Graduate Certificate - Music Business

The Music Business graduate certificate is an eight-month postgraduate program in the commercial machinery behind recorded and live music, and at $26,297 the most expensive program at the Lakeshore campus.

Coursework covers music publishing and copyright, royalty structures and rights administration, recording and artist agreements, label operations and distribution, streaming economics and digital platforms, artist management, live touring and concert promotion, music marketing and audience development, sync licensing for film, television and advertising, and entrepreneurship in music.

Rights and royalties are the core knowledge. Music income flows through a complex system of publishing, master recording, performance and mechanical rights, and people who genuinely understand that flow are scarce even inside the industry. Humber’s standing in Canadian music education gives the program unusually strong industry connections for its length.

The work placement is a graded part of the program, so you finish with documented Canadian experience and a referee rather than only a transcript.

Humber Polytechnic — formerly Humber College — is Ontario’s largest public college and a Designated Learning Institution (DLI O19376943122). The Lakeshore campus sits on the shore of Lake Ontario in south Etobicoke, next to Colonel Samuel Smith Park, and is home to Humber’s business degrees, media and creative arts, and social and community services programs. Heritage buildings, a residence opened in 2024 and a free shuttle to the North campus make it the most distinctive of Humber’s sites.

Its field maps to CIP 50.1002 (Music management). Important: this is a college credential rather than a degree, so it is not exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction — eligibility depends on this CIP field appearing on IRCC’s eligible list when you apply. Humber publishes a PGWP-eligible program list with CIP codes; check it, and confirm with an Apply Study Visa counsellor before committing. IRCC makes the final decision.