Upskilling was music to Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry’s ears when he met with students in Belfast recently.
The students from the Oh Yeah Music Centre were undertaking the new Managing a Music Business Enterprise training course, supported by DEL’s Skills Solutions Branch along with the Creative and Cultural Skills Sector Skills Council and facilitated by Generator, the UK’s leading music development agency.
The course is enabling learners throughout Northern Ireland to receive training in Managing a Music Business Enterprise (MMBE). The training upskills candidates by enabling them to develop their businesses more effectively through improved business planning, better marketing strategies and a more in-depth understanding of how the music industry works. Welcoming Generator and learners to the Oh Yeah Music Centre, Dr Farry said: “Music is a crucial part of the creative economy in Northern Ireland.
It is a sector which has seen the number of people it employs grow by 20% over the last two years. The primary need now is for those employed in the sector to develop their business skills so that they can capitalise on opportunities and develop their income streams. “Northern Ireland has always been a country with a rich musical tradition. As the global music industry continues to grow, this offers a real economic and cultural opportunity for the sector in Northern Ireland.
“Through our customised training programme we are responding to training and skills requirements across a diverse range of business sectors by tailoring solutions to employers’ needs. This innovative approach is helping companies and individuals to improve skill-sets, productivity and competitiveness within their sectors, thereby contributing towards the growth of the local economy.”
Jonny Tiernan, general manager of the Oh Yeah Centre, said: “The course has proved tremendously successful and is already over-subscribed. The participants are such a dynamic collection of people and are keen to progress into record label management and music and digital futures promotion. These are the next generation of Northern Ireland’s music entrepreneurs.”
MMBE is a qualification delivering the skills and knowledge essential to running a sustainable music business. This is the only course of its kind in the UK and now, for the first time, is being delivered in Northern Ireland, in Belfast.