Program Overview

Course overview

This programme combines the BA in Popular Music with a Minor pathway in Game Design Studies – a new and distinctive provision in the study of interactive audiovisual media. It builds on the Department of Music’s established reputation for both popular music and the study of sound and music in multimedia formats.

Introduction

Throughout your degree, you will develop an in-depth and critical understanding of popular music repertoires, cultures, and practices. We have a particular specialism in this area, having established the Institute of Popular Music (IPM) – the world’s first specialist centre for the study of popular music – in 1988.

A suite of compulsory modules in your first year will build the foundations for years two and three, in which your Popular Music modules will be entirely optional. We offer a broad range of theoretical, practical and industry-related modules, and teaching is supported by a range of newly-refurbished, industry-standard facilities.

The Minor pathway will introduce you to the study of video games, which includes topics such as the history and development of gaming cultures, the complex nature of interactive media, and the critical issues that accompany engagement with virtual worlds, multicursal narratives, and dynamic musical content. Digital games represent one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment media: consequently, there is a growing need for many jobs that are not only in the games industry, but in surrounding industries as well. This programme develops a wide range of skills that prepare students for employment at various entry points in the job market, including content creation, publishing, journalism, and marketing.

Year in Industry

This programme is available with a Year in Industry. Year Three is spent on a paid placement within an organisation in industry, broadly defined. You will be supported by the School of the Arts and the Department throughout, and your reflexive written account of the experience will contribute towards your final degree result. If you wish to study this programme with a Year in Industry please put the option code YI in the Further Choices section of your UCAS application form.

What you'll learn