Modern Music Industries BA (Hons)

Learn in Sunderland's cultural quarter at the Northern Academy of Music Education. Study key practices and ideas associated with commercial music production. Pursue a career in commercial music and associated fields.

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Overview

BA (Hons) Modern Music Industries covers the skills needed to succeed as a professional in the modern music industry. The course is designed and delivered by current industry professionals, and covers the areas of recording, marketing, event planning, composing, genre studies and music performance.

By studying this course, you’ll gain practical skills that enable you to pursue a career in the live or recorded sectors of the music industry, or related sectors such as media or music teaching. You’ll also develop critical thinking skills that will enable you to further your academic journey and better understand your practice.

Why us?

The course strikes a distinctive balance between music management and performance-orientated degrees

The course will be delivered in Sunderland’s cultural quarter by Northern Academy of Music Education

Course structure

Teaching is through seminars, ensemble workshops, solo and group performances and independent learning.

Your practical assessments will include recordings, compositions and performances. You will also complete written essays, research papers and reports.

Year 1 (national level 4):

Core modules:

Event Planning and Promotion (40 credits)

Discover the many roles and responsibilities involved in putting on a live event in the modern market such as using a modest budget to run a music-based experience in a professional setting, marketing the event and generating income from music, and balancing the accounts.

Origins of Modern Music (20 credits)

Identify the origins of modern music and comprehend how historical situations have influenced and take influence from, music. Discover why some songs within seminal genres become so successful and how they have influenced the future of music across generations.

Music Production (20 credits)

Start your journey as a recording industry professional. Gain competencies with recording and sharing sound files with other professionals. Discover the history of recording and apply your knowledge in the studio to create your own track relating to the genres studied in Origins of Modern Music.

Individual Progression Pathway (20 credits)

Develop your personal expertise in your chosen field within the music business under the supervision of a music industry professional. Refine the skills you will need to succeed in the music industry with an individual learning plan and unique assessment relevant to your chosen discipline and skill level. Demonstrate and journal your progression and evaluate your ability to progress even further.

Optional modules (choose one):

Multimedia Marketing in Modern Music (20 credits)

Recognise the importance of planning, utilising, and integrating different forms of media in order to promote a musical product. Apply these principles to the marketing of an event that you plan and execute.

Establishing a Career in the Music Industry (20 credits)

Discover how to create and maintain your career as a music industry professional – where the money comes from, where it goes, and how you can control and influence your incomings and outgoings. Explore your possible roles in the music industry and apply the skills involved in planning and executing an event where income is generated and accounts are kept.

Please note, modules are subject to review. Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Year 2 (national level 5):

Core modules:

Touring in The Modern Music Industry (40 credits)

Discover the issues involved in putting on a mini tour in more than one location. Use the knowledge gained to negotiate reaching out to artists, venues, agents, and promoters to put on at least two shows in different places.

Analysis of Modern Music (20 credits)

Research and analyse the origins of modern popular music by looking at several genres of music in the 20th century. Analyse the historical/socio-cultural context and its effects on the musical and lyrical content. Explore the evolution and cross-pollination of generic traits giving a wider view of genre and musical styles. Consider the commercial appeal of each genre and develop knowledge of the most successful songs pertaining to a genre of choice and chosen time period.

Advanced Music Production (20 credits)

Become empowered and enabled to get high-quality results from a home studio or more professional DAW. Develop the skills to apply critical perspectives to the analysis of your own work, identifying opportunities for improvement.

Continuing Progression Pathway (20 credits)

Agree on a suitable practical assessment with your individual tutor and the course leader. Complete the practical assessment and the theoretical underpinnings relating to it during the semester. Keep a personal progression log as you acquire new skills and knowledge. Submit a written evaluation identifying areas of good practice and opportunities for improvement.

Optional modules (choose one):

Recorded Music Revenue (20 credits)

Develop your skills in the recorded music sector. Compare revenue streams and learn what model of distribution suits your music best. Carry out research and apply your results to your career maximising profit from your recordings and creations. Discover how to make your recordings make money. Differentiate between the revenue streams involved in recorded music. Use current information to keep earning money from your music in new situations, with new market forces.

Live Music Revenue (20 credits)

Develop your skills as a live music industry professional. Explore the different roles within the live music sector and how they get paid. Discover what you are expected to pay them as a musician or how you can make money fulfilling one of these roles in your future career.

Year 3 (national level 6):

Core modules:

Vocational Portfolio (40 credits)

Create and assemble a portfolio that showcases your professional and technical abilities in the music industry. Devise and organise marketing materials that promote you to employers and consumers in the music industry.

Composing to a Music Brief (20 credits)

Investigate the making of music in the modern age. Develop your own approach to songwriting and generate a style based on a critical understanding of music making. Use your newfound musical knowledge to create and assemble a portfolio of your own music.

Festival Curation (20 credits)

Create your own music festival with multiple acts and compere. Design, and construct a large-scale physical or online event that features a series of musical acts performing live either onstage or online. Develop new contacts in the music industry and use communication skills to bring them together in one big event.

Investigation of Practice (20 credits)

Investigate the approaches to your chosen subject specialism in the music industry. Study how professionals in your field find creative inspiration and find their voice. Discover how to attain better practice by informing your practice through research.

Teaching Practice (20 credits)

Discover the skills required to teach your preferred specialism in the modern music industry for teaching during the day or producing instructional videos for the online tuition market for example. Research teaching methods and develop teaching skills, enabling you to design and develop your own bespoke music-related course.

Facilities

This course is based at The Peacock and The Fire Station, in Sunderland's cultural quarter and is delivered by Northern Academy of Music Education.

You will have use of facilities including music practice rooms, performance spaces, classrooms and sound recording facilities.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

You will also be required to prepare an audition piece in a specialist field. We can consider those coming from a non-traditional entry route and a case may be made for entry onto the course if your audition is outstanding or if you have experience in the music industry. In this case, a sample of written work must be submitted in order to ensure that you are capable of the academic rigour of the course.

If you already have a Foundation degree, HND or HNC qualification in music or a music-related course, then you may be eligible to join us as a direct applicant into stage 2 or stage 3 of this degree. This will be using our Accreditation of Prior Learning route. For more information on how to apply to join Stage 2 or Stage 3, please contact Northern Academy of Music Education.

If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.

Fees and finance

The annual, full-time fee for this course is:

£9,250 if you are from the UK/Ireland/EU settled/pre-settled

Please note, this course is not open to international students.

Learn more about settled status, pre-settled status, and Common Travel Area (CTA) agreements for the Republic of Ireland applicants in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

A student playing a keyboard in the foreground and a student playing the guitar in the background

Career ready

This course prepares you for roles in music-related industries, including music performance, venue and band management, event promotion, music recording and content creation.

Career options

A degree in Modern Music Industries will equip graduates with the skills and understanding relevant to operating professionally in a broad range of creative, technical and managerial environments in the commercial music sector.

This unique course provides many different employment routes upon graduation, from performance roles, including recording artist and session musician; production roles, including songwriter, arranger, producer and studio engineer; and roles in the live music industry, including live sound engineer and promoter.

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries.

Page last updated: 05 July 2023

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Modern Music Industries BA (Hons)

Overview

Why us?

Course structure

Year 1 (national level 4):

Core modules:

Optional modules (choose one):

Year 2 (national level 5):

Core modules:

Optional modules (choose one):

Year 3 (national level 6):

Core modules:

Facilities

Entry requirements

Fees and finance

Career ready

Career options

Meet the team — BA (Hons) Modern Music Industries

Related courses

Contact

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