Commercial Music (Top-up)

The course focuses on three areas - music creation, music production and the music industry. The creation and production strands are primarily skills-based and feature a strong practical element. The industry strand aims to equip you with a relevant, thorough and up-to-date knowledge of the workings of the music business. You will be encouraged to develop creatively as a songwriter and performer, but always with an awareness of the commercial viability of your musical output. All applicants are 'players' (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, voice or songwriter) and will be expected to perform on stage as part of the course.

Course structure

Each semester, you will study three modules, one each for the three main areas of the course.

Commercial Music is unique in UK higher education in that it is the only HE undergraduate programme that allows students explicitly to choose to specialise in songwriting in Year 3. Bath Spa University is host to the annual UK Songwriting Festival, and has developed industry links with the Performing Right Society, the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, ASCAP, and several successful producers, composers and songwriters, many of whom contribute to Commercial Music teaching. All of the teaching team are active musicians with a portfolio of recorded or published work.

During the second year, you will write, produce, and record your own original work in our suite of on-site Pro Tools recording studios. You will then undertake a three-week national tour, which is used as part of the promotional campaign. The album is eventually promoted on the internet via student-devised websites. Touring projects form the main work-based learning strand of the course, allowing students to negotiate with professional venues/promoters, and to handle their own finances as part of the module.

Teaching Methods and Resources

Teaching takes the form of formal lectures, instrumental tuition, practical technology/performance workshops, and visiting speakers from the music industry. In addition, you undertake directed study, which includes rehearsal time and recording studio sessions.

You have access to industry-standard equipment throughout your course. The Newton Park campus has five fully-equipped digital recording studios, running Pro Tools HD and Logic Pro on Apple Mac G5s. There are three additional Apple Mac Pro Tools/Logic Pro labs, each supporting sampling, synthesis and hard disk recording; a total of 50 pro audio setups.

Each of our five band rehearsal spaces includes PA system with microphones, drum kit, guitar and bass backline/FX and performance keyboards.

All course resources are networked, so you can access on-line learning materials and the complete syllabus from any Internet link.

Assessment Methods

Live performance, audio/web-based submission, website, written work and seminar presentation. There are no formal examinations.