USC Marshall adds Beyoncé MBA course

The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business will launch a new graduate course in January 2027 that uses Beyoncé’s career as a semester-long business case study. The class is designed to help MBA students analyze strategy, branding, ownership and risk across music, film, fashion and philanthropy.

Why it matters: - USC Marshall is turning one of the most successful careers in entertainment into a business-school case study. - The course is aimed at future leaders in music, entertainment and adjacent industries. - The class focuses on practical strategy, not celebrity fandom, and links artistry to ownership, brand building and long-term value.

What happened: - The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business is offering a new graduate course called “The Business of Beyoncé.” - MBA students will study Beyoncé’s career as a semester-long example of success across music, film, fashion, philanthropy and other creative industries. - Shaun Harper, an award-winning professor and the Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership at USC, developed the course and will teach it. - The course begins in January 2027 and meets on Mondays.

The details: - The 15-week class will examine how talent is developed, how a brand maintains global excellence, how creative risks are judged and how ownership expands influence. - Students will compare Beyoncé with other actors and musicians who started as child stars and with singers who moved from groups to solo careers. - Assignments are designed to produce practical guidance for parents of child celebrities, artist managers, entertainment strategists, marketers, Hollywood executives and performers at different career stages. - Course topics include building and managing music groups and solo brands, navigating power and race, handling privacy and reputational risk, using collaborations and new technologies, expanding into philanthropy and activism, and launching artist-led businesses. - Harper said the course is meant to help students examine how a young Black woman built and sustained a global enterprise. - Harper said the class will study Beyoncé’s path from Destiny’s Child and teen stardom to visual albums, record-breaking tours, film work, fashion partnerships, philanthropy and technological innovation. - The course is offered through USC Marshall’s MBA program.

Between the lines: - USC is using a pop-culture icon to teach classic business-school topics like strategy, branding and competitive advantage. - The course also reflects growing academic interest in how celebrity, race, gender and ownership shape modern media businesses. - Harper’s framing suggests the class is meant to translate entertainment success into tools students can apply beyond music, including film and television. - Harper has worked with more than 400 businesses, agencies and institutions across entertainment, sports, technology and other industries. - Harper previously served as editor-at-large of TIME and has written about Beyoncé for Forbes and Inside Higher Ed. - Harper has also given keynote talks about Beyoncé at conferences for more than two decades. - At USC, Harper holds tenured faculty appointments in the business, public policy and education schools.

What's next: - MBA students will begin the course in January 2027. - USC Marshall students will use the class to develop business strategies that can inform decisions across music, television and film. - The course may serve as a template for more celebrity-centered business teaching at other universities.

The bottom line: - USC Marshall is betting that Beyoncé’s career offers more than cultural cachet; it offers a durable blueprint for modern entertainment business strategy.