BA (Hons) (Top-up) Music for the Creative Industries
Study LevelLevel 6 Course TypeHigher Education Duration1 Academic Year Start DateSeptember 2025 Study ModeFull-time LocationLister Building UCAS CodeW310Overview
Develop your passion for music with our Music for the Creative Industries degree programme. Refine your skills and knowledge in music with the support and guidance from our lecturers – who are experts in their field. You will benefit from specialist equipment and trips and visits to relevant exhibitions and experiences, all helping you make the steps towards your future in a creative industry. Develop your skills, knowledge and experience in order to become a successful practitioner within the Music industry and other related fields. This course will enable you to make a contribution to the Music industry through developing the relevant skills and understanding of the professional standards required for a successful music career. The programme encompasses a broad range of learning and teaching opportunities in music, including conceptual, technical and commercial areas. You will develop the knowledge and skills required to start a career as a freelance musician.
The department is fully equipped with industry standard equipment and facilities. Apple Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Pro-Tools and Sibelius. The IT equipment is all Apple Mac-based, as is the norm in the music industry. There is live sound and production equipment available, including a two control rooms and a live room. The PA equipment is of professional standard, with RCF speakers, Allan & Heath and Behringer digital mixing desks and industry standard microphones. A recently installed mixing/recording suite provides access to professional standard recording and mixing facilities, with Neve pre-amps and Avid control surfaces.
This programme allows you to progress from a prior approved qualification to an honours level degree.
Key Info
This programme underpins the development of your practical skills as a musician with key theories, context and the development of academic skills. The programme is intended to be predominantly practical in its assessment and delivery, but with key theories and contextual information delivered as part of the course programme to underpin these practices.
You will develop vocational skills that will help them to learn in a more real world and vocational scenario. This could be through putting on a performance project or working with students from a different department to produce the piece of assessed work.
Qualification Gained: Bolton Institute BA (Hons) in Music for the Creative Industries - Bradford College
- Creative Music Technology – Learn how to approach creativity when using music technology and how to be innovative, experimental and flexible in developing your practical work. Learn sampling and synthesis techniques, sequencing techniques and DAW control.
- Ensemble Musicianship – Develop your performance skills in an ensemble in a range of scenarios. You will be able to rehearse and perform pieces of music expressively
- Freelance working and self employment – an introduction to your new “portfolio career” and the skills and knowledge you will need to succeed.
- Independent project – A substantial piece of work to demonstrate the extent of your achievement on the degree as a whole. It could be a performance, composition, installation or collaboration.
- Pre-production portfolio – Develop your ability and application of pre-production techniques and skills for a creative project. You will apply skills in communicating and executing pre-production processes from scheduling, budgeting and planning to considerations about health and safety and the creative direction of the project.
Entry to this course requires an HND qualification in Music or a related discipline or 120 credits at NQF Level 5, or equivalent. You should also be qualified to at least Grade 6 (or equivalent) on your primary instrument and you will be required to demonstrate this in an audition.
T Level qualifications are accepted, a T Level PASS with a minimum of a grade A*-C (equates to 96 UCAS points).
We also consider individual applicants who can demonstrate relevant learning, work/voluntary experience, using our Recognition of Prior Learning process.
Critical reflection forms a major part of the assessment for all the modules, with the development of portfolios providing much of the evidence for your reflection of learning and development. This should also help to provide you with a completed portfolio of work that could help you to enter employment when finishing the programme.
This project work allows for formative assessment to be ongoing throughout a module. Your tutors will maintain close contact with you throughout these projects, giving evidence for both formative and summative assessment whilst the module progresses.
The department has significant links and partnerships with many local venues and organisations around the city – this has resulted in us being able to stage gigs and events in professional environments that will enrich your learning experience. The links established on the course have been invaluable in securing employment.
Successful completion of this course can lead to further study or employment in the music industry. Careers include:
- Performer
- Session Musician
- Live Sound Engineer
- Music Teacher
- Instrumental Tutor
- Songwriter/Composer
- Music Producer
- Studio Engineer
HE Tuition: £9,250.00 per academic year
Other Costs: Additional fees: Equipment £100 maximum (optional) (headphone, USB memory stick/hard drive, breakables such as strings/sticks), Trips/visits £500 maximum (optional).
This is representative of the most common fees scenario, but actual fees can vary depending on a number of factors. Please contact us if you need more guidance.
Our Students Say
Alexey has his own recording studio business ‘Smoke Signal’, which is also home to his own band Motherfungus. Alexey Newton BA (Hons) Music for the Creative Industries
If you have any questions or require any additional information, please contact [email protected]
Disclaimer: Our prospectus, college documents and website are simply here to offer a guide. We accept no liability for any inaccurate statements and are not responsible for any negative outcomes if you rely on an inaccurate statement. We reserve the right to withdraw any programmes or service at any time.
This course is delivered in partnership with
