Popular Music Performance & Songwriting
Entry requirements
A level
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
Minimum of 2 A-levels at Grade E or above (32 UCAS points), OR BTEC Level 3 equivalent, and normally three GCSEs at a minimum grade C/4, including English Language. Mature applicants (19+) who do not hold the minimum entry criteria can be considered for RPP - Recognition of Prior Practice. This is an essay based submission focused on prior professional practice or experiential learning.
You may also need to…
Attend an interview
Perform an audition
About this course
**About the course**
Perform and compose music with our BMus Popular Music Performance and Songwriting degree. Throughout the course, you’ll learn the necessary skills to have a sustainable and successful career in the music industry of today – and tomorrow.
You’ll gain invaluable stage experience as well as build expertise around performing music, creating parts and interpreting songs. You’ll focus on core topics of performance, technique, musicianship, theory and technology. These topics will ensure that you have all the necessary tools to be articulate and expressive in your chosen musical and compositional output.
Once you have this foundational knowledge under your belt, you can tailor your course according to your own goals and aspirations via our range of optional modules. Our optional modules allow you to specialise in certain areas that interest you the most. These include creative performance, complementary instrument skills, global music styles, technology, writing for media, recording, teaching, and research. By the time you graduate, you’ll have a broad portfolio of skills to succeed in whichever career you choose.
Day to day learning will take place in large live rooms, smaller studio settings and in lecture-based classrooms. You’ll also have the chance to collaborate with other aspiring industry professionals. These collaborations are possible because of our flourishing BIMM community that brings together talented students from all areas of the music industry.
Our lecturers – all of whom are still active in the music industry – will guide you through your studies. No matter which route you choose, you’ll always be supported to reach your goals, both personally and professionally.
So, what are you waiting for? Combine your passion for music performance and songwriting today for a fulfilling music industry career in the future.
**The BIMM Graduate**
We make sure that when you graduate, your attributes and skills mirror the employment and creative needs of the music industry – both today and in the future.
We aim to equip BIMM graduates with the following qualities, so they have a long lasting career.
- Employable and Entrepreneurial
- Creative, Collaborative and Connected
- Resilient and adaptable
- Globally Aware
- Professional
- Intellectually Curious
- Self-aware
Modules
Students can expect to study the following core modules:
YEAR 1: - The Creative Industries and you 1: Finding your path - Context and culture of the creative industries - Digital Music - Core instrument skills - Applied instrument skills - Songwriting techniques - Styles and genres - Creative technology
YEAR 2: - The Creative Industries and you 2: Creative Collaboration) - Creativity, identity and agency - Interpretive instrument skills - Digital performance portfolio - Music creation with technology - Songwriting and arrangement
YEAR 3 - The Creative Industries and you 3: Professional Portfolio - Final Project - Performance showcase - Showcase and showreel.
A range of optional modules can be selected in years 2 and 3, subject to availability and student demand. Please visit the course information page on the BIMM Institute website for a full break down.
Assessment methods
Assessment methods are varied and balanced to suit a wide range of students and may take practical, written, portfolio or other form. Students are given the opportunity to work collaboratively with those studying other music related disciplines, representative of the way in which the Music and wider Creative Industries also require collaboration. All written and portfolio assessments are submitted electronically by way of a Virtual Learning Environment and where possible, feedback is delivered in audio and/or video form, as well as written.
Examples of methods used:
- Practical Exams
- Written exams
- Practical coursework
- Multimedia coursework
- Written coursework
- Presentations
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Applicants from low income backgrounds can access our Bursary Schemes:
Low-income Scheme
Care Leaver bursary
Further information can be found on our website: https://www.bimm.ac.uk
The Uni
BIMM Music Institute Manchester
BIMM Music Institute London
BIMM Music Institute Brighton
BIMM Music Institute Birmingham
BIMM Music Institute Bristol
Music UK
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Music
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
After graduation
We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Music
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£14k
£17k
£19k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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