If you’re researching an entertainment management degree, you’re probably asking this key question: Will this actually prepare me for real industry jobs?
Not hypothetically or eventually, but in a way that connects you directly to how the entertainment industry actually operates.
The difference starts with who teaches you.
At the Australian College of the Arts, when your lecturers are active artist managers, touring professionals, label executives and festival producers, you’re learning how the industry works right now, rather than just theory.
Our Entertainment Management courses cover areas such as artist and talent management, marketing, touring, finance, contracts and intellectual property, supporting the long-term success of creative careers, brands and entertainment organisations.
Here’s how our Entertainment Management lecturers prepare students for real industry careers focused on the business, commercial and strategic side of the entertainment industry.
Collarts Entertainment Management courses are taught by ARIA-winning and industry-active professionals.
These are not academics who left the industry years ago but are embedded in the Australian Entertainment scene. They combine theory and practice by making use of their professional networks, helping students gain real and relevant experience.
They work across:
Artist management
Touring and festivals
Record labels
Publicity and PR
Digital marketing
Music supervision
Experiential events
Take Senior Lecturer Chrissie Vincent. With more than 40 years in the music and entertainment industry, she has worked with global artists including The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Lenny Kravitz, as well as major Australian acts. She's also a finalist for the inaugural ARIA Music Advocacy Award at the 2026 Australian Women In Music Awards.
When Chrissie teaches touring, contracts or artist management, it is grounded in lived experience.
“With over 40 years working in the music business and creative industries, I wanted to ensure that students are given a thorough understanding of how the industry works in order for them to launch into any aspect of the business they are passionate about.”
There's also Zac Abroms, Director of Viceroyalty, manages ARIA-winning and nominated artists. Students gain insight into how artist management works in real time, from release strategy to brand development.
At Collarts, this is our standard across the course.
When you are learning how to work on the business and commercial side of entertainment in Australia, you are being mentored by professionals who have delivered those events, worked with artists and talent, and know how to support creative careers in entertainment.
Connections are not a bonus in entertainment. They are essential.
Collarts Entertainment Management students benefit from networking and partnerships with organisations including:
Mushroom Group
Frontier Touring
Live Nation
Premier Artists
Unified Music Group
Untitled
AIR
BIGSOUND
Our graduates have stepped into roles at companies such as Spotify, Sony Music, Universal Music, NOVA, Ticketmaster and leading venues across Australia.
My major opportunity was an internship with Jayden Bath and Loch Hart Music Festival. I met with Jayden regularly and gained hands-on experience in organising the festival. A few years on, I’m still involved with the organising team at Loch Hart, helping manage the bar each year.
- Camryn Fitzgerald, Collarts graduate
The Bachelor of Applied Business (Entertainment Management) includes 60 hours of industry placement, meaning students gain structured, real-world experience before graduating. Out students get active participation in entertainment businesses, touring environments and creative organisations.
Students also benefit from lecturers’ involvement across major conferences, industry grants and professional bodies, creating more exposure to the wider music and events ecosystem.
If you are serious about building a professional career in music, the arts, touring, or talent management, this kind of access is vital.
Strong connections are important, but they only work if your skillset matches industry expectations.
Our entertainment management courses are designed to build commercial capability alongside creative understanding.
Throughout the Bachelor of Applied Business (Entertainment Management), students:
Develop an in-depth understanding of entertainment marketing and brand communication
Build knowledge of business strategy, law, economics and finance
Study publicity, music publishing and event management
Gain experience in copyright, artist, tour and rights management
Manage, promote and produce events
In short, you study the business engine behind entertainment.
You learn how contracts are structured. How touring budgets are built. How marketing campaigns drive ticket sales. How digital strategy supports artist growth. How intellectual property is protected and monetised.
This degree can be completed in an accelerated two-year pathway or standard three-year pathway, enabling students to choose the study intensity that suits their goals.
There is also the option to study a Diploma of Applied Business (Entertainment Management), a shorter, more condensed, 8 month qualification, if you want to fast-track your study.
Both the Diploma and Bachelor can be studied fully online without stepping away from the industry.
At Collarts, online Entertainment Management students learn from the same industry-active lecturers, engage with the same curriculum, and build the same commercial skillset as on-campus students. The difference is flexibility.
If your goal is to understand how to work in entertainment in Australia, the course prepares you for roles such as:
Artist Manager
Tour Manager
Label Manager
Marketing Manger
Festival Organiser
Students learn event logistics, stakeholder coordination, budgeting, marketing strategy and operations in real-world contexts. They also collaborate across disciplines, working with students from other creative courses to simulate industry environments.
That cross-disciplinary approach reflects how the entertainment industry actually works. Managers collaborate with artists, producers, marketers and technical teams. The classroom mirrors that ecosystem.
Entertainment Management at Collarts is focused on the business, commercial and strategic side of the entertainment industry.
It is designed for students who want to lead, negotiate, strategise and build sustainable creative careers for others.
Whether you want to manage artists, run tours, coordinate festivals or shape label strategy, this degree prepares you with:
Real industry mentorship
Structured industry placement
Strong professional networks
Practical commercial training
An entertainment management degree should not feel abstract; it should feel connected, current and career-focused.
At Collarts, lecturers do more than prepare students for real industry gigs, they bring the industry into the classroom.