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Music Production and Business

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,D-B,C,C

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

MMP-DMM

UCAS Tariff

88-112

A typical offer will be a UCAS Tariff score of 88 - 112. A minimum of two full A-levels (or equivalent) is required. Every application is considered on an individual basis.

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Music production

Music and arts management

If you see yourself as a record producer, production company manager, studio engineer, sound designer, or even a recording artist, this course could be the right one for you. Substantial time will be spent in the studio where you’ll learn about audio applications and explore a number of processing techniques. You’ll develop relevant management skills and a firm understanding of the music business, helping you to leave BNU ready to hit the ground running in this competitive, exciting and rewarding industry.

This course has a shared first year across multiple specialisms. After your first year, if you want to study a different specialism you can choose to change between: BA (Hons) Music Production, BA (Hons) Audio and Music Production, BA (Hons) Electronic Music Production and BA (Hons) Music Production and Business.

**Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?**
All our music degrees at BNU come with membership of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership (MAP).
UK Music is the collective voice of the UK’s world-leading music industry. MAP is a ground-breaking collaboration between educational institutions and UK Music, and is designed to maximise the relationship between the industry and educational institutions in order to inform the next generation of industry professionals. Fundamentally MAP provides extra opportunities to individuals who want to build careers out of their passion for music. This helps to future-proof the music industry by ensuring new entrants have the right mix of experience and skills.

**What facilities can I use?**
Our state-of-the-art recording studios and Sennheiser Sound Lab, which has been fully equipped by our partners, Sennheiser, a world leading production supplier, give you access to the space and technology you need. From individual edit rooms up to large Pro Tools HD studios with attached live rooms and vocal booths, we have it all to help you gain hands-on experience.
We have other top-quality suppliers, including Midas, Focusrite, Novation and AC Lighting, so you can get your hands on the same tools as the best in the business.

**What will I study?**
During this course you’ll learn about the importance of intellectual property (the ownership of an idea) and develop a solid understanding of how to negotiate contracts. This will ensure you know how a real living can be made upon graduation. You’ll learn about the unique nature of dealing with recording artists and how to maximise the potential of compositions with a variety of recording techniques. Additionally, we'll also spend time focusing on a number of DIY approaches to the music business.

In the studio we’ll teach you how to use Pro Tools professionally and look at how music is evolving through advanced technologies. You’ll develop an understanding of studio hardware, microphone characteristics, sound capture and mixing. We’ll also look at stereo effects, ambient techniques, composition and structure. The growing area of sound design and music for film, animation, games and other media forms is also addressed.

This course aims to harness and develop entrepreneurship, a key aspect in the music business. You’ll learn creative strategies, how to follow market trends and seek opportunities within them.

**How will I be taught and assessed?**
Our teaching staff have a wealth of professional and academic experience, with many still actively working in the music industry. You’ll also engage with our dynamic programme of visiting lectures and can benefit from live project briefs, master classes, and plenty of networking opportunities.

A variety of assessment vehicles will be used as appropriate to the modules you take, including assignments carried out in your own time, in-class assignments, workshops and presentations. Assessments will be appropriate to the task, achievable, motivating and vocationally focussed, forming a constructive part of your learning process.

Modules

**Year one**
Audio Production Technologies
Introduction to Pro Tools
Introduction to Recording
The DIY Musician
Entertainment Industry Framework
Audio Production Practice
Music Cultures
Principles of Marketing

**Year two**
Recording and Mixing Techniques
Sound Design for Moving Image
Creative Audio Production
Sound for Moving Image: Production Project
IP and the Music Industry
Introduction to Research Methods
Music Entrepreneur

**Year three**
Professional Production Project
Spatial Audio Design
Sound Design: Collaboration Projects
3D Audio in Music
A&R Delivering Content for the Music Industry
Placement Plus (optional)
Dissertation (optional)
Social Media Marketing

Assessment methods

A variety of assessment formats will be used throughout the course, including in-class assignments, workshops and presentations. Assessments will be appropriate to the task, achievable, motivating and vocationally focused, forming a constructive part of your learning process.

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
£15,000
per year
International
£15,000
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

Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of bursaries and scholarships. For more information, please visit https://www.bucks.ac.uk/study/fees-and-funding/financial-support-bursaries-and-scholarships

The Uni


Course location:

Buckinghamshire New University

Department:

School of Creative And Digital Industries

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.

71%
Music production
71%
Music and arts management

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

71%
Staff make the subject interesting
86%
Staff are good at explaining things
77%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
78%
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

78%
Library resources
70%
IT resources
64%
Course specific equipment and facilities
43%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

72%
UK students
28%
International students
73%
Male students
27%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
20%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
D

After graduation


The stats in this section 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

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

24%
Sales, marketing and related associate professionals
16%
Artistic, literary and media occupations
8%
Other elementary services occupations

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.

£15k

£15k

£18k

£18k

£20k

£20k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
Staffordshire University | Stoke-on-Trent
Music Production
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112-120
Nearby University
LCCM | Southwark
Commercial Music (BA)
BA (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 96

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here