J.D./M.A. in Live Entertainment Management

Overview

The J.D./M.A. Live Entertainment Management graduate degree program is a comprehensive and intensive investigation of the essential knowledge and expertise required of professionals in live entertainment management today. Students explore critical issues facing the industry through required rigorous required courses and selected electives.

Throughout the curriculum, we explore the best practices of live entertainment management perfected over many decades by leading-edge arts innovators, and explore the innovative practices now transcending traditional arts and entertainment boundaries. Legal issues are at the forefront of the live entertainment careers today, and so graduates are at the leading edge of the industry’s future.  Through this joint program, students can complete both degrees in less time (3 to 4 years). 

Admission Requirements

•       Applicants may apply before they begin the J.D. program OR they may apply during their first or second year of Law School.  (Students must be accepted to the J.D. program before they are eligible for acceptance into the J.D./M.A. program.)
•       Students should let Professor Gary Wood know that they are applying to the M.A. program.
•       Students will find an application for the joint degree program under the list of graduate program applications
•       Only the LSAT exam is required.
•       Students who apply to the joint degree program are giving permission for the M.M. (or M.A.) program admissions staff and faculty to review their complete J.D. application.  
•       Students already enrolled in the M.A. program are not eligible to apply to the joint program.
•       All the requirements of the J.D. and M.A. programs must be fulfilled.

Curriculum Requirements

•    Students will complete the first-year law school curriculum in its entirety before taking any M.A. courses.
•    All other J.D. requirements must be met. Six credits will be satisfied by two M.A. courses. These courses must be completed before the J.D. degree will be conferred.
•    Twenty-one credits of M.A. courses are required and cover topics such as tour management and production, live entertainment industry agreements and legal aspects, music copyright, performing arts center and facility management, sponsorship in the live entertainment industry, marketing and promotion, and others.  More information about courses in the M.A. curriculum can be found in the UM Academic Bulletin.
•    Nine School of Law credits will be applied to the M.A. degree in the areas of intellectual property, business, and tax law topics. The M.A. degree will not be conferred until these nine credits are completed.
•    Students are encouraged to fashion a balanced upper-class law school curriculum which prepares them to provide legal services to clients in the business and entertainment industries including specific offerings regarding arts and entertainment law, as well as more general offerings in domestic and international aspects of fields such as antitrust, business associations, commercial law, intellectual property, tax and torts.
•    The M.A. curriculum is prescribed and is offered primarily in the fall and spring semesters, with limited offerings in the summer. Most courses are offered only in the fall or spring of a given academic year.  Some courses may be available to take online.
•    If a student in the joint program wants to take music elective course (e.g., Musicology, Psychology of Music, Audio for Producers, etc.) arrangements will be made to accommodate the request.
•    Students are able to complete the joint degree program within three years if summer courses are taken.  Students may also choose to complete the program within three and ½ years or four years. 

* To fulfill joint degree requirements, credits must be earned with a grade of B or higher. 

Sample Plan of Study