Berklee Valencia Repeats at Billboard’s Top Music Business Schools

For the fourth time, Billboard magazine highlighted Berklee College of Music and its campus in Valencia in its annual feature on the top music business schools in the world. 

Berklee Valencia has once again been recognized by Billboard magazine as one of the best music business schools in the world. Universities in the 2024 ranking, ordered alphabetically, were chosen based on executive recommendations, alumni information provided by honorees from Billboard’s multiple power lists, information requested from each school, and a decade of reporting on these programs. This marks the fourth time that Berklee Valencia has been included on the list, ranking it among the top-five universities outside the United States.

The Billboard article focuses on Berklee Valencia’s yearlong Master of Arts in global entertainment and music business program, which attracted students from 17 countries this year on a campus with faculty from many different nationalities and professional backgrounds, providing a unique global vision of the music industry and understanding of new tendencies in leading and emerging markets. 

Within the program, students can choose from among three concentrations: live entertainment, entrepreneurship, and the record industry. For the development of these concentrations, students have the opportunity to be a part of the on-campus record label Disrupción Records; create an annual agenda of events; and work on real-life projects and creative solutions for festivals, companies, and start-ups, such as the Rototom Music Festival, Chartmetric, Warner Music Group, Warm, and Audiense, among others. 

Billboard highlighted the program’s course on music publishing and music supervision, which provides students with a detailed understanding of the music publishing business—including signing songwriters, the synchronization process, and licensing agreements—and offers the practical knowledge needed to become a music supervisor. The magazine also lauded the program’s emerging technologies and new creative frontiers course, which prepares students to understand and capitalize on technological change, whether in creative practice or organizational leadership.

In addition, Billboard noted the opportunity for students to attend the Berklee Global Career Summit, a four-day boot camp that focuses on professional development and career paths through a series of keynotes, panels, workshops, and individual mentoring sessions with professionals of all backgrounds in the music industry. This academic year, the Global Career Summit will take place January 14–17, 2025. Tickets are available for purchase for non-Berklee Valencia graduate students.

The master's degree program in global entertainment and music business opens a world of possibilities in the music and entertainment industries. After graduating, many students work in leading music industry companies around the world, or start their own ventures as entrepreneurs, in such areas as artist management, music publishing, and music supervision. Alumni of the program include: Alán Hensley MM '15, marketing director at EMPIRE; Aman Wadhwa MM '15, lead industry manager, APAC Sales at Pinterest; and Andrés Arenas MM '21, Music A&R manager at Warner Chappel. 

In addition to the global entertainment and music business program, Berklee’s campus in Valencia offers unique training opportunities in the fields of contemporary performance (production concentration), music production, technology, and innovation, and scoring for films, television, and video games, as well as study abroad opportunities for undergraduate students and summer programs. The International Career Center on campus offers a wide range of internships and jobs opportunities within the industry and guidance to help students achieve their career goals.

Berklee College of Music is also included in the Billboard list in recognition of two of its undergraduate programs: the Bachelor of Music in music business/management and Bachelor of Arts in music industry leadership and innovation, which debuted in 2022.