Commercial Music - Integrated MA

Course subject to final approval.

The Integrated Masters in Commercial Music (MA) is a four year course in popular music.  The first two years mirror our successful BA (Hons) Commercial Music course. In the third year, you will add two Level 7 (Masters) modules, and in your final year you will be working entirely at Masters level. The course enables you to specialise in Yrs 3 and 4 at the cutting edge of your field so that you then graduate with an MA.

You choose one of four specialisms within Commercial Music to study at Masters level. (You will make this decision at the end of your second year). The specialist areas are:

• Songwriting
• Performance
• Music production
• Music business

Why study Commercial Music - Integrated MA?

Commercial Music at Bath Spa University is all about creativity and enterprise: songs, projects, bands and entrepreneurial ideas in the music business. Integrated MA Commercial Music enables you to pursue your passion, interests and intellectual enquiry at a higher level so that you graduate with an MA. You will:

• Develop technical and musical skills at a high level
• Examine the roots of your specialism
• Create a professional-standard portfolio of your work
• Establish networks, collaborators and contacts

Course structure

In your first year you write songs, you write journalistic and promotional material (Creative and Applied Writing) and you learn how to produce and develop your material in the recording studio (Audio Production and The Music Workstation).

Meanwhile you work towards live showcase events in the Performance module.

In your second year, you take Image and Product where you write, produce, and record your own original material in our recording studios. You explore semiotics, marketing, cultural theory, photography and advertising, and you develop an understanding of branding in a crowded marketplace. Music Business Skills introduces you to the £3.8 billion UK music business (2011 figures) and our Music Think Tank lecture series features keynote speakers from the music business who always deliver fresh insight into contemporary practice. In Staging, Video and Live you design and edit your own promotional video to create your internet presence for Promotion and Tour. Using your website and audio-visual content as a promotional launch pad, you then set up your own national tour.

In your third year you start to develop your specialism. The Portfolio sees you deepening your songwriting, performance and production skills. In Creative Enterprise students work in projects to design, fund and launch an innovative music product or service. All students write business plans and then implement their projects in the real world. Many graduates have continued successful business projects they started at university beyond graduation. In your skills module you further your specialism at a higher level. You also develop research skills at Masters level in Context and Methodology.

Your fourth year sees you continuing to hone your specialist skills whilst also devising collaborative projects in the Collaboration module. You finally bring everything together in the Major Project module, which could involve creating an album or a major live event or a business project.

Modules

Year 1

• Performance
• Audio Production and The Studio
• The Music Workstation and the Studio
• Creative Writing
• Applied Writing

Year 2

• Image and Product
• Staging, Video and Live
• Web, Promotion and Tour
• Music Business Skills

Year 3

• Portfolio
• Creative Enterprise
• Skills module (in Music Production, Songwriting, Music Business or Performance)
• Context and Methodology

Year 4

• Collaboration
• Skills module (in Music Production, Songwriting, Music Business or Performance)
• Major Project

Course assessment

Information coming soon.

Information coming soon.

Teaching methods

Information coming soon.

Course enquiries

Please email enquiries@bathspa.ac.uk

Entry requirements

You will need to achieve the equivalent of ABB or higher at L3 in order to be considered for the Integrated Masters in Commercial Music. You will also need: high level of performance or composing skill (assessed via MP3s of your three best original tracks); music technology experience; performance experience. Shortlisted candidates will be auditioned.

Career opportunities

Graduates from Commercial Music would go on to work either in the music business or related fields. Employers of graduates from the existing BA Commercial Music include Sony, Universal Music Group, PRS for music, Mercury Records, One Little Indian, Union Square Records, PIAS, Atlantic Records and many more.