MA Music Business
- Study Mode: Full Time
- Location: High Wycombe
- Duration: One Year
- Start Date: September 2024
You can also study this course:
Sharpen your music business and management skills and gain the confidence to pursue your career goals with the MA Music Business. With topics including the live music industry, intellectual property and talent management, alongside other key business skills, this course provides you with an opportunity to develop your personal organisation skills, self-discipline, time management, and dedication to succeed in a competitive field.
You will enhance your team-working skills, demonstrating to employers the ability to devise creative solutions and work effectively with others, and can hone your communication skills to form concise, compelling, and coherent arguments.
Recent Graduate success stories...
Each week, Music Week profiles the brightest new talents in the business and it has put Jamie Leeming, digital agent at United Talent Agency, who graduated here at Buckinghamshire New University, under the spotlight.
BNU graduate Nadina Edouard counts herself lucky as she thrives in her career as a private events manager and artist booker at ALR Music - having taken a bold and exciting career path.
Why study this subject?
Combine your passion for music with your head for business and take on a role in the buzzing music industry.
The UK music industry contributed £5.8bn to the UK economy in 2019, (Music By Numbers UK Music) and employed an estimated 315,000 people in music, performing and visual arts (DCMS 2020) so the opportunities open to you are great.
If you are interested in a career in working for a record label, managing artists, music marketing and promotions or music publishing then a degree in Music Business could be for you.
The opportunity to learn from a very experienced faculty was really attractive, the lecturers are all industry professionals with over a hundred years of experiences between them. The small class sizes also means sessions are more interactive. The cultural diversity, music culture, fantastic Students’ Union, and the closeness to London made BNU the clear choice to me.Chubiyojo Justice Ujah
Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?
BNU has been delivering courses in the music industry for over 25 years, and therefore we have a wealth of expertise from within our network of lecturing staff, guest speakers, and alumni, all with a track record of success in a wide variety of roles in the music business internationally.
The MA Music Business programme allows you to develop deep knowledge and advanced skills to enhance your career in the music industry, in both employed and self-employed capacities. You’ll be able to develop a detailed understanding of the professional environment of the music and media sectors and the entrepreneurial skills necessary to exploit current opportunities as well as instigate new lines of professional activity.
All our music degrees at Buckinghamshire New University come with membership of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership (MAP).
UK Music is the collective voice of the UK’s world-leading music industry. We represent all sectors of our industry – bringing them together to collaborate, campaign, and champion music. The members of UK Music are: AIM, BPI, FAC, The Ivors Academy, MMF, MPA, MPG, MU, PPL, PRS for Music. UK Music also has an informal association with LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment).
MAP is a ground-breaking collaboration between educational institutions and UK Music, and is designed to maximise the relationship between the industry and educational institutions in order to inform the next generation of industry professionals.
MAP does this by nurturing collaborative projects, such as research and careers events, panel events, various education and skills work, policy work, and career opportunities. Fundamentally MAP provides extra opportunities to individuals who want to build careers out of their passion for music. This helps to future-proof the music industry by ensuring new entrants have the right mix of experience and skills.
Stay updated with all our latest BNU Audio and Music news by following us on Instagram @bnu_music
You can choose to study this course full time (one year) or part time (two years).
What facilities can I use?
We’ve invested in a range of state-of-the-art facilities across our campuses to support your learning.
Our facilities are packed with the latest equipment. We regularly upgrade our computer hardware and software, so you have the equipment and facilities to truly excel.
Our library is the perfect place to find the resources you need and a quiet place to study, filled with four floors of books, journals, computer suites and study rooms. Or, if you’d rather work off campus, e-Journals and resources are only a few clicks away using our Virtual Learning Environment.
Whilst studying with us you will also use our BucksAnywhere web service, which provides access to many of the software applications you use for learning and studying. BucksAnywhere can be used from your own device or from a University owned PC or laptop, from any location.
Find out more about our facilities.
What will I study?
Our MA Music Business is a challenging postgraduate degree that helps prepare you for a role in the music business. Depending on the modules you choose, you can study intellectual property, social media marketing, entrepreneurship, the live music industry, talent management, and artist and repertoire development, amongst other topics.
An exciting module titled Contemporary Industry Issues features guest speakers from the forefront of the music industry, as well as from academia, and addresses the most up-to-date issues and challenges facing the industry. You’ll also work on a 15000-word research project, supported by a master’s level research methods module, allowing you to study your chosen topic in-depth and tailored to your own career aspirations and interests.
This programme has been developed to enable you gain a deep understanding of the music and media sectors. You will learn how apply newly acquired knowledge and skills creatively in order to exploit current opportunities as well as instigate new lines of professional activity. Through developing conceptual understanding, you’ll be able to evaluate methodologies employed within related industries and critique them.
How will I be taught and assessed?
Summative and formative assessments are used in all modules and the following types of assessment activity may be used on this programme subject to the pathway chosen. These include:
- practical assignment
- report
- essay
- portfolio
- reflective commentary
- research proposal
- dissertation
- practical project
- written assignments
- practical exam
- presentations
What are the course entry requirements?
A typical applicant will hold a 2:1 and have an interest in pursuing a career in music, or have several years’ experience in the industry at an appropriate level.
Modules
This provides a guide of the modules that make up your course. You can find more information about how your course is structured on our Academic Advice section.
What are the tuition fees
Home
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Home, Academic Year 2024 - 2025: £10,500 per year
International
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Overseas/International, Academic Year 2024 - 2025: £15,550 per year
What are my career prospects?
Graduates from this course pursue careers in numerous roles and areas of the music business, for example;
artist management, artist and repertoire representative, music marketing executive, booking agent, music publishing executive, record company executive, the live music industry, music entrepreneurship, music business educator, music publisher, social media, tour manager, further postgraduate study or research.
Course leader
- Head of School (Creative and Digital Industries)
- Associate Professor
- Senate Representative
