MA Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship: Music Pathway

Course information

Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship
Music

15 months full-time, 27 months part-time

Course overview

This programme allows you to develop the business/entrepreneurial skills and attributes to commercialise on your creative and cultural practices and/or knowledge.

The Music Pathway of the MA Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship allows you to build on a historical and theoretical understanding of cultural and creative industries and the development of a cultural economy to create your own creative initiatives, which might be research-based, policy-based, practice-based, or a combination of any or all of these.

The MA will be taught in partnership by a number of departments within Goldsmiths and with key individuals and organisations in the creative and cultural industries sector.

Our collective approach is to integrate entrepreneurship within the development of creative practices and to take a ‘creative’ approach to the development of new businesses and the infrastructure that supports them.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact the Admissions Tutor.

What you'll study

The programme contains four taught modules and a further dissertation/portfolio component.

Attendance is mandatory for all taught sections of the programme. To encourage collaborative learning we try to teach all students together wherever possible, irrespective of their particular pathway.

Compulsory modules

Module title	Credits
Theories of Capital	30 Credits
Entrepreneurial Modelling	30 credits
Dissertation	90 credits
or
Project/Portfolio	90 credits

You will also choose one of the following modules:

Module title	Credits
Industry Placement	30 credits
or
Sector Overview Performing Arts and Audience Development and Fundraising	30 credits
or
Business of Creative Industries	30 Credits

Option modules

You will also take 30 credits of optional modules from a list provided by the Department of Music. Examples of past optional modules include:

Module title	Credits
Music Management	30 credits
Analysing Contemporary Music: From Serialism to Spectral Noise	30 credits
Popular Music and its Critics	30 credits
Sources and Resources in the Digital Age	30 credits
Contemporary Ethnomusicology	30 credits
Advanced Music Studies	30 credits
New Directions in Popular Music Research	30 credits
Philosophies of Music	30 credits
Contemporary Music: Practice and Discourse	30 credits

Download the programme specification.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

What our students say

Sirasar Boonma

"MA in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Music pathway lead me to the world of service design and understand the concept of start-up and business."

MA in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship, Music pathway lead me to the world of service design in Thailand, and to understand the concept of start-up and business.

Goldsmiths opened my world. It's not only open my eyes in terms of understanding the value of multi-disciplinary and diversity but I also learned how to listen and respect others.

Entry requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject.

Evidence of some engagement with or experience of contemporary music making as a performer or creative artist is desirable, whether in classical, popular or world music genres, together with some understanding of management/administration issues as they particularly relate to music and musicians.

We also welcome applications from students who are practising musicians who may wish to enhance their entrepreneurial skills, or develop a specific music-related company or business.

Students who have completed up to 90 credits (not including final 60-credit projects or dissertations) of a comparable degree at another university can apply for recognition of prior learning status as part of their application for a place on the programme, where such credits are carried forward into your study at Goldsmiths.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Fees, funding & scholarships

Annual tuition fees

These are the fees for students starting their programme in the 2024/2025 academic year.

Home - full-time: £12520
Home - part-time: £6260
International - full-time: £23660

If your fees are not listed here, please check our postgraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.

It’s not currently possible for international students to study part-time under a student visa. If you think you might be eligible to study part-time while being on another visa type, please contact our Admissions Team for more information.

If you are looking to pay your fees please see our guide to making a payment.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments. Please check the programme specification for more information.

Funding opportunities

Find out more about postgraduate fees and explore funding opportunities. If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline.

How to apply

Apply now

You apply directly to Goldsmiths using our online application system.

Before submitting your application you’ll need to have:

Details of your academic qualifications
The email address of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively a copy of your academic reference
Copies of your educational transcripts or certificates
A personal statement – this can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online. Please see our guidance on writing a postgraduate statement
A one-paragraph elevator pitch for an entrepreneurial business idea that you plan to develop through the course. This is not a business plan, but a brief paragraph that clearly and concisely expresses your core entrepreneurial idea. You can submit your elevator pitch as a document or as audio/video. Please note that there is a file size limit of 20MB on our website but we can accept your audio/video hosted online if you provide a link to this in your application.

You must demonstrate in your written application and in interview that you have a capacity for creative and cultural entrepreneurship, and that you are able to meet the intellectual demands of the programme.

You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.

When to apply

We accept applications from 1 October to 30 June for students wanting to start the following September. When applying, please specify your preferred pathway (in this case, Music).

We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place that is conditional on you achieving a particular qualification.

Late applications will only be considered if there are spaces available.

If you're applying for funding you may be subject to an application deadline.

Selection process

Admission to many programmes is by interview, unless you live outside the UK. Occasionally, we'll make candidates an offer of a place on the basis of their application and qualifications alone.

Find out more about applying.

Careers

Careers

The programme will enable those who have previously studied an area of creative study/practice, such as music, to start a career developing a business arising from an existing or new creative practice. This may relate directly to a 'product' or 'process' arising from you own practice or to a form of 'expertise', 'consultancy' or 'knowledge'. The programme will also equip those who wish to work within organisations that develop the infrastructure and environment for new creative businesses with the capacity to flourish in a variety of contexts.

Skills

You can expect to develop an independence and integrity in developing creative ideas. You will be able to apply entrepreneurial approaches to creative projects and demonstrate an understanding of different business models to establish a creative enterprise. You will also develop team-working and leadership skills, and effective business and communication skills.

Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.

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