Entertainment course introduces business students to financial accounting and the language of business. The accounting focus is on the practical application of accounting principles to real-world business. Students use spreadsheet tools to create worksheets for merchandising and service businesses. This course also investigates financial decision-making from a managerial perspective. Central to this aspect of the course is the concept of valuation and its use as a tool for making management decisions. Students learn valuation techniques for capital budgeting decisions and corporate projects.
Cost Accounting introduces students to accounting as a managerial tool, useful for those within an organization who direct and control operations. The course introduces methods of standardized cost accounting, activity-based accounting, and Throughput accounting. Students learn to view budgets as a quantified plan and to measure progress against goals using accounting metrics.
Business in a Legal and Economic Context covers copyright, publishing, contracts, and other legal issues related to digital media. Business structures, the modern corporate environment, business, best practices and legal ethics are also explored.
Advanced Entrepreneurship examines entrepreneurship via a practical, step-by-step approach. Students examine the behavioral and social foundations of entrepreneurship, and then explore process, with a special focus on entrepreneurship in new media. Guest speakers with entrepreneurial experience bring to life the conceptual framework taught in this course.
Distribution in Media and Entertainment Businesses introduces students to the process and channels of delivering media to the consumer. Options and trends in traditional retail and Internet delivery are explored.
Artist/Project Development covers artist and project development, including finding artists, creating new projects, and developing plans and strategies for new revenue sources. Students gain exposure to practical topics such as project management and budgeting.
History of Economic Thought covers the development of economic thought from Adam Smith’s classical views through contemporary behavioral economics. Along the way, students review concepts in micro-economic theory. Topics include the operation of markets and allocation of scarce resources, the behavior of individual consumers and firms, and the function of the price mechanism. Students learn how economics can be used to describe real-world markets.
Role of Mass Communications in Culture and Politics examines mass communication in historical, societal and political contexts by investigating its impact on individuals and on society as a whole. The course focuses on how print, broadcast, online, and emerging media shape the political, economic and social fabric of society. The course aims to develop its students into discerning consumers of mass media.
History of Contemporary Art surveys the visual arts from post-World War II to present. Students explore major movements such as Abstract Impressionism and Minimalism, as well as the more fragmented current landscape. Nontraditional forms such as video art and computer art are considered, as are the art/non-art (design) divide and outsider art.
Writing Across Genres focuses on skills required to interpret and compose text. In working with a number of genres including essays, poetry, scripts, and news writing, students analyze the author’s intended purpose and target audience. Across the course’s seven projects, students draft, edit, and polish their own writing while applying critical skills to the writing of their peers.
Applied Ethics introduces concepts and applications of practical ethics through the lens of philosophical morality. Contemporary issues such as intellectual property and ownership, access to health care, responsibilities of market participants, and cultural confrontation through terrorism are considered.
Data Analysis for Decisions introduces students to key concepts and techniques of data analysis. Students learn the role of data in decision-making, how data can be collected and displayed, how statistics can be used to summarize data, and how to draw inferences from data.
The Information Society examines the nature and impact of information technologies (IT) on business and society. At a conceptual level, students investigate how information technology develops and is constrained by the wider society, and is in turn influenced by social, political, and economic forces. At a practical level, students consider the impact of information technologies on global manufacturing, services, the public sector, and the arts. Particular attention is paid to business information systems and web-based technologies.
Music/Video Marketing and Promotion/Publicity in the Entertainment Industry is a comprehensive course, through which students become familiar with the specifics of promoting entertainment products and events. Topics included packaging, retail promotion, internet, lifestyle, tour/event, and grassroots marketing. Students complete projects including the development of an integrated marketing plan. The entertainment publicity focus covers artist and tour publicity, press kits, preparing for and arranging press interviews, the differences between in-house and independent publicity, event planning, the impact of technology, and future trends in publicity.
Contemporary Topics in Management and Marketing for Media introduces students to contemporary concepts and principles of business managing including authority and responsibilities management, span of control, delegation, and communication within working teams. The management process (planning, organizing and controlling) is presented, with focus on practical application. In addition, the course examines the marketing process as a core component of the profitable media/entertainment enterprise. Special attention is given to evaluating customer needs, target markets, pricing, distribution, and promotion of market-demanded products and services.
Introduction to Social Psychology considers how individuals interact with one another based on theories of social structure and inequality, self and identity, and socialization. In addition to theoretical and methodological aspects of key theories, students relate symbolic interactionism and social exchange concepts to work, family, and social settings.
