Visual and Performing Arts
Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management
Prepares you to organize and manage various aspects of the visual arts, performing arts, and entertainment media industries. Covers business and financial management, marketing and fund-raising, labor relations for the arts, event promotion and management, product and artist management, and applicable law.
Inside the major
Programs within this field
Colleges may offer this field under 5 more specific program names. The program you choose affects the courses you take.
- Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General
- Prepares you to organize and manage various aspects of the visual arts, performing arts, and entertainment media industries. Covers business and financial management, marketing and fund-raising, labor relations for the arts, event promotion and management, product and artist management, and applicable law.
- Fine and Studio Arts Management
- Prepares you to organize and manage fine and studio art organizations, operations, and facilities. Covers business and financial management; marketing and fundraising; personnel management and labor relations; event promotion and management; public relations and arts advocacy; arts law; and applications to specific arts activities such as galleries, museums, studios, foundations, and community organizations.
- Music Management
- Prepares you to organize and manage music organizations, operations, facilities, and personnel. Covers business and financial management; marketing and fundraising; personnel management and labor relations; event promotion and management; music products merchandising; artist agency and promotion; music law; and applications to specific activities such as managing theaters, recording studios and companies, bands and other ensembles, individual artists, and music organizations.
- Theatre/Theatre Arts Management
- Prepares you to apply business management principles to the management of theatres and production corporations. Covers theatrical production, theatre design and planning, fund-raising and promotion, investment strategies, human resources management, theatre operations management, marketing, public relations, financial management and insurance, and applicable laws and regulations.
- Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, Other
- Arts, entertainment, and media management not listed above.
Also called Entertainment Business, Performing Arts Administration
Also called Visual Arts Management
Also called Music Merchandising
Where it can lead
Careers this field can lead to
Explore related careers, starting with the closest connections and the occupations hiring the most people.
Managers, All Other
- Median pay
- $141,900
- Hiring change through 2035
- 4.9%
- Job openings a year
- 100,900
To get hiredBachelor's degree
Explore this career Growing with the economyArt, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
- Median pay
- $78,620
- Hiring change through 2035
- 2.2%
- Job openings a year
- 8,000
To get hiredMaster's degree
Explore this career Growing with the economyProducers and Directors
- Median pay
- $90,360
- Hiring change through 2035
- 4.0%
- Job openings a year
- 12,100
To get hiredBachelor's degree
Explore this career Growing fastAgents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
- Median pay
- $82,890
- Hiring change through 2035
- 9.7%
- Job openings a year
- 2,400
To get hiredBachelor's degree
Explore this career Growing slowlyMusic Directors and Composers
- Median pay
- $73,710
- Hiring change through 2035
- 1.2%
- Job openings a year
- 4,200
To get hiredBachelor's degree
Explore this careerAll work is projected to grow 3.5% between 2025 and 2035; read every hiring-change figure against it. The figures beside each career are the pay of that work, across everyone doing it. Graduates of this field earn $27,150 one year after completing the program, which is the start of a career rather than the shape of one.
Working style
How and where the work happens
Related careers can feel very different from one another. Compare the specific occupations to understand the work each one involves.
Few of the careers connected to this field are measured as substantially in-person or active work. Compare the specific occupations to see how much time each one involves with people, equipment, and movement.
College options
Where to study it
Ordered by how many degrees each college awards in this field. Sort by any numbered column.
| College | Degrees a year | Earnings, first year out | Admit rate | Average annual cost after aid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont University TN | 410 | $31,035 | 96% | $28,000 |
| University of Central Florida FL | 168 | — | 40% | $10,000 |
| Berklee College of Music MA | 154 | $20,786 | 50% | $48,000 |
| The New School NY | 139 | $44,575 | 63% | $56,000 |
| Middle Tennessee State University TN | 112 | $27,150 | 68% | $13,000 |
| Drexel University PA | 95 | $25,407 | 78% | $35,000 |
| Columbia College Chicago IL | 90 | $26,467 | 91% | $26,000 |
| University of Southern California CA | 79 | $31,628 | 10% | $20,000 |
| Loyola University New Orleans LA | 69 | $17,959 | 88% | $22,000 |
| Pace University NY | 66 | $37,135 | 77% | $28,000 |
| College of Charleston SC | 60 | $27,586 | 72% | $17,000 |
| SUNY at Purchase College NY | 48 | $28,859 | 73% | $20,000 |
| SUNY Oneonta NY | 47 | $26,930 | 70% | $19,000 |
| Syracuse University NY | 46 | $27,979 | 42% | $21,000 |
| Indiana University-Bloomington IN | 39 | $31,657 | 80% | $12,000 |
| Howard University DC | 32 | $15,855 | 35% | $50,000 |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC | 29 | $17,554 | 40% | $13,000 |
| Ohio University-Main Campus OH | 28 | — | 85% | $19,000 |
| University of New Haven CT | 25 | $22,825 | 81% | $32,000 |
| University of Kentucky KY | 23 | $25,200 | 92% | $16,000 |
| SUNY at Fredonia NY | 22 | $26,984 | 79% | $16,000 |
| Appalachian State University NC | 21 | $16,665 | 89% | $15,000 |
| Butler University IN | 20 | — | 86% | $33,000 |
| Elon University NC | 20 | — | 67% | $24,000 |
| University of North Carolina at Greensboro NC | 19 | — | 90% | $12,000 |
| University of California-Los Angeles CA | 18 | — | 9% | $10,000 |
| Fashion Institute of Technology NY | 18 | $35,936 | 58% | $20,000 |
| Florida Atlantic University FL | 16 | $16,750 | 73% | $8,000 |
| DePaul University IL | 16 | — | 74% | $29,000 |
| The University of Texas at El Paso TX | 15 | — | 100% | $10,000 |
| Champlain College VT | 14 | $28,726 | 67% | $34,000 |
| The University of Texas at Arlington TX | 13 | — | 81% | $13,000 |
| Ringling College of Art and Design FL | 12 | — | 67% | $55,000 |
| Elmhurst University IL | 12 | — | 76% | $23,000 |
| Pepperdine University CA | 11 | — | 50% | $51,000 |
| University of Illinois Chicago IL | 11 | — | 79% | $11,000 |
| Dallas Baptist University TX | 11 | — | 91% | $28,000 |
| University of the Pacific CA | 10 | — | 95% | $19,000 |
| Bradley University IL | 9 | — | 77% | $19,000 |
| Ithaca College NY | 9 | — | 70% | $29,000 |