Music Journalism

Course content - 2017 entry

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

In the first year, you'll be introduced to the University and the technical workshops and facilities available to you. On the course you’ll learn the technical and conceptual skills that will give you a solid foundation from which to explore your areas of specialist activity.

• View the programme specification for 2016 entry

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change.

Course modules

• Introduction to Journalism

  We'll introduce you to the building blocks of journalism, incorporating news writing, media analysis and interviewing skills.

• Music History and Popular Culture

  You'll examine the visual and cultural history of music - how it fits into the wider social history, and how analysis through critical thought can help us deconstruct its deeper meaning and context.
  

• Digital and Broadcast Media

  Examines the multimedia world of music journalism and how digital, visual and audio media have merged and become increasingly important in communicating ideas.
  

• Theories of Music and Media Production

  Introduces key concepts and critical debates in popular music studies and media theory. In this unit you will develop your musical language and appreciation of how our experience of everyday life is mediated through sound.

The second year focus is on finding your own specialist way of working and you’ll be encouraged and supported to start working more independently. During this year you may also have the opportunity to complete an industry work placement or even study abroad.

• View the programme specification for 2016 entry

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change.

Course modules

• Music Media and Industry

  You'll really begin to find your own 'voice' and start expressing yourself and your passion for music. You will find out about other writers and how you fit into a long, robust tradition of music journalism. At their best, music writers create the myths that surround the artist. Whether the writer just reports or takes a more iconoclastic tone, he or she is giving an informed, specialist and entertaining interpretation of music releases.
  

• Features Writing

  This unit introduces you to feature writing, which is a fundamental part of journalism. You will learn about different kinds of features, from short news backgrounders to the substantial, multi-layered main features that drive magazine content. The unit will also introduce you to the technique of pitching. Being able to concisely articulate and 'sell' your idea to editors is a journalistic skill in its own right. Its importance cannot be underestimated.
  

• Magazine Project and Work Experience

  You'll be required to put into practice, as part of an editorial team, those elements you've experienced on the course. Teams will work as editorial journalists to produce a media product on a theme of your choosing.

• Culture, Music and Identity

  You'll focus on the consumption of popular music and the broader context of media industries. You will analyse critical work on music and society, subcultures, fans and stars, as well as media discourses across journalism, film, TV, advertising and digital platforms.

• Study Abroad (optional)

  This optional unit is designed to broaden your educational experience and deepen your understanding of cultural diversity. It will enable you to study within a different cultural context and gain fresh perspectives.

The third year will see you achieve a greater level of independence with self-managed research, study and practice, resulting in a final major project and a written dissertation.

• View the programme specification for 2016 entry

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change.

Course modules

• Investigative Journalism

  Investigates the technique of music writing to a much greater depth, and introduces to you more complex areas of music journalism, including advanced interviewing.

• Final Major Project

  This unit is about the creation of a body of work that can be used to showcase your skills to industry, and about acquiring the knowledge and experience to launch yourself successfully as an industry professional.

• Dissertation

  You'll undertake a period of self-directed individually-negotiated research on a subject related to the contextual and/or theoretical concerns of your discipline or chosen area of practice.

• View the programme specification for 2016 entry

Please note, syllabus content indicated is provided as a guide. The content of the course may be subject to change.

Course modules