Launching Your Music Career (Coursera)

Launching Your Music Career (Coursera)

After you've acquired the various tools and strategies to build your music career, it's time to put those skills to work! In this course, you will acquire the skills to manage a variety of professional endeavors including self-management, freelance performing, and launching a private lesson studio. Perfect for the young professional or a seasoned pro looking to diversify their portfolio career.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

What You Will Learn

  • Articulate your Unique Selling Proposition.
  • Use the Business Model Canvas to determine the core functions required to effectively manage your portfolio career.
  • Complete a comprehensive growth and recruitment plan for your teaching studio and identify the competitive landscape.
  • Seek out and book performance opportunities in a variety of settings.

Course 4 of 4 in the Musician’s Professional Toolbox: Your Portfolio Career Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Be Your Own Manager
In this module, you will learn the essential elements in a typical portfolio career, helpful mindsets for self-management, and how to manage the various components of the business that is You.

WEEK 2
Freelance Performance
In this module, you will learn how to land gigs, work with booking agents and venues, and create a steady and stable income stream from freelance performance.

WEEK 3
Setting Up Your Teaching Studio
In this module, you will learn key questions you should answer before launching a teaching studio, including identifying your target market, understanding the competitive climate, and determining your “Unique Selling Proposition.”

WEEK 4
Growing Your Teaching Studio
In this module, you will learn how to expand your studio and create community among your cohort of students.

WEEK 5
Honors Lessons: Launch a Website; Open a Studio (optional)
In this module you will complete this specialization by either publishing a professional-grade website or completing a comprehensive growth and recruitment plan for your teaching studio.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Today’s Music Industry (Coursera) Coursera
West Virginia University

Today’s Music Industry (Coursera)

This course provides an engaging and methodical insight into the past and present cultural and commercial music industry developments, directions, and trends. It will equip the students with the knowledge and skills necessary to appreciate, understand and more productively participate in today’s music industry field.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

Fundamentals of Audio and Music Engineering: Part 1 Musical Sound & Electronics (Coursera)

In this course students learn the basic concepts of acoustics and electronics and how they can applied to understand musical sound and make music with electronic instruments. Topics include: sound waves, musical sound, basic electronics, and applications of these basic principles in amplifiers and speaker design.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Fundamentals of Music Theory (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Fundamentals of Music Theory (Coursera)

This course will introduce students to the theory of music, providing them with the skills needed to read and write Western music notation, as well as to understand, analyse, and listen informedly. It will cover material such as pitEli Appleby-Donaldches and scales, intervals, clefs, rhythm, form, meter, phrases and cadences, and basic harmony.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Land Your Next Role (Coursera) Coursera
Aptly

Land Your Next Role (Coursera)

Land Your Next Role will help job seekers find, prepare for, and land that next job. With practical guidance on how to showcase your skills, how to write a resume and cover letter, how to find job listings, how to decipher job descriptions, how to network, how to prepare for an interview, what to expect in an offer letter, and more, Land Your Next Role will be a valuable tools for those asking, “What’s next?”

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Music of the Beatles (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

The Music of the Beatles (Coursera)

The Music of the Beatles will track the musical development of the band, starting from the earliest days in Liverpool and Hamburg, moving through the excitement of Beatlemania, the rush of psychedelia, and the maturity of Abbey Road. While the focus will be on the music, we will also consider how recording techniques, the music business, the music of other artists, and the culture of the 1960s affected John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they created the Beatles repertory.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
So You Think You Know Tango? (Coursera) Coursera
Emory University

So You Think You Know Tango? (Coursera)

How well do you think you know tango? This two-week mini-course is designed for music lovers, musicians, and dancers who are interested in learning more about the Argentine Tango. It will explore the many dimensions of the Argentine Tango music, including its origins, popularization during the Golden Age, dissemination abroad, evolution into an artistic music-dance form, and adoption by Argentine and international art-music composers to date.

Nov 23rd 2026
2 Weeks
The entrepreneur's guide for beginners (Coursera) Coursera
University of Barcelona

The entrepreneur's guide for beginners (Coursera)

The Entrepreneur's Guide for beginners and is a course created in collaboration with all Catalan public universities and EIT Health and aims to be the starting point for all those who want to improve their knowledge and skills in the world entrepreneurship. In this course you will be able to identify a business opportunity, develop the business model (and the steps to validate it) and know the main mechanisms to find your business.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Desarrollando tu musicalidad (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music,Inter-American Development Bank - IDB

Desarrollando tu musicalidad (Coursera)

Aprende los conceptos básicos y enfoques necesarios para entender, crear e interpretar música contemporánea. Esta obra fue financiada con una donación del Banco Inter-Americano de Desarrollo con recursos del Fondo Coreano para la Reducción de la Pobreza. Las opiniones expresadas en esta obra son exclusivamente de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan el punto de vista del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, de su Directorio Ejecutivo ni de los países que representa.

Nov 23rd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introducción a la guitarra (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Introducción a la guitarra (Coursera)

Aprende los elementos esenciales necesarios para empezar a tocar la guitarra acústica o eléctrica. Aprenderás un enfoque fácil que te hará tocar rápidamente a través de una combinación de la exploración del instrumento, la técnica de ejecución y la teoría básica de la música.

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks
20世纪西方音乐 Western Music in the 20th Century (Coursera) Coursera
Peking University

20世纪西方音乐 Western Music in the 20th Century (Coursera)

课程所涉不仅涵盖古典音乐如新古典主义、表现主义、民族主义等流派,也对爵士乐、摇滚乐与流行音乐在20世纪的风格情状投以深切关注;在将包括中国音乐在内的世界各国民族民间音乐纳入20世纪大背景予以研究探索之同时,关于大型综合艺术品例如歌剧、音乐剧、电影音乐的考察与分析,也设为专题,绝无偏废。

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks