Today, music is a commodity. It is bought and sold, marketed and consumed. This class asks how music first entered the marketplace and probes alternatives to this system. We consider how in the age of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, composers became business people, a trend that continued in the careers of composers such as Chopin and Schumann in the 1800s. We next consider criticisms of music and capitalism, with a special focus on music under communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Finally, we will ask how market forces shape the classical music world today, investigating the centrality of philanthropy and entrepreneurship in the present. This is a discussion-based course and students are expected to actively participate in course meetings. To hone skills in listening to and thinking about music, students will read academic articles, listen to notated and non-notated music, and complete both formal and informal written assignments.