MA Music Business, powered by Tileyard
Start dates:
September or January
Duration:
One year, full-time.
Your degree will be delivered over 45 weeks.
Location:
Confetti, London
This course is also available for online distance learning.
Awarding body:
This postgraduate degree will be taught at Confetti London and validated by Nottingham Trent University (NTU).
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.
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.
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)
Interview:
You'll be invited to an informal interview after you submit your application, to determine your project ideas, your fit with the course, and to discuss your aspirations.
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.
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
- 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.
For the latest course fees and advice on funding, visit our fees and funding page.
We offer a 20% discount to most current Confetti and Nottingham Trent University students, and recent alumni.
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. For advice about making a successful application to study this course, visit the NTU pages on how to apply.
This degree is delivered at our Confetti London Campus in Whitechapel.
On this Masters degree you’ll be able to put theory into practice by developing your very own personal projects and ideas as part of the course, using the Confetti infrastructure and industry mentors to steer your career to the next stage.
Why study this course?
Confetti has been running its own commercial businesses for almost 30 years, which includes a live music and events venue in Nottingham, Metronome. Through these businesses, you’ll have access to amazing facilities and industry professionals working in the music and events industries.
You'll have the unique opportunity to take a leading role running our very own record label, Denizen Records, and collaborate with students studying courses in music performance, sound, production, and events.
At the start of your degree you’ll be paired with an industry mentor, matched to your project and/or specialism. They’ll work with you throughout your studies, acting as an external source of advice, support, contacts, and possibly employment opportunities.
Supporting your industry knowledge, we’ll provide you with regular guest lectures and the chance to experience Confetti Industry Week; the largest of its kind in the UK.
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.
What you'll study
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.
This module runs across multiple creative Masters degrees, enabling cross course collaboration and reflection. Throughout the module you will be scaffolded to arrive at a fully formed Proposal for your Masters Dissertation module.
Based on your experience in the Research for Creative Industries module and the resulting Proposal you will now embark on your Masters Dissertation journey which will be an independent study into your specific chosen area of interest.
You will have paths available to you to help you personalise your level 7 experience, for example a more traditional Desktop Study or a more practical Project Based approach to prepare you for an future in Industry or Doctoral study.
This module will equip you to understand key components of, and issues within the global music industry. You will examine current and emerging structures, processes and trends through an international lens and will enable you to identify opportunities for your own activities the world over.
You'll examine broader contextual issues within the modern music industry and look ahead to the future, analysing and proposing solutions to problems such as gender imbalance, the ethics of operations and sustainability whilst predicting where key music industry infrastructures and relationships might go next. You will examine where your own practice fits in whether as a freelancer, sole trader, partner, Limited Company or employee allowing you to understand how you can positively impact the future of the industry
Understanding and applying appropriate legal frameworks protects you, the business you run and the artists you work with but they also allow you to monetize the art. In this module you will recognise danger areas, analyse copyright, IP, contracts and other relevant legal structures and apply them to your related activities over the years outputs: importantly, all of your music business activities in and out of your course can be fed into your portfolio for assessment making the module centrally relevant and vocationally applicable to you as an emerging professional.
You will have the option to apply your legal skills to real life projects within Confetti's working record label and publishing company, Denizen.
Whether you're running a label, self-releasing music, putting on a tour or planning on joining an established music business of any scale, music and marketing go hand in hand. During this module you will analyse and practice the theoretical and practical skills needed to arm you to make sure whatever you do, the right people will know about it! Whether it's the psychology behind customer behaviour, market research or analysis of data you'll have the knowledge to apply with the graphic design, photography, filming and editing skills you will gain and develop.
The Content Creation Boot Camp will boost your practical asset creation skills to empower you to create innovative marketing content throughout your course and beyond. As with your other modules, we know you may be working on many music related projects outside of your course: you'll be able to feed all you learn into those projects and what you learn from those into your Creative Entrepreneurial Approaches Module.
You will have the option to employ your marketing skills within Confetti's very own working record label and publishing company, Denizen on real life campaigns too.
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.
This course is also available for online delivery. If you have chose this pathway certain facilities and resources available on our physical campus may not be accessible to you due to the nature of remote learning.
As part of our degree, you'll be working in the studio, collaborating with musicians and producers. And you're in for a treat, with world-class facilities...
We’ve worked closely with industry partner and leader, SSL, on creating a bespoke-built console. TriniTy is the first-of-its-kind system, delivering SSL’s SuperAnalogue sound, digital production power, and seamless integration.
Check out SSL’s announcement on their website.
You’ll find SSL ORIGIN consoles in all edit suites as standard. The studio mixing console has a traditional analogue studio workflow at its heart whilst providing the perfect partner for a modern DAW-driven ‘hybrid’ production studio.
Audio monitoring throughout the music facilities is provided by PMC and Focusrite Rednet interfaces throughout, allowing for audio recording to be captured remotely.
We're putting the final touches to a purpose-built multi-discipline events and production space with the versatility built-in to function as a 600-capacity live venue, or a virtual production studio complete with LED volume.
Similar to our Nottingham venue, Metronome, it's here where you'll gain valuable work experience and access world-class facilities.
Confetti Industry Week is the biggest of its kind in the UK, where guest speakers and mentors from the music industry are invited in to talk to students. Our students have the opportunity to learn from people working in the industry right now, and can make invaluable contacts during this week.
Past Industry Week guests have included:
- Michael Eavis - Glastonbury founder
- Kim Hawes – tour manager for Motorhead and Black Sabbath
- Susan Rogers - with Prince and the Jacksons
- Tom Visconti - worked with David Bowie
- Piers Aggett - Rudimental
- Nick Raphael – President of Capitol Records who signed Sam Smith
- Trevor Plunkett - tour manager for George Ezra
- Sylvia Massy - worked with Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince and Rick Rubin
The week spans the whole creative industries, so it's not just event specialists who you'll get the chance to hear from!
Check out some past talks OnDemand here
The three key approaches to learning and teaching for this course are:
- Active Collaborative Learning
- Learning through Research
- Online or Blended learning
You will participate in workshops, lectures, small group and one-to-one tutoring designed to help you develop the practical and thinking skills that you will need in your chosen career. There is also a collaborative project along with online practice supporting portfolio development.
Assessment
You will be assessed in a number of ways, including:
- Written Assignments
- Reports
- Presentations
- Creative outputs/production
- Portfolio
Formative assessment is what we call the opportunities you have to produce and get feedback on work that will help you to prepare to complete your summative formal assessment. There are specific named activities in your assessment and feedback plan which you will be asked to complete and submit for feedback. Additionally, peer, class and individual feedback on your ongoing work is formative.
Assessment tasks are designed to challenge you over the year to increasingly demonstrate your own creativity, reflect your own interests and include independent research.
Graduates will be equipped to take up roles working for/with record labels, publishers, venues, distributors, digital aggregators, artist manager, tour manager, marketing and comms, catalogue manager or setting up their own music related business.
Open Days
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