An obvious business development program for many center cities

From the Pacific Business Times via the Biz Journals website:

New HCC program teaches business of music

Honolulu Community College will offer a new program this fall on the business of music. The new program, Music and Entertainment Learning Experience, will start with introductory courses on music and the recording business. Eventually, the program will cover artist creativity, entertainment business expertise and technical production skills.

The program is in partnership with the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont University in Nashville. Courses will be taught by HCC faculty and via live distance-learning methods by Belmont faculty.

"Hawaii has a plethora of musical talent, but the talent needs the business and professional support base to grow musically," said Ramsey Pedersen, chancellor of Honolulu Community College, in a statement. "Our goal is to have [the program] open doors for our local talent and eventually bring worldwide recognition to music that is created in Hawaii."

The program is funded by grants from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as a start-up budget provided by the state.
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Also see "Artist, promote thyself: Thanks to new Web businesses, musicians can reach a bigger audience -- and keep more of the profits for themselves," from the Boston Globe.