Music & Recording Industry
College of Extended Learning
Dean: Dr. Alex Hwu
SF State Downtown Campus
835 Market Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 817-4230
Fax: (415) 817-4299
Website: https://cel.sfsu.edu/music
Program Scope and Objectives
The Music/Recording Industry program is designed for students who want to learn more about the music business and audio recording industry through a structured program of study. Musicians, producers, engineers, lawyers, agents, promoters, managers, and entertainment writers can benefit from MRI courses. The program integrates technical skills in recording, business, and legal aspects, along with production and distribution elements, to provide foundations in the music business and audio engineering fields.
Faculty
Program faculty are selected for their expertise in the technical or business aspects of the music/recording industry and their outstanding teaching ability.
Career Outlook
The Music/Recording Industry Certificate is designed both for the student who wants an overall basic education in the business of music/audio recording and for the professional who is seeking to broaden an area of expertise. Coursework in the program may be applied toward the certificate, or individual classes may be taken to learn or update skills. Students may choose to pursue an audio engineering or a business emphasis or apply the academic credit earned in this program towards a degree in related subject areas. Job categories include artist management, professional songwriter, record producer, audio engineer, sound designer, music publicist, music marketing, music journalist, talent producer, agent, record promotion, record distribution, studio manager, music publishing, concert production and booking, legal affairs, and tour management.
Certificate in Music & Recording Industry (MRI)
Admission to Program
To be admitted to the certificate program, students should have completed 60 units of prior academic college credit or have sufficient experience to demonstrate they can perform upper-division work. Students who do not have 60 units may be accepted on a conditional basis and are encouraged to apply. Students may enroll in up to nine units before applying to a certificate program.
Writing Skills
The certificate program's course content requires good writing skills. Certificate students are asked to demonstrate their writing ability soon after admission to the certificate program to satisfy the university literacy requirement.
Music/Recording Industry, Certificate — 24 units
The certificate program requires completion of 24 units. Nine units must be taken from a core of courses shown below, then a minimum of eleven units chosen from your chosen emphasis (Audio Engineering or Music Business), and the remaining three may be chosen from the following list of elective courses.
For complete course descriptions, contact the program director.
Core Requirements (9 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MRI 310 | Beginning Music Recording | 3 |
| MRI 350 | History of Music Industry | 3 |
| MRI 360 | Legal Aspects Music Recording Industry | 3 |
Emphasis (12 units)
Choose Audio Engineering or Music Business
Audio Engineering Emphasis
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MRI 315 | Intermediate Music Recording | 3 |
| MRI 316 | Pro Tools 101 | 1 |
| MRI 320 | Music Mixing Workshop | 3 |
| MRI 380 | Field Study Music/Recording Industry (internship course) | 2-3 |
| MRI 430 | Adv Audio Prod 1 (Fantasy Studios) | 3 |
Music Business Emphasis
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MRI 331 | Introduction to the Music Industry | 3 |
| MRI 355 | Music Industry Career Options | 3 |
| MRI 362 | Music Publishing | 3 |
| MRI 380 | Field Study Music/Recording Industry (internship course) | 1-3 |
Elective Courses (3 units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| MRI 312 | Ableton Live | 1 |
| MRI 313 | EDM Production | 2 |
| MRI 317 | Reason: Digital Music Composition | 2 |
| MRI 318 | Logic Audio 101 | 2 |
| MRI 327 | Role of Record Producer | 2 |
| MRI 329 | Live Concert Production | 2 |
| MRI 330 | Music Business Publicity | 3 |
| MRI 334 | Popular Music Marketing and the Media | 3 |
| MRI 336 | The Art and Business of Songwriting | 2 |
| MRI 338 | Studio Sessions Vocal Workshop | 2 |
| MRI 340 | Music Artist Management | 3 |
| MRI 341 | Music Mastering | 1 |
| MRI 342 | Hst/Aes Music Record Prod | 3 |
| MRI 348 | Independent Record Label | 3 |
| MRI 352 | Artist & Repertoire | 3 |
| MRI 370 | Producing Music Videos (Topics vary and are offered on a rotating basis.) | 2 |
| MRI 530 | Adv Audio Prod 2 (Fantasy Studio) | 3 |
| MRI 625 | Live Concert Sound | 1 |