Popular Music

Carve out a distinct and sustainable music career.

Develop your creative skills in songwriting, production, performance and promotion while learning how to navigate the legal, ethical and financial aspects of the industry.

Whether it’s DIY or commercial, underground or mainstream, acoustic or electric, you’ll work on your musicianship and craft an artistic identity under the direction of music industry experts and scholars. In collaboration with songwriters, singers, producers, dancers, filmmakers and more, you’ll experiment with approaches and genres to create an innovative audiovisual portfolio and build your audience.

You will:
Become part of a vibrant creative community of songwriters, musicians, producers, DJs, composers and sound artists
Discover how to write and perform original material in relation to a unique artistic identity
Learn to deploy instruments and technology with skill and imagination in live performance and the recording studio
Develop an awareness of music business, including legal, ethical and financial considerations
Gain a framework to explore innovative ways of promoting and disseminating work, independent self-release and building networks
Learn from staff and visiting lecturers with wide-ranging experience and valuable connections across the music industry
Bring your projects to life by tapping into expertise across the university, including dancers, filmmakers, writers and designers

As part of this Popular Music degree, you’ll develop creative skills in musicianship, performance and songwriting as well as technical skills in recording, production and performing technologies. You’ll also gain a critical understanding of the music industry, learning how to represent artistic work and shape a unique identity.

Year one
In your first year, you’ll reinforce and expand your knowledge of music technology, music theory, studio practices, songwriting and performance, while embedding yourself in our creative community through collaborative projects with students and staff. The skills, experiences and self-awareness gained in this first year will help you to confidently progress to the next level of study.

Modules
Playing Live: Songwriting & Performance
Pop Synthesis: Technology, Songwriting & Performance
Expanding Musical Vocabularies
Specialist Music Practice 1
Music and Sound: Context and Cultures
Studiocraft

Year two
In your second year, you’ll be able to tailor your learning to your developing interests and expertise through a range of optional modules covering performance, music business, artistic identity and songwriting. You’ll also have the opportunity to collaborate with students from within and beyond the Music subject area on cross-discipline projects, such as sound and music for film and games, digital arts or multi-modal performance.

Modules
Professional Creative Artist & Songwriter
The Business of Music & Sound
Specialist Music Practice 2
Music & Sound: Resonant Futures

Optional modules
Enterprise: Innovative Music Business Practice
A/V Radical Artistry & New Media Aesthetics
Composing Music for Media
Session Musicianship
Immersive & Interactive Audio
Advanced & Experimental Performance
Resounding: Situated Songwriting & Composition
Voice and Listening: Life, People and Planet

Year three
Your final year is geared towards refining your artistic and professional identity, while deepening your knowledge, skills and networks in line with your chosen specialism. You’ll develop your showcase portfolio, enhance your entrepreneurial practice skills and carry out career design work as you prepare to embark on a successful and creative profession in your chosen field.

Modules
Music & Sound: Dissertation
Professional Development
Your Future
Showcase Portfolio

As part of our process of continuous improvement, we routinely review course content to ensure that all our students benefit from a high-quality and rewarding academic experience. As such, there may be some changes made to your course which are not immediately reflected in the content displayed on our website. Any students affected will be informed of any changes made directly.

All modules involve varying degrees of student choice, allowing you to design projects and tailor assessment tasks to benefit your development and future aspirations. Assessment methods may include:

Portfolio
Studio practice and performance
Journals, case studies, essays and reports
Dissertation
Presentations
Viva (oral assessments)