MMus Popular Music

Course information

1 year full-time or 2 years part-time

Course overview

The MMus Popular Music builds upon our international reputation in the popular music field established by our ground-breaking undergraduate degree.

The Popular Music pathway is designed for music artists who are seeking to deepen their creative practice. We are songwriters and composers, producers and performers, engaged in making work that has relevance to real music scenes.

The programme centres the creative artist in a stimulating and supportive environment where critical enquiry, testing of songs/compositions/performance and experimentation in practice lead to a portfolio of new work.

The development of industry-relevant skills and key cultural-theoretical understandings is led by the needs of our own projects and foundational knowledge. Typically, students make records, explore performance and production methodologies, present shows, write and release new sets of songs/works. The programme offers the opportunity to extend the boundaries of artistry and critically reflect upon our own creativity in music.

You’ll also be able to extend your own practice through options in sonic and studio art, advanced music technology, exploration in audiovisual media, and ethnomusicology.

You’ll acquire graduate-level training in creative practice and subject-specific skills that could set you up for a career as a composer-performer or studio practitioner/producer, as well as other jobs in the popular music sector.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Simon Deacon.

What you'll study

Compulsory modules

You take the following compulsory module:

Module title	Credits
Popular Music Composition	30 credits

You also choose one of the following compulsory modules:

Module title	Credits
Critical Musicology and Popular Music	30 credits
Popular Music and its Critics	30 credits

Option modules

You choose 60 credits of option modules. Available options change on an annual basis, and recent examples include:

Module title	Credits
Audiovisual Composition	30 credits
Composition and Moving Image Media	30 credits
Critical Musicology and Popular Music	30 credits
Ethnographic Film and Music Research	30 credits
Interactive and Generative Music	30 credits
Music Management	30 credits
Performance as Research (Ethnomusicology)	30 credits
Popular Music and its Critics	30 credits
Studio Practice	30 credits
Advanced Strategies in Creative Music Production	30 credits
Philosophies of Music	30 credits

Creative project

You also complete the following project:

Module title	Credits
Popular Music Project	60 credits

Download the programme specification.

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

Entry requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in Music or a relevant/related subject. Your qualification should comprise a substantial practical/creative element relevant to the pathway. A detailed transcript of your degree is preferred.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

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: £22640

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.

Scholarships

Prospective postgraduate students may be eligible for funding through our departmental awards.

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 portfolio that provides selected examples of your recent original creative work (audio, video or other formats as appropriate, 4-6 separate pieces) relevant to the focus of the pathway. Work should be provided as links to streamable content (on English Language sites), plus a brief commentary/contextualisation of materials (including authorship), uploaded as a Word or PDF document.

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 October for students wanting to start the following September.

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 earlier application deadline.

Find out more about applying.

Careers

Employability and cultural entrepreneurship is in our DNA

Graduates may progress to be composer-performers, studio practitioners/producers and music industry employees within the popular music sector. Older students who have returned to advance their knowledge and practice base will be better positioned in the job market.

We are also able to offer a series of employability/placement/internship style opportunities to include:

the Music Professional Practice scheme - a departmental scheme supporting final year undergraduate and MMus/MA students with employability concerns
Music Management Course - specifically assesses students on cultural entrepreneurship and their own real world music projects
NX records - the departmental record label in association with Matthew Herbert and Accidental Records
PureGold festival - the annual departmental festival launched at the Southbank centre
Simon Says - showcase events in collaboration with Goldsmiths Students' Union
Goldsmiths Vocal Ensemble - recent performances at Glastonbury, the Southbank Centre and Shepherds Bush Empire

Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.

Student work

Goldsmiths Students make music with EMI

EMI Production Music has published an album of music for film, TV and other media composed by Goldsmiths, University of London students.

Goldsmiths: Sounds One is a compilation album of 18 tracks composed by 15 students and recent graduates from Department of Music postgraduate programmes, including MMus Popular Music, MMus Creative Practice and MMus Composition.

This album is the brainchild of Paul Sandell, EMIPM Content and Distribution Manager, and is co-produced by James Ewers, Associate Music Lecturer, and Ian Gardiner, Senior Lecturer and convenor for MMus module Composition and Moving Image Media.

The students and graduates are Pete Wilson, Ged Flood, Matt Kirk, Aleksandra Wozniak, Sydney Bull, Alexander Brown, Valeria Pozzo (aka Naonis Sounds), Robert Aitken, Lamis (Ell) Harper, Thomas Falle, Felix Morgan, Paul Reynolds, Jacob Cheetham, Duncan Silvey and Andrea Caruso.

The collection of tracks spans genres, including traditional piano and string-based classical styles (such as Naonis Sounds and Robert Aitken’s urgent Momentous), world-music tinged soundscapes (eg. Ged Flood and Matt Kirk’s Night Trip), modern ambient acoustic/electronic hybrid textures (Pete Wilson’s Gravitas) and synth and noise-heavy pieces (Jacob Cheetham’s Dronem).

Goldsmiths: Sounds One can be previewed on Soundcloud

Picture of a group of Goldsmiths students

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