Creative Business course summary
The Creative Business degree at NHL Stenden teaches you how to think and work from a cross-media perspective. You will become a creative professional who can take on a leading role, both in the spotlight and behind the scenes. You’ll develop your insights into the entire process of media production, from concept development to implementation, as well as learn how to market media products.
The programme of Creative Business
During the Creative Business programme, you will be trained as a manager in the media industry. The skills you develop for this are integrated into the programme and practised through practical assignments and during your internship. Together with real companies, you will learn to develop new media concepts that add value to a company or organisation and make an impact on the target group(s).
Semester 1: Explore
The media industry is constantly changing, raising questions as to what the industry looks like, who the stakeholders are and what business models can be applied. In this semester, you work with a partner from the media industry looking into what media products and services you could create for this partner that would add value to their portfolio and how you can ensure your product will appeal to the target group. In short, in this semester you learn all about the media industry and the marketing aspects of media products and services.
Semester 2: Experience
In this semester, you learn to look at media productions from a media professional point of view and learn how to make these products. You learn about media literacy and how to analyse and evaluate media products. You will make prototypes for future media formats for a partner in the media industry. You will produce content for our own online content channel Matters.
Subjects: at basic level A
Study load: 20 contact hours, 20 selfstudy hours | 60 ECTS per year
Semester 3: Adventure
Everything you learnt in the first year comes together in this semester. You work on setting up, organising and managing a creative organisation within the creative industry. What set-up, organisation and management do you need to create value with media? Together with a real client, you will create value with media.
Semester 4: Grow
Everything you have learned so far comes together in this semester. How do you develop a media concept, how do you ensure that this concept is converted into a concrete product? How do you organise all this and how do you market your product? You will also produce content for our Matters channel.
At the end of year 2, you will choose one of these 4 graduation profiles:
Media Producer
Media Manager
Media Content Specialist
Media Marketing Specialist
Subjects: at basic level B
Study load: 20 contact hours, 20 selfstudy hours | 60 ECTS per year
Profiles I: becoming a creative business professional
In year 3, you’ll work on projects from the other profiles to develop all the skills needed for your final year. You will explore strategic issues in the creative industry.
Start up community: start your own business!
Do you want to do more with entrepreneurship? We give you all the space you need! Within our 'start-up community', you and other enterprising students will be given all the tools you need to take your company further. Among other things, you will have weekly coaching sessions and workshops at our external location MICA (Media Innovation Campus) in Leeuwarden. At this creative hotspot, students and companies from the creative sector work together on various innovative media and communication projects. More information on the start-up community can be found here: creativebusinessclub.nl
CrossWise
In your third year, you can do various projects within CrossWise; a collaboration between theatre and concert organisation SPOT Groningen, the municipality of Groningen and universities of applied sciences in the Northern Netherlands. Together with students and lecturers, you can, for instance, help organise the well-known music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, carry out projects within your minor and/or do your internship here. Visit the websites for more information (Dutch only).
Semester 2: Minor subject (study abroad)
During your minor you focus on a specific subject or expand your knowledge by taking an additional subject. This allows you to truly take charge of your education by ‘customising’ your course.
You can take these minors on the NHL Stenden campus in the Netherlands or at one of the NHL Stenden Grand Tour locations in South Africa, Bali or Thailand. You can also choose from minors offered by other courses and universities of applied sciences via an Exchange programme – this is all part of broadening your academic skills.
Read more about the options available and where you can take your minors in the section below on minors and specialisations.
60 ECTS per year
Profiles II: internship and graduation project
In year 4, you’ll spend most of your time gaining hands-on experience during your internship, followed by the final months dedicated to your graduation based on the profile you’ve chosen.
Work in industry by doing an internship. You can do your internship with a business anywhere in the world, from media companies such as Sony, Netflix, and Vogue to companies with media departments such as, Adidas, Ikea and UNICEF. And if you’ve already turned your dream for your own business into a reality, you could consider doing your internship in your own start-up. The Center for Entrepreneurship at NHL Stenden can advise you on how to do this.
For your graduation project, you work on creating a solution for an interesting challenge in the field of creative business.
60 ECTS per year
The degree at a glance
Download the brochure to get a really useful one-page overview of the curriculum with a description of the modules and a list of subjects per year, the study load and the ECTS you can earn. Use it to compare the programme with other studies you’re interested in.
Minors and specialisations for Creative Business
In your third year of Creative Business, you get to specialise by taking a number of minors.
Music Business (the Netherlands)
Learn the basics of the music business and collaborate with industry professionals on a music digitisation project while specialising in artist management, label or release management or live management.Digital Storytelling for Social Change (South Africa)
You learn everything about digital storytelling to stimulate social change. You will produce digital media to give people in townships a voice, increase civic participation and facilitate the development of communities.Media Concepts & Sustainability (the Netherlands)
Focusing on creating media and communication concepts, with this minor you learn that as a media maker, you can have a positive impact on society, creating concepts and stories that contribute in some way to the sustainable development goals.Live Television (the Netherlands, Dutch)
Course Catalogue
Practical approach of Creative Business
We aim to help you put theory into practice as quickly as possible. Through our educational concept, Design-Based Education (DBE), you work in small teams of students, teachers, researchers and industry professionals. You tackle current, real-life issues developing and adapting your visions and ideas to form a solid solution.
International opportunities
We want to prepare you for an international, intercultural, and ever-changing environment, so that you can dive into the unknown and gain experience in an international context. It is possible with our Grand Tour, Exchange programme or one of our mobility options offered by RUN-EU. Or you can choose to do your internship abroad. You’ll be able to put together the right combination of courses and internships to develop both your professional and personal skills – and develop your own network for the future.
Lea, doing her Exchange in Copenhagen
Kim, doing her Grand Tour in Thailand
Neele, doing her internship in Copenhagen
Is this the degree for you?
If you're confident this degree is the one for you, then why not apply online straightaway? Or pick one of the other options to help you take the next step.
