Duration:
1 year full-time

Location:
Confetti London

This Music Business master’s degree puts the final polish on your industry knowledge and practice.

You’ll develop your very own personal projects and ideas as part of the course, with industry mentors to steer your career to the next stage.

You will be taught the crucial skills of music industry practice by industry experts – project management, budgeting and collaborative working and develop a deep understanding of IP management, negotiation and contracts. You will also dive into new and developing technology and use data analysis tools to measure, plan and take action. Live events are an essential part of the revenue mix and you’ll learn everything you need to create and promote your own gig and club brands or work in that sector.

You will undertake a large-scale research project into your specialist area of interest and plug your business and career activities into an ongoing creative entrepreneurial portfolio.

Take advantage of our in-house record label, Denizen, where you can gain access to industry mentors and grants, to help you progress in your music career.

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 want to learn about and deliver current industry practices

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, work placements and opportunities and a host of other opportunities to further develop your portfolio, industry knowledge and those all-important connections and contacts.

This programme is open to graduates with a degree from any discipline and does not require music business study to be completed at undergraduate level, but you need a desire and passion to be involved with high quality music business projects.

Entry & admission criteria:

  • A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or an appropriate equivalent, i.e. a professional qualification, from a recognised British or overseas institution
  • If you don’t have a degree, please detail related industry experience and the length of time the activities took place over in your personal statement
  • Applicants should have a genuine interest in music business. Please use the personal statement to demonstrate your motivation and suitability for the course, including related skills.
  • Applicants who have been taught and assessed in languages other than English should have an English language equivalent to IELTS 6.5.

  • A minimum of a 2:2 honours degree, or an appropriate equivalent, i.e. a professional qualification, from a recognised British or overseas institution
  • Applicants should have a genuine interest in music business. Please use the personal statement to demonstrate your motivation and suitability for the course, including related skills.
  • Applicants who have been taught and assessed in languages other than English should have an English language equivalent to IELTS 6.5.

Personal statement

You should include in your personal statement why you want to study this course and what career in the music business you are aiming for. Please also include:

  • Evidence of knowledge of the music industry
  • Any experience of management (of people or projects)
  • Any details of organisational skills (for example in modules or in your work)
  • Any experience of marketing skills (in your course or in your work)

International qualifications

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.

To apply for this course, you will need to complete an application through NTU’s Applicant Portal.

Your application will include a personal statement, and you’ll need to provide a reference.

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.

We offer a 20% discount to most current Confetti and Nottingham Trent University students, and recent alumni.

Creative Entrepreneurial Approaches (60 credit points)

This module is designed to reflect the interdisciplinary collaborative and entrepreneurial nature of music sector working practices. You will critically examine the current music sector practices most applicable to your own journey as a music industry professional, whether that’s as an employee, a business owner, or a freelancer with one or more business activities: you’ll look for your place in the sector and work towards finding a home there during your studies.

You’ll work on relevant real life projects and these will provide you with the opportunity to examine key music sectors, industry stakeholders, and critically examine the work environment to identify relevant professional opportunities to support your development to give you the best chance to thrive. You will have an assigned mentor from industry to give you a vital insiders perspective, and you will also have the opportunity to work for and with Confetti’s own label and publishing arm Denizen.

You will ultimately form an output plan and will pitch for a ‘Confetti Employability Grant’ to help you on your next steps.

Music Business Practice (60 credit points)

This is your Music Business playground! We all have our specialisms, but have you ever thought how you can apply those skills in related fields? The key to your development is going through the ‘doing’ process in a number of scenarios and examining how you can use what you learned in your own practice.

Through a series of workshops and projects you’ll explore and enhance your processes and skills in these related areas. You’ll experiment and see how related competencies can be developed to increase your employability across the music business sector: You might experiment mapping your ear for spotting a good song to trying your hand at some music supervision for media projects, or your organisational skills to support the release strategy on our record label, Denizen : you’ll work to personalise and apply these techniques to your own practice to enhance what makes you, you!

The key in this module is in the process and reflection, but assets related to your intended employability journey can be honed to completion for use in your ‘Creative Entrepreneurial Approaches’ module to show you at your very best.

Research Project (60 credit points)

In an ever-shifting and more complex creative industry, the need to source, analyse and process knowledge has never been more important. Research is an essential skill in the toolbox for any creative practitioner wanting to have an extensive and rewarding career in a brave new world of opportunity and challenge.

The Research Project module enables you to collaborate with other creative cohorts and formulate life-long robust research practices. You will learn the essential skills necessary to investigate and synthesise information in order to develop informed conclusions and new and exciting practices. The module will enable you to take a deep dive into your own specialist areas of interest to deliver a large research project.

The project can be delivered in media that most closely align with your creativity, with outputs that could include a whole range of audio, visual or webspace artefacts.

Do It For Real

Industry Week

Studying at Confetti you’ll take part in Industry Week where 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).

You will also hear from guest speakers throughout the year, such as:

  • Ian Penman – New Media Law
  • Karma Bertelsen – FUGA
  • Robert Guterman – Glastonbury Festival
  • Charlie Arme – Tileyard Music
  • Karen Emanuel – Key Production
  • Jévis Lawson – Ivors Academy
  • Andy Ellis – PRS for Music
  • Sigala

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:

  • Rough Trade
  • Metronome
  • Tileyard Studios

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

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.

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Saturday 18 January
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