Music Business
The course for those who want:
- Networking and monetizing music
- Learn how artists, producers and industry professionals work together
- Figuring out the way forward into a career or higher education
- Want a everyday life where you can focus on achieving your goals
Hear from former students
Course content
As a student at Music Business, you will expand your knowledge throughout the year. We combine practical projects with theoretical knowledge, so you get a realistic experience of how the music industry actually works. The course is both physically and digitally — allowing you to personalize large parts of your own learning through internships, projects and collaborations across the lines.
Felles
Common
Autumn
Spring
You can choose between specializations in Live Management and Studio and Digital Marketing, and from these get customized subjects adapted to your interests and goals. You will therefore have relevant hours together with Performing Musician and Music Production when these are taught. Otherwise, there will be several collaborative projects between the different courses in the section where your specializations set the guidelines for what type of roles and functions you will have in the group work.
Are you interested in meeting people? Do you feel a little tingly in your stomach at the thought of organizing your own festival or setting up a tour? Do you like working with people in the cultural sector and have an interest in how the music industry works on and behind the scenes? Maybe you play an instrument yourself or make music, but need to learn moreabout how to book gigs, make contracts, negotiate good deals, plan trips, seek funding for concerts and pre-production, hire other music and so on, - then this is the specialization for you. If you choose this specialization, you will work a lot with music and organizers who work with live music.
Are you particularly interested in studio work and digital marketing? Then you should choose this specialization. You may want to learn how to streamline a PR campaign using various digital tools, how to optimize SEO and profiles for maximum reach, what contracts and opportunities are available within the sync/licensing business and much more. This is a specialization for those who want to work digitally, both to learn how to spread their digital products in the best possible way. Learn about marketing, email campaigns, release strategies, playlisting and much more.
A basic understanding of contracts, copyright, licensing, and publishing is essential to navigating the music industry. You'll learn how to negotiate deals, protect your own work, and how revenue is distributed between artists, producers, and labels.
How do you get your music out into the jungle of new releases? We work with branding, image, visual profile, press releases, campaigns, social media and launch strategy. You'll also learn how to pitch your music to playlists, influencers and other channels.
Here you will gain insight into everything it takes to organize concerts, tours and events – from budgeting and application writing to booking, logistics, technical rides and collaboration with venues. Through projects with the other courses, Bakgården Kultur and Kulturhuset you will gain hands-one xperience from the working world.
The music industry today is as much digital as physical. You'll learn how to build a digital presence on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, as well as streaming strategies on Spotify and other services. We work with analysis, publishing plans and targeted use of digital tools. This is especially relevant for those who also create music themselves.
How do you build a career — for yourself or others? You will learn how to develop a comprehensive strategy for artists, bands or your own projects. We look at how to start and run a company in the cultural field, and how to create a sustainable income in the long term. We also look at how to pitch an idea effectively and how to formulate your thoughts in writing in formal inquiries.
No project is created without funding. You will learn how to set up budgets, write good applications for support schemes, and find out about the opportunities that exist in cultural Norway. Here we place great emphasis on practical training in putting ideas into practice. We write applications and send them to our mentors to get feedback from external and independent sources.
Throughout the year you will meet guest speakers from different parts of the music and cultural industry — artists, organizers, festival directors, lawyers and producers. You will have the opportunity to ask questions, build networks and see how people work in practice. At the same time, you will receive guidance from the University of Agder, which allows you to make contacts in further education and the industry in general.
As a student at Music Business, you have access to meeting rooms, projectors, sound systems, printers and macs that one can use to plan their projects. You also have free access to rooms reserved for Music Production and Performing Musicians. This means that you can also use the rehearsal rooms and studios if you wish. On the line we also have some sound, light and video equipment that can be used to create videos. Software for editing both video and photos is also installed on the line's Macs. Our philosophy is that our students should always have good equipment available, and we are no stranger to purchasing equipment at the request of students.
Teaching takes place primarily on one level, and the classroom we use the most is adjacent to a main entrance which has electric doors with large opening and HC toilet. The hallway outside the classroom is narrow but meets the requirements of escape routes, etc. People who are visually impaired will also be able to navigate easily to and from our classroom.
In the teaching situation itself, we use Mac, but we are open to having our own equipment rigged up if necessary. We also do a lot of lectures on the projector and of the technical solution as of now, is not something that would work with a screen reader as it is interactive and dynamic teaching in software Ableton. However, line teachers follow up students who do not directly benefit from this type of teaching with customized follow-up and arrangements after lectures.
Registration fee: NOK 2,700, -
Living costs: NOK 95.922, - Covers food and living expenses for the full school year.
Common costs: NOK 10,300, - Includes community excursions/cinema/performances/concerts, laundry, internet and administration costs. In the price you also get a school jacket, a yearbook and various trips locally.
Line costs cover all costs on the individual line, including material and study trip. The price varies somewhat between the courses.
Full Year 2026-27
NOK 156.822, -*
Half-year Fall 2026
NOK 73,761, -
Half-year Spring 2027
NOK 90.761, -*
* Including line trip and possible participation in tournaments. Subject to changes.
Miscellaneous additions:
- Those who choose to live in the newer boarding houses pay NOK 5000, - in addition
- Special diet
- Equipment insurance
- Some electives and voluntery trips
If you have Norwegian citizenship, Lånekassen has excellent scholarship schemes and loan opportunities. If you quit school during the school year, you must pay tuition for 6 weeks from the end date.This also applies if you were to be expelled for violating school rules.
We don't have too many criteria for who can apply, but you have to be 18 years old or become so during the first semester. You can apply from 1 October to next year's courses and we are admitting students on an ongoing basis from November 15. Then you will receive an email from us with a response to the application. We will continue to admit students until the school are filled. In some cases, the composition of the line will determine whether you can fit or have to be put on a waiting list. For example, the composition of instruments may have something to say. If there are more applicants for a line than there is room for, your applicant number will determine whether or not you get an offer. In some cases, gender balance will have an impact.
Line teachers usually contact those who apply. Then you can get to know each other a little better and find out if you have found the course that suits you best. Maybe you have some questions, are unsecure or have something you want to tell us about yourself.
The line trip goes to...
JAPAN OG BERLIN
Hvert år reiser vi på studietur for å utvide horisonten vår.
Berlin: Musikk, teknologi og historie i Europas kreative smeltedigel
Berlin er en by som aldri står stille – et av Europas viktigste sentre for musikk, teknologi og kreativ nyvinning. På studieturen får du oppleve et unikt møte mellom faglig påfyll og byens pulserende kulturliv.
Gjennom vårt samarbeid med Ableton, er vi selvfølgelig hjertelig velkommen til hovedkontoret. Her får vi en eksklusiv omvisning og innsikt i hvordan programvaren som har revolusjonert moderne musikkproduksjon utvikles. Bekjentskapene vi stifter her, er et nettverk du kan yte godt av fremover i karrieren din.
På Schneidersladen Har vi workshops i modulær og analog synthesis – en opplevelse som gir praktisk erfaring og inspirasjon til egne produksjoner og musikk. I tillegg drar vi på konserter og klubbkvelder, fra techno og elektronika til indieband og klassiske ensembler – alt som gjør Berlin til en verdensmetropol for musikk. Noen ganger hender det at vi har masterclasses med forskjellige artister og produsenter også.
For å forstå hvorfor Berlin er blitt et flaggskip for kreativ teknologi, er det viktig at vi også forstår historien. Gjennom guidet sykkeltur, museumsbesøk og byvandringer får vi oppleve byens dramatiske og mangfoldige historie på nært hold.
Samlet gir dette en studietur som både styrker den faglige utviklingen og gir en dypere forståelse for hvordan kultur, historie og teknologi former musikken vi lager i dag.
Japan: et dypdykk i kultur, kreativitet og personlig utvikling.
Der Berlin gir oss puls, teknologi, storbyliv og faglig inspirasjon - ønsker vi å skape en kontrast med reisen vår til Japan.
Dette er et land som inviterer oss til å roe ned tempoet og utforske personlig utvikling, en sjanse til å senke skuldrene i mange kulturelle møter og minnerike opplevelser.
Japan gir oss en unik kombinasjon av kultur, natur og tradisjon. Velger vi å reise til Kyoto, får vi oppleve zen-hager, eldgamle templer og tradisjonelle kunstformer i et rolig og historisk miljø. Reiser vi til Okinawa, møter vi tropiske øyer, et helt eget levesett og karate som både kulturarv og livsfilosofi. Uansett reisemål blir vi invitert inn i en kultur som setter balanse, disiplin og tilstedeværelse i sentrum.
Gjennom opplevelser som mindfulness, meditasjon, kampsport, kunst, tradisjonell musikk og kulinariske møter får du som elev sjansen til å utforske ikke bare nye omgivelser – men også deg selv.
Her handler det om å åpne opp kreativiteten, finne ro, og la deg inspirere av en kultur som i hundrevis av år har kombinert det estetiske med det spirituelle.
Japan blir et høydepunkt på skoleåret, og en opplevelse du vil ta med deg videre – både som menneske og som kreativ utøver.
On the line you will get to know better:
Lasse Weeden
Bransjelære
Apply to Vefsn Folkehøgskole
Line teacher
Alf Marius Valan
Teacher Music Production, Music Business and Performing Musician
Alf Marius is a trained musician at the Tromsø Conservatory, where he studied performing music. Elbass is the main instrument, but he also handles piano, drums and guitar well. Alf Marius has many releases over several projects and aliases. At work, he is energetic, bubbly and motivating. On the home front, he is a dedicated family man with a keen interest in MMA, mindfullness and gaming.