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BA (Hons)
Undergraduate degree - single honours
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed under 'Typical offers' in the main column below. For combined courses, please check both subjects. If your qualification is not listed, please email admissions@bathspa.ac.uk with your specific details.
If you have a flair for original musical ideas, our Commercial Music course can take you on a creative journey to inspire and define a lifelong career. You’ll write original material alongside exploring identity, promotion and the wider music business - the context of your music.
Some of our graduates are signed artists. Others work for record labels, in music publishing, in the entertainment business, or across the digital sector.
Instagram | YouTube | Graduate career destinations
“While giving you a deep understanding of the workings of the industry from business to creativity, it also allows an individual to pursue their specific interests in detail. Thank you for giving me the best three years of my life.”
Neil Martin, Broadcast Engineer, Abbey Road Live (Commercial Music Graduate)
This Commercial Music course is about creation: songs, projects, bands and entrepreneurial ideas. You’ll acquire skills that broaden your future career choices through writing, designing, promoting, performing, researching, touring and launching your creative material.
Songwriting/original music - develop your songwriting skills, whether you’re a singer songwriter, play in a band, or want to write music for media.
Music production - capture and present your musical ideas. Whether you’re into vintage studio techniques or the latest digital technologies, we’ll teach you the skills you need to achieve your personal creative goals.
Contextual studies - understand the context of your musical work through the analysis of your own creative outputs and the work of artists relevant to you.
Performance - develop performance skills as solo performer, or within a band.
Year one
Your first year focuses on songwriting, performance and production. This raw material will define the launch and release cycles of your second year.
You’ll write songs and journalistic/promotional material, and learn how to produce and develop your material in the recording studio. Meanwhile, you’ll work towards live showcase events.
Year two
You’ll write, produce, and record your own original material. You’ll explore semiotics, marketing, cultural theory, photography and advertising, and develop an understanding of branding in a crowded marketplace.
You'll create an online presence through designing and editing your own promotional video, as well as other website and audio-visual content. Using this for promotion, you’ll set up your own national tour.
Year three
Choose to specialise in production, songwriting or music business. Songwriting, performance and production all combine within our outward-facing Portfolio module which will showcase your skills on leaving University. You’ll also explore an aspect of music culture, leading to a final dissertation.
You’ll be given "seed funding" to work in a team to develop and actively pursue a "real-world" music-related business project. Many graduates continue successful business projects beyond graduation.
There are no formal exams. You’ll be assessed through the production of your portfolio materials which will include songs, live performances, audio productions, promotional material, website design, photographic output, video staging, video editing, critical thinking, tour management, written dissertations, business plans, business diagnostics and presentations.
You’ll be taught in a variety of ways, including group practical lectures in practice rooms, formal group lectures, small group seminars in band rooms, group lectures in technology suites (video, website design and music production), small group seminars in recording studios, one-to-one tutorials, and instrumental teaching in small groups and one-to-one formats.
To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.
This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.
As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.
We don’t just teach you about the music industry, we bring it to you. Music Think Tank is an annual ten-week lecture series that brings you into contact with practitioners from a wide spectrum of the industry.
Making music is one thing, but understanding how to present your music is key. We’ll teach you how to present your projects through understanding the links between sound and vision. You’ll design logos, make and edit videos, be involved in photoshoots and design your own websites and social media campaigns.
The Bath Spa University Cullum Family Award supports music students by providing grants which help them explore and better understand the music industry and the various career pathways available to them.
If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.
You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.
This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.
By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.
Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.
On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.
You'll have access to a range of music facilities. Many of these spaces are accessible seven days a week in term time, with full technical support available.
Students can hire out equipment using SISO, Bath Spa University’s free equipment loan service. Commercial Music students can hire our instruments, PA systems, recording equipment, video cameras and laptops for their creative projects.
Please note: Students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland are not generally eligible for the UK (Home) fee status. Please refer to the international student rate. Irish citizens and those granted Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme are eligible for UK (Home) fee status. There are also other circumstances where this may apply: See UKCISA for more information.
Year 1 | £9,250 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2025 |
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Year 2 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2026 |
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Year 2 | Published Jan 2026 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2027 |
Year 1 | £4,625 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 1 | Published Jan 2024 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2026 |
Year 1 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2026 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2027 |
Year 1 | £16,150 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2024 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 1 | Published Jan 2024 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2026 |
Year 1 | Published Jan 2025 |
Year 2 | Published Jan 2026 |
Year 3 | Published Jan 2027 |
During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. Otherwise, fees are the same as for full time study. This applies to UK, EU and International students.
We’re looking for individuals with the determination necessary to turn their creative ideas into lifelong careers. Our graduates are ready to cope with the demands of a modern "portfolio career", so you’ll need to be prepared to learn a wide range of skills in order to succeed.
Applicants will also need a high level of performance or composing skill (assessed via MP3s/Soundcloud of your three best original tracks), music technology experience and performance experience, submitted digitally prior to audition.
Shortlisted candidates will be auditioned at our Newton Park Campus between December and March where they will be required to perform an original piece of work (written or part-written by you). Candidates should be aware that this is an interview as much as it is an audition, and we will be looking to explore broader aspects of your character and personality as well as your specific music skills.
We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:
English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants
IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.
Course enquiries
For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.
Ready to apply? Click the "apply now" button in the centre of this page.
Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.
We ask you to provide a link to three original compositions and complete an additional document which allows you to highlight your specific contribution to music.
At interview you’ll need to perform some music. The nature of this performance will depend on your own musical aims: a singer-songwriter might perform a song; a drummer, guitarist or keyboard player might play to a backing track. It's fine if you'd like to perform a track that you submitted as part of your portfolio.
This is your opportunity to tell us about all your musical activities, so be prepared with links to videos, a portfolio showing performances, events you have organised or work-related experience that you have undertaken.
If you’re an international student or based overseas, web-based interviews may be offered. Please contact International Admissions for more information: internationaladmissions@bathspa.ac.uk.
We do not charge an audition fee.
Course leader: Jim Dickinson
Email: j.dickinson@bathspa.ac.uk
Website feedback to web@bathspa.ac.uk