Popular Music BA(Hons) Degree

Course outline

Stage 1

• Popular Music Practice 1 & 2
• Music in Society 1 & 2
• Collaborations: Showcase
• Enterprise 1

Stage 2

• Popular Music Practice 3
• Enterprise 2
• Music Project or Elective or Exchange
• Contexts

Stage 3

• The Musician in Place
• Music Project
• Performance & Entrepreneurship
• Dissertation
• Professional Preparation

Tell me more about the BA(Hons) Popular Music course

 BA(Hons) Popular Music award information form (108.70 KB)

It's essential that you acquire the practical skills necessary to earn a living through music, as well as honing your performance, songwriting and musicianship skills. We'll help you to gain understanding of how the music business works and is changing - from publishing deals to marketing, distribution to web publishing, music law to production and sound engineering, internet radio stations to sound installations.

At the same time, you'll underpin your practical skills with a solid grasp of the historical, critical and theoretical debates around popular music, and develop the time/project management, communication and interpersonal skills essential to succeed in this exciting and challenging industry.

By choosing to study for a degree in Popular Music at Falmouth you will:

• Work in a cutting-edge and environment, collaborating with students in digital media, fashion, dance, journalism, theatre and design.
• Be based at the new Performance Centre, a high-specification facility purpose-built for students' specific needs with the very latest equipment.
• Benefit from workshops, lectures and tutorials from our experienced and friendly resident staff and visiting professionals.
• Learn the practicalities of producing promotional material, how to make good quality demos, using graphics for posters and web publishing and producing press packs.
• Learn the basics of music law, negotiating deals and preparing contracts for professional work, registering new works, music publishing and how royalty collection agencies work, as well as examining the roles of the Musicians' Union, press and booking agents, managers and promoters.
• Meet professionals from studios, record labels, promotion companies and venues, who'll be key to opening up possibilities for everything from studio recordings to live gigs to digital distribution, both during and after the course.
• Have the opportunity to work alongside a team of other performers, managers and promoters to put on live events.

Facilities

Our new purpose-built Performance Centre includes:

• High-specification performance studio designed for acoustic music
• High-spec studio designed for amplified music
• Recording studio complex
• Music practice rooms for bands and solo work
• The very best in studio hardware
• Industry-standard software applications
• Huge collection of microphones

Projects

Our BA(Hons) Popular Music degree enjoys a close relationship with the legendary Sawmills Studios, made famous by the likes of Oasis, The Stone Roses, Robert Plant and Muse - amongst many others. Plans for the future include unique studio training courses.

www.sawmills.co.uk

Professorial lecture series

Falmouth's Professorial lecture series aims to produce an engaging and challenging public programme that stimulates the intellectual curiosity of our staff, students and alumni, our research collaborators, our industry partners, our local communities and other supporters. Recent lectures relevant to Music students include Robin Rimbaud (aka ‘Scanner')

Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner)

How to make art from life (with the help of a few ghosts)

British sound artist who has received critical acclaim and won admiration from the likes of Bjork, Aphex Twin and Stockhausen. Scanner has worked with Bryan Ferry, Radiohead and Laurie Anderson, The Royal Ballet, Merce Cunningham and Random Dance companies, composers Michael Nyman and Luc Ferrari, and artists Mike Kelley, Derek Jarman, Carsten Nicolai and Douglas Gordon, and performed in many of the world's most prestigious spaces.

Answers and advice about the course

For further information about BA(Hons) Popular Music at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 255764.

Our student mentors are now on Facebook. To chat to a mentor about the course, living in Cornwall, or what to expect at Falmouth, check out the Music courses group. You need to join the group before you can post. Our student mentors have already done the first year of the course... so ask them anything you like!

Music courses Facebook group

If you're not Facebook you can still speak to a student mentor. Email your name and the course you're starting to: studentmentorenquiries@falmouth.ac.uk and we will be in touch with you.

Career opportunities

Our graduates will be armed with the skills to work in a variety of contexts, including: 

• Solo or band performer
• Session musician
• Sound engineer
• Producer
• Promoter
• Running or working at a record label
• Press and promotion
• Manager
• Marketing
• Composer and/or song-writer
• Music publishing
• Music journalist
• Teaching
• Postgraduate study

Entry requirements

A minimum of 220 UCAS points, mainly from the A2 level (including at least Grade C in Music/Music Technology) or equivalent Level 3 qualifications.  

For entry, you'll be asked to send a CD demo and/or scores of your best work to date before being invited for interview. Candidates without standard qualifications but with music industry experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please see our How to Apply page for more information.

For further information about BA(Hons) Popular Music at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 255764.

Interview and selection process

Typically selection days involve improvisation and working in small groups.

Applicants will be asked to send a short creative portfolio consisting of composition, production and/or performance work and a short written piece, before being invited for interview.

Location: Performance Centre, Tremough Campus

Related courses

• Creative Music Technology BA(Hons)
• Music BA(Hons)
• Music Theatre BA(Hons)