Commercial Music BA Honours

Our music courses are based at our state-of-the-art Harrow Campus, one of the main media education campuses in Europe, where facilities include 12 professional recording studios, a new teaching recording studio, and an array of television, post-production, radio, film, video and multimedia facilities.
Since its inception in 1993, the course has developed with engagement and input from industry, and our main aims are to nurture your practical and theoretical understanding of the business of commercial music, prepare you for entrepreneurial participation in commercial music markets at home and abroad, and develop your ability to use production processes to create musical works.
We will develop your critical understanding of the relationships between the music industry and the broader social and cultural environment, and encourage you to be an agent of change in the creative industry and society.
Learning and teaching is delivered in a variety of ways: as well as set-piece lectures, we make innovative use of technology and blended learning through blogs, discussion boards, skype-based tutorials, online tests, and student-generated conferences. Assessments are equally wide ranging, and may include live debates, reflective journals, rough mixes, public rehearsals and comprehension exercises.
Subjects of study
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course. For more details on course structure and modules, and how you will be taught and assessed, see the full course document.
Year 1 (Credit Level 4)
Subjects of study include:
Business Negotiation
Composing for Musicians
Creative Vision and Local Markets
Live Technologies
Music Business
Performance and Stagecraft
Production Techniques – Development
Reading Audiences
Year 2 (Credit Level 5)
Subjects of study include:
Conference Paper
Creative Synthesis and Sound Designs
Creative Vision and Global Markets
Music Business Game
Musicpreneurship
Performing Identity
Production Techniques – Specialisation
Year 3 (Credit Level 6)
Subjects of study include:
Bridging Into Work
Final Major Project
Producing Content to a Brief
Publishing Research
Pushing Musical Boundaries
Westminster electives
As part of your course you can take elective modules. Electives are an exciting opportunity to widen your experience at university and to gain skills and knowledge that will help make you more employable. Find out about Westminster electives.
Course team
Chris Kennett, Course Leader
Mike Exarchos, Course Lecturer
Steve Beresford, Course Lecturer
Simon Goffe, Course Lecturer
Stu Lambert, Course Lecturer
Mykaell Riley, Course Lecturer
Jacqueline Springer, Course Lecturer
Anthony Farsides, Course Lecturer
Additional costs information
Download course fee information to check what your tuition fees cover and what you may need to pay for separately on this course.