The University of the Arts is establishing a new education program to speed up music exports

Finnish it has traditionally been difficult for light music to break into the international market, while other Nordic countries have been more successful in exporting music. Sweden, in particular, has made an effort to enter the international market in a completely different way than in Finland.

The aim is to increase the international success of Finnish music in the new Music Business master’s program of the University of the Arts, which aims to train the country’s music business professionals. Masters could work in various expert and management positions in the music industry, says the art management professor Toni-Matti Karjalainen from the Sibelius Academy.

Karelian is involved in building a new two-year master’s program, the courses of which are scheduled to start in the fall of 2025. What kind of career does he see the graduates of the degree program having, for example, five years after graduation?

“Some probably work in various management, managerial and production positions in Finland and abroad. Some may be entrepreneurs and some may have built a business around their own artistic career. Some of them become researchers,” says Karjalainen.

“The purpose is to bring new information about the music industry and not repeat old, entrenched concepts. We want to develop views with the students on what the music industry could look like in the future. The purpose is to develop thinking, critical people who know how to act in a new and surprising way in business.”

As a purpose therefore, it is not to copy to Finland, for example, the recipe of Sweden’s musical success, but to develop something that encourages Finnish music culture, says Karjalainen.

“Even though we have been a small music country, we have a strong brand and know-how, a strong root system, from which we can make an effort and use Finnish strength in the world.”

However, the training is organized in cooperation with the Norwegian University of Agder and US institutions. It is not yet possible to tell their names at this stage, says Karjalainen.

From Finland, the training program’s partner is the music export organization Music Finland.

Music Finland manager Mikko Manninen spoke HS in the interview in 2023 from the “golden cage” that stalks Finnish artists: livelihood and success are more certain for Finnish artists when the performance language is Finnish and the target audience is Finns. That, on the other hand, has in most cases ruled out success on the international market.

Will the new master’s program try to dismantle this golden cage around the Finnish music scene?

“At least in part, we strive to build other opportunities outside of that cage,” Toni-Matti Karjalainen answers.

At the same time, he points out that although the starting point of the program is music export, the same lessons can be used in the domestic market as well.

“The idea is to build a new kind of know-how in Finland.”

New the training program is supported by the Teosto Cultural Foundation, which has granted it 100,000 euros in funding. An exact decision on the number of admissions has not yet been made, but Karjalainen estimates that around 15 students will be admitted to the course. New courses are scheduled to start every two years.