Duration:
3 years full-time | Direct entry available

Location:
Confetti Nottingham Campus, NTU

UCAS course code:
W375

Institution code:
N91

Quick! We have some places remaining for this September. Check out the entry requirements below.

This BA Music Business degree in Nottingham is perfect for you if you’re serious about building a career in the music industry. At Confetti you’ll get the best industry connections, real-life work experience and unrivalled facilities.

We operate our own live music and event spaces – like Metronome – that are home to an eclectic mix of commercial-facing events and gigs. It’s here where you’ll get to know your trade; the perfect space to learn, develop and connect.

You’ll be immersed in the world of music, gaining valuable knowledge and techniques in discovering new talent, setting up your business, marketing and PR, music publishing, the live industry, music recording and distribution.

This Music Business degree will also help you understand the challenges the music industry is currently facing, such as revenue streams, including Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) and the legal and ethical elements, focusing on intellectual property protection.

This course is for you if:

  • you have a passion for music and a desire to work in the music industry
  • you enjoy engaging in hands-on projects and real-life experiences
  • you are excited by discovering and developing new musical talent

Industry exposure at Tileyard

As part of your degree you’ll get exclusive access to the UK’s best music industry insights and connections through our partnership with Tileyard – the world’s largest professional music community.

You can expect regular masterclasses, industry briefs, mentoring and a host of other opportunities to further develop your portfolio, industry knowledge and those all-important connections and contacts.

Progression route

MA in Music Business at our Nottingham or London campuses.

Clearing 2024

  • 88 UCAS pointsfrom up to four qualifications.

Spaces are limited, so call NTU’s Clearing hotline on 0115 848 6000 to secure your place.

2025 entry

  • Standard offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications
  • Contextual offer (UK only): 104 UCAS Tariff points from up to four qualifications

To find out what qualifications have tariff points, please use our tariff calculator.

A lower offer may be made based on a range of factors, including your background (such as where you live and the school or college you attended), your experiences and individual circumstances (you may have been in care, for example). This is called a contextual offer and we get data from UCAS to make these decisions. NTU and Confetti offer a student experience like no other and this approach helps us to find students who have the potential to succeed here but who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

Find out how we assess your application.

Fees & funding

We accept qualifications from all over the world – check yours here:

English language entry requirements

You can meet our language requirements by successfully completing our pre-sessional English course for an agreed length of time, or by submitting the required grade in one of our accepted English language tests, such as IELTS:

Would you like some advice on your study plans?

Our international teams are highly experienced in answering queries from students all over the world. We also have members of staff based in Vietnam, China, India and Nigeria and work with a worldwide network of education counsellors. Find out more about advisors in your country.

This degree is validated by Nottingham Trent University. You can apply through UCAS.

Apply now

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there’s no need to feel anxious and confused about it. We hope that our fees and funding pages will answer all your questions.

Fees & funding

The Music Business (20 credit points)

The music industry is an exciting world of interconnection and opportunities.

In this module you’ll explore the fundamentals of the key areas such as recording, publishing, distribution, consumption, live and artist management examined through a historical musical lens, but focussing on their current and emerging state. Who were the movers and shakers who made things happen and why did they happen that way? How can this apply to you at the start of your journey?

Marketing & PR (20 credit points)

Arguably, music’s value is worthless unless people know it’s out there. In this module, you’ll explore the fundamental theory of marketing via a series of case studies through the ages of popular music and see how it’s not necessarily the money spent, but the ideas that are the key to success.

The lessons learned will be considered in your Content Creation Practice and Event Management and Production modules as well as your own external endeavours.

Content Creation Practice (20 credit points)

A modern entrepreneur is multi-skilled, and this module will give you the important practical skills in graphic design, photography, filming and editing on accessible technology to enable you to create and share marketing content for your creative projects in and out of your degree.

As well as technical skills, you’ll develop a more creative approach by supplying content for a media campaign for an artist as a client as part of the module Event Management and Production module.

Economics and Enterprise (20 credit points)

Behind every successful artist, tour or release is an actual economic structure.

This module will examine the key elements of business theory using existing and historical music business case studies and will open your eyes to key business theories and structures for your future in the industry.

Event Management and Production (20 credit points)

Live music is the lifeblood of the music industry, and you’ll be in good hands at Confetti as our team of experts put on events week in, week out!

Regardless of genre, most artists need to perform live. In this module you’ll work as part of a team to plan, market and host a live music-related event with one or multiple artists. There’ll be a financial element, with all money raised benefiting Confetti’s annual chosen charity.

Your Music Business Career (20 credit points)

You’re at the beginning of your journey. You need to know your strengths and what you need to develop so you can focus your energies on filling those gaps.

This module will empower you to supercharge the fundamental academic and wellbeing skills you need in your studies and personal adventure. You will explore potential job roles of interest and assess current suitability, and what you need to do to improve your chances of success in those fields. You’ll also develop an online presence, which you’ll work upon over the three years during your time at Confetti to support your professional profile.

Applied Marketing and PR in the Music Business (20 credit points)

Building on the Year 1 Music Marketing and PR module, you will delve deeper into the psychology of marketing and will examine further techniques and case studies through the eye of the mind tricks played on the consumer to steer their thinking and actions.

You will be assigned a peer’s artist and be directed to analyse their current branding and carry out market research, resulting in a proposed branding and marketing strategy plan for them.

Is your plan strong enough to be adopted? And can you work as part of a team if chosen? You will also start to consider yourself as a brand, whether that’s as an artist or as a business practitioner.

Discovering and Developing Talent (40 credit points)

One of the most exciting things you can do is find an artist to shape what’s to come: those who’ll write and perform future classics. Studying at Confetti you’ll be surrounded by musicians and producers, so make the most of your time by making life-long connections.

In this module, you’ll find and develop an artist or band which will culminate in the release of a single under the guidance of Denizen Records, our own record label. You’ll reflect on the appropriate A+R process, and develop the skills and people-network to move a track from discovery to release-standard.

You’ll be learning alongside students on a host of creative degrees, enabling collaboration in the recording, production and release of a song for a defined market. You’ll have assigned personnel to develop your marketing strategy and assets, but you’ll be responsible for quality control.

You’ll need to work within the parameters of the label structure and propose and justify a budget, take direction and instruction from label staff and consider options to self-release outside of the structure if the single is ultimately rejected by the label. Can you go from discovery to impact?

Popular Music History (20 credit points)

The history of popular music has informed where we are and where we might go next.

In this module, you’ll be exposed to decades of key recordings, events, artists and the movers and shakers involved in shaping modern popular music as we know it. You’ll examine the importance of music and see how it’s been influenced by and influences society, politics and the world we live in.

You’ll choose your own specific area to explore in more detail, then consider how you could apply what you have learned in your Discovering and Developing Talent project.

Revenue Streams (20 credit points)

There are many income streams in the world of music and it’s vital you know and understand them.

During this module you’ll learn all about the main sources, covering Performing Rights Organisations, (PROs), neighbouring rights, sync, and other key avenues to make money through a global lens. You’ll take your findings and evaluate how you might apply them in your Discovering and Developing Talent module.

Music Industry Law (20 credit points)

The music industry can be a minefield and you need to be able to find your way around the fundamentals of the legal and ethical aspects of protecting yours and others’ intellectual property.

In this module you’ll explore what the law means to you and your potential avenues of income and will prepare you to spot the icebergs! You’ll reflect upon what you learn and apply it to the Discovering and Developing Talent module.

Emerging Trends (40 credit points)

As a future leader of change, you’ll create a dissertation based on your interests and personal study related to emerging opportunities, trends and thinking within the music business, negotiated through consultations with your supervisor.

The module gives you greater autonomy to define your potential career direction, and demonstrate your potential for professional practice as a initiator of change in the world of music.

You’ll demonstrate your ability to research, critically analyse, and contextually formulate opinion on emerging industry related topics. You’ll test and scrutinise your findings and present them in appropriate ways.

Your Music Business (20 credit points)

Planning your next steps in your career is vital.

In this module you’ll spend time reflecting on how you’ve developed in terms of skills, knowledge and broader ethics, and plan how you will achieve a sustainable career in the music industry; whether this is as a freelancer, business start-up, or working for a music-related company.

You’ll examine funding options, business plans, contact lists and your strategy for the future resulting in a plan that you can use to help you on your way. Your output plan will be pitched to a panel, and the most considered, focused and realistic will win a Confetti Employability Grant to support you in your goals. You will also hone your own branding and develop a web presence to support your professional direction.

Your Major Project (60 credit points)

This ‘Capston Project’ is a chance to put your skills and aspirations into practice into a final major project that can define you as a music business graduate and professional.

This output could take the form of a single or album project, a gig or tour, the management and development of an artist, or the creation of a label or music business app: the world is your music oyster!

You’ll need to evidence, where appropriate, your team management skills by recruiting relevant team members from your network and recognising the importance of driving a project using people’s specialist skill sets.

An industry mentor will be assigned to you. They’ll support you throughout the project, culminating in a final presentation and analysis of its success.

Do It For Real

Industry Week

Getting regular insights from leading industry figures is a given; none more so than during our annual Confetti Industry Week where we invite some of the biggest names from industry to deliver talks, masterclasses and performances.

You’ll be able to meet a range of professionals within your field of interest as well as other areas of the creative industries. 

Past guests include Alexander Waldron, Sister Bliss (Faithless), Michael Eavis CBE (Glastonbury) and Wolfgan Flur (Kraftwerk).

Student work

Our Talent Development team works closely with course leaders to link students with opportunities across the industry. Music Business students have previously worked with leading companies, such as:

  • Hockley Hustle
  • Beat the Streets
  • Splendour Festival

Study a Music Business degree with us and you’ll learn in our very own live music and events venue, Metronome. You’ll have access to:

  • Full Adobe Creative Cloud package with additional home licence
  • Relevant software for marketing and PR strategies
  • Portfolio building software
  • MacBook Pro
  • Podcast equipment
  • Mobile phone gimbals

Courses

Your time at Confetti doesn’t have to stop once you finish your undergraduate course. Choose to continue your studies on our postgraduate degrees that can help you further develop your skills and obtain the experience you need to get a head start in your career.

Career options

What roles do our graduates go on to?

  • Music Marketing
  • Event Management
  • A&R
  • Artist Management
  • Publishing
  • Recording Industry
  • Social Media Content Creation
  • PR
  • Music Law

NTU Employability support

Our support doesn’t end when you graduate. As a Confetti and NTU student you will be entitled to dedicated graduate employability support for up to three years after you complete your studies. You’ll have access to exclusive events, initiatives and work experience opportunities to support you in the early stages of your graduate career.

NTU Employability support

Apply Now

Open Days

Saturday 12 October - Nottingham
Book your place
Saturday 19 October - London
Book your place