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Songwriting

BIMM University

UCAS Code: 3C45 | Bachelor of Music (with Honours) - BMus (Hon)

Entry requirements


A level

E,E

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

PPP

UCAS Tariff

32

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


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Musicianship and performance studies

Popular music composition

**About the course**

Explore your creativity and develop an in-depth knowledge of your art and the industry with our BMus (Hons) Songwriting course. You’ll learn all about this music industry cornerstone. You’ll focus on areas such as lyricism and aesthetics, creating music with technology, and music publishing.

Working with a diverse range of talented artists to bring your aesthetic, academic and industry goals to life will be at the heart of the course. Day-to-day interaction and collaboration with fellow songwriters, performers, producers and business and events students will help you gain invaluable real-world experience.

As well as being surrounded by this creative and vibrant atmosphere, you’ll have access to our state-of-the-art facilities. Each day, you’ll learn within large live rooms, recording suites and seminar-based classrooms.

From day one, you’ll be encouraged to form your personal stylistic development through a range of disciplines: from solo and group performances to commercial songwriting and music production for film, television and online channels. As the course progresses, you’ll be able to choose options that best suit your interests and career aspirations. These options will help shape you to become a multi-skilled music professional valued in today’s industry.

Highly experienced lecturers currently active in the industry will guide you through the core topics. These include styles and genres, songwriting techniques, musicianship, music publishing, events and releasing and Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) technology. You’ll also get to attend unique and inspiring Masterclasses with some of the best artists in the world, which will stretch you as a songwriter.

So, what are you waiting for? Start your career in Songwriting today.

**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
Songwriting techniques
Songwriting skills for ensemble
collaboration and performance
Styles and Genres
Creative Technology
Digital Music

Year 2
The creative industries and you 2: Creative Collaboration
Creativity, Identity and Agency
Music Publishing, Events and releasing
Music Creation with Technology
Songwriting and Arrangement

Year 3
Final Project
Creative industries and you 3: Professional Portfolio
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 learners:

Practical Exams
Written exams
Practical coursework
Multimedia coursework
Written coursework
Presentations

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£15,950
per year
International
£15,950
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

Applicants from low income backgrounds can access our Bursary Schemes.

Further information can be found on our website: https://www.bimm.ac.uk

The Uni


Course locations:

BIMM Music Institute Birmingham

BIMM Music Institute Bristol

BIMM Institute Berlin

BIMM Music Institute Brighton

BIMM Music Institute Manchester

BIMM Music Institute London

Department:

Music UK

Read full university profile

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.

57%
Musicianship and performance studies
57%
Popular music composition

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

75%
Staff make the subject interesting
84%
Staff are good at explaining things
71%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
66%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

62%
Library resources
55%
IT resources
65%
Course specific equipment and facilities
50%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

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

£14k

£17k

£17k

£19k

£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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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

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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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

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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