Music Business and Production - BA (Hons)

The module examines music industry management structures, the relationships to artists and the negotiation and representation skills required within the music industry. The role of the manager will be analysed and critically evaluated. The historic development of the manager's position within the music industry will also be explored.

The module explores the current creative industries, particularly focusing on music industry characteristics and structures, music organisations and relevant arts groups. Students will be guided to appreciate a broad range of career opportunities in these areas and they will develop an understanding of the skills and specialisms required for specific areas. This will provide a clear context for their further studies on their chosen degree programme. Students will also develop their critical awareness by examining recent historical trends in music and the creative industries.

Lectures throughout the module will discuss and analyse a range of music events, providing students with an understanding of both large-scale productions and smaller local events. The importance of planning all aspects (space, technical resources, staffing, marketing, finances, etc.) will be emphasised. In the second half of the module, students will be guided to create a fully-costed proposal and plan for an original event. Students will work in small group of between two to three students, and their project will be pitched to their fellow students and an academic panel in the summer term.

This module will provide a broad introduction to important aspects of music history and culture from the twentieth century to the present day. Different approaches to musical language will be considered (tonality/modality, rhythm and timbre in a range of mainstream and experimental styles). The advent of sound recording and the increasing importance of technology in music will also be examined. These key ideas will be connected to research specialisms within the Centre for Music and Audio Technology, encouraging students to appreciate the potential for further study in each of these areas.

On this module, students will be introduced to the digital audio workstation and key pieces of software in order to create original pieces of music. Fundamental technical skills in recording, editing, transforming and mixing sound will be developed. Examples from a range of contemporary styles will be examined and their musical characteristics will be analysed in order to provide compositional models for creative work.

The module will explore critical listening and sound within the wider framework of the environment as a whole, helping students to develop a comprehensive understanding of sound relationships, sensitise their hearing and enhance their expert listening skills. Students will learn to recognise structural elements of sound, they will learn new concepts and be introduced into novel areas of sound-making. The module will culminate in the production of a substantial piece of creative work and a detailed evaluation that links theory and contextual issues with practice, strengthening students' critical listening and sound-making skills.

Students are provided with an introduction to some fundamental principles of music composition, such as rhythm, time, line, texture and form. They are guided to consider how these elements work in key pieces by recent composers in a variety of styles. Practical sessions and group work will provide opportunities for students to explore their own musical ideas, leading to a greater understanding of the relationship between music composition and performance.

This module evaluates the function of communications and marketing within the music industry. The areas of social media, experiential and viral marketing, brand creation, market sectors and artist development will be analysed and critically evaluated.

Students will be taught the essential skills required for writing magazine, newspaper and online journalistic articles within a musical context. This can include reviews, artist biographies and celebrity culture features. They will be introduced to the disciplines of public relations including online and social media strategies. This is essential for launching, developing and maintaining artist careers. Press and media publicity campaigns will be explored and students will evaluate the effectiveness of PR within the marketing mix.

Marketing requires analysis, processing of data and careful cost-effective targeting and consumer expectations. This module investigates the segmentation, targeting, and positioning concept to effectively and efficiently devise marketing programmes. Different facets of marketing are analysed including business to business, product driven business to consumer and market funnelling. The language of marketing is introduced and used to create viable marketing strategies in real world scenarios. Students will be required to write a marketing plan in support of the launch of a brand, product or artist.

A&R executives within the Music Industry are responsible for finding and helping to develop new talent in association with artist management. Assessment of the viability of potential new signings along with an evaluation of their target market are some of the skills that are used in the decision-making process. This practice based module focusses on the principles of finding and developing new artists and creative talent including producers and songwriters, and analysing management techniques for launching and maintaining the careers of the artists they represent.

Students will be required to devise a short, original composition for a live performer with technology. A series of lectures will introduce students to various compositional models, contemporary compositional theories will be explored in relation to key works and scholarly texts and workshops will develop the students' technical skills. Work-in-progress will be performed during the module, and students will be encouraged to engage in peer evaluation and criticism. A final performance of all works will take place towards the end of the module.

Contracts are one of the most important elements of the Music Industry and impact directly on the success or failure of an artist's career. Students will learn the key negotiation elements of artist management, recording, publishing, touring and merchandising contracts and the different ways in which stakeholders approach the negotiations of these contracts. The various rights organisations and their operating models, both nationally and internationally are also examined along with the collection of copyright and performance royalties, their generation and importance within the framework of the industry.

The module investigates music for media in both theory and practice. The focus will be on music used in moving image media, including an exploration of musical languages and compositional techniques commonly deployed in relation to moving images. Students also study film music history, gaining insight into critical approaches that have informed the practice.

The module takes a holistic approach to the theory and practice of community music. Students engage with the creation and facilitation of music-based experiences for groups and individuals in a variety of settings within the local community. The core aim is to provide a foundational training for budding or potential educators, therapists, facilitators and researchers. A variety of topics form the subject matter of the course, which is interdisciplinary in scope. The curriculum includes an introduction to the history, development and literature of music and community studies using selected key publications in community music, ethnomusicology, music education, and music, health and wellbeing/therapeutic music studies. Given the high number of publications in these fields the core texts will be chosen for their ability to provide (i) connections and synthesis and/or (ii) disciplinary distinction, especially when highlighting methodological differences. As noted the aim is to provide a relatively unified and holistic introduction to community music in theory and practice.

A highly practical module which will introduce you to the complex formal conventions surrounding professional score presentation, instrumentation and orchestration, harmonising and reharmonising melodies, creating introductions, basslines or countermelodies, layering and textures. You have the opportunity to work across a wide range of styles and will also explore timbre in the context of original arrangements. Following a series of given briefs, you will work towards the production of a portfolio which will contain orchestration, arrangement and harmonisation assignments.

In this module, students will be exposed to a variety of song-writing techniques and will develop and nurture the wide-ranging skill set necessary to succeed in the current music industry. Students will learn to carry out basic harmonic analyses of existing songs and apply theoretical approaches to produce original work, investigate different ways to structure songs, explore creative methods to write and develop lyrics, and learn how to enhance basic song templates with melodic accompaniments (e.g. strings, brass etc).

The module explores advanced audio design techniques and critical listening skills demonstrated and applied in specific music contexts. Students will develop the ability to discern and analyse sound characteristics, record and sculpt sonic events to create original sound design, and produce advanced creative work that explores the rich potential offered by sound processing and arranging techniques. Students will look into works of significant composers in the field, and will be taught through a series of interactive seminars, studying both the aesthetics and the technology of audio-based composition and sound design.

Spatial sound is a powerful tool for immersion and is fast becoming a must-have knowledge for many different media and technologies including cinema, theatre, sound installations, exhibitions, live performance and game sound. This module will explore spatial sound, multi-loudspeaker and surround sound formats, including an outline of the developments of spatial sound music and the work of significant composers in this field. Students will study both the aesthetics and technology of multichannel music, including live diffusion techniques, large sound distribution systems and multichannel sound installations. Students will be led to produce creative work that explores the rich potential offered by sound spatialisation techniques, which will culminate in a live performance with the Music and Audio Arts Sound Theatre (MAAST) system.

This module provides a scholarly perspective on the development of twentieth-century and recent musical genres. Different musical styles will be compared and analysed, and their wider contexts will be considered. The cultural, social and commercial development of genres will also be examined.