The best way to prepare to work in entertainment is to work in entertainment

Get hands on experience and personal mentoring, as you turn your creative endeavors into compelling real-world products. With an accelerated Master of Business Administration in Entertainment and Media Management, establish your business skills in less than a year—versus two years for most comparable MBA programs.
MBA students working on sound mixing for wind ensemble performance
What to Expect
Interact with alumni and industry partners from a range of media. Master and put theories into practice, all in a supportive, creative environment.

Who is Our MBA in Entertainment and Media Management Program For?

After earning a business degree, you now want a more industry-relevant credential. Maybe you’re an artist, a musician, or content creator looking to supplement your talents. Make this dynamic program your gateway to the entertainment and media industry.
11
Months

To earn your MBA and all aspects of the entertainment and media business

36
Credits

Include entrepreneurship, law, management, negotiation, leadership, marketing, economics and accounting, and organizational structure

Program Highlights

Create Your Path
Build on your passion for music, cinema, performance, and writing with business credentials that equip you to move up in your field, switch careers, or excel as an entrepreneur. You’ll join fellow students from a variety of academic and creative backgrounds, from business and sound recording to communications and journalism.

Fast-tracked and Career-focused
In just 11 months, you can earn IC’s MBA in Entertainment and Media Management—a degree of the same caliber and with the same professional opportunities as similar two-year programs. Studying from August to June, you’ll learn about all aspects of the entertainment and media business, including laws, management, negotiation, leadership, marketing, economics, accounting, and organizational structure. The fast-tracked, career-focused program model ensures that you’ll spend minimal time away from the workforce.

Hands-on Learning Opportunities
Here, you’ll learn by doing: for IC’s own South Hill Entertainment, a production company founded by prior MBA students, you’ll brainstorm concepts, plan pre-production, source partners, produce and distribute content, and manage marketing for audio, video, and live events. You’ll collaborate and network with industry professionals through small group connections, industry conferences, premieres, live events, and more.

This cross-disciplinary program brings the strengths of IC’s School of Business together with media insights from the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance and the Roy H. Park School of Communications.

Curriculum

Build on your foundations in business or creative disciplines with courses covering the development and distribution of media content. The MBA’s entertainment focus brings together a variety of creative fields with broad-based business and management competencies to help you meet the needs of multimedia industry environments or pursue entrepreneurship.

Careers

Your professional prospects are broad with IC’s unique MBA: sports and entertainment management, audio and visual media production, finance and law for entertainment and media businesses, marketing and public relations, and much more. After just 11 months of study, you can pursue entertainment and media jobs like:

  • Digital marketer
  • Event manager
  • Location manager
  • Market and media researcher
  • Music producer
  • Public relations officer
  • Social media manager
  • Television/film/video producer
  • Television production coordinator

Occupations in this field, particularly those related to entertainment and sports, are rapidly growing: the Bureau of Labor Statisticsprojects 22% job growth in these industries from 2020 to 2030, a rate significantly faster than the average across all occupations. An MBA in Entertainment and Media Management sets you apart in a competitive industry where the strongest entrants—like you—will have opportunities to lead and thrive.

Apply Today!

The application cycle for entry in 2025 is now open! 

Contact Us

Margaret B. Shackell, Ph.D., CMA, CPA, CA
Associate Professor, Director MS Accounting Program
3rd Floor, Park Center for Sustainable Enterprise
953 Danby Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850