Music Industries (Taught)

This programme provides an opportunity to explore the music industries - with a focus on popular music - from the perspectives of history, research methods and theory, contemporary debates, and work-based learning. Making the most of the city of Glasgow and its vibrant popular music ecosystem including a rich network of venues, festivals, and small to medium music businesses, this degree is distinctive for its emphasis on work-based learning with opportunities for arranged projects with existing music companies and artists on the one hand, or supervised music entrepreneurship projects on the other.

WHY THIS PROGRAMME

• Our approach is multidisciplinary: we employ a variety of academic approaches and draw upon the University's expertise in a range of disciplines including sociology, cultural studies, musicology, and politics.

• You will be studying in the city of Glasgow, with its vibrant and exciting music scene—the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music—an unbeatable location for the programme.

• Glasgow boasts a tremendous variety of music venues that showcase an array of genres, styles, and scenes. Among the world-leading establishments are the OVO Hydro, the Royal Concert Hall, and a vast network of grassroots locations. Explore a map of the city's music venues created by staff and students.

• The city is also home to a wide range of music businesses and organisations, including festivals, venues, promoters, recording studios, labels, and media companies. Explore a directory of the city's music organisations created by staff and students.

• You will benefit from access to our facilities including a number of study spaces, practice rooms, an audio lab, studios, and the University’s concert hall.

• You will have the opportunity to contribute to the Glasgow Music City website, created and maintained by students and staff from the Music Industries programme. It is a forum for new ideas, research and debates about working in music, as well as the relationship between cities and their music.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The programme combines a range of disciplines including sociology, cultural studies, musicology and politics.

Semester 1
In semester one you will take three compulsory core courses.

Core courses
Popular Music Research
Popular Music History
The Global Music Industries

Semester 2
In semester two you will take one compulsory core course and two elective options.

Core course
Music Cities

Elective options
Popular Music Politics (recommended choice)
Current Issues in Musicology

Alternatively, one of your elective options may be chosen from any appropriate course offered by the College of Arts & Humanities, subject to availability.

Summer
At the end of semester two, you will undertake an in-depth research dissertation of 12,000 words, to be submitted in August.