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Songwriting at Institute of Contemporary Music Performance - UCAS

Course summary

The BA (Hons) Songwriting course is a practically focused, industry-aligned course designed for those looking to become a professional songwriter.  Songs are the lifeblood of the music industry. To become a success, the modern songwriter needs to be courageous, creative, collaborative and enterprising. On the BA (Hons) Songwriting course, we’ll support you to develop each of these attributes. As a specialist music industry education provider, we don’t attempt to ‘teach’ you how to write songs but, instead, guide you through a structured and personalised journey that enables you to develop your own individual writing ability and creative style. Whether you’re a writer–performer with your own artist project, a writer–producer most at home in the studio, or a songwriter looking to co-write and pitch on the projects of others, we’ll support your individual journey within a collaborative setting. Each week, you’ll explore the art and craft of contemporary songwriting, and will write at least two songs to brief which cover a range of topics, styles, genres and approaches. You’ll collaborate with other ICMP London students to develop your material and will engage in small group ‘A&R-style’ feedback and critical discussion with your songwriting tutors and talented peers, regularly critiquing each other’s works-in-progress across all three years of the degree. Our core aim is to nurture your creative individuality and independence as a songwriter and empower you with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to establish and maintain a songwriting career, in whatever form you choose. You’ll achieve this with the help of our impressive teaching faculty, made up of highly experienced songwriters and music producers, all of whom have active careers in both the music industry and the higher education sector. Our songwriting course offers many opportunities for collaborative work, both within ICMP and with the wider music and creative industries, providing excellent opportunities for building your showreel and networking within the music business. The final year sees a research-based creative project and frequent interaction with established industry professionals, allowing students to leave ICMP ‘career-ready’. By the time you graduate from your songwriting degree course, you’ll have a deep understanding of the discipline; an impressive creative repertoire of work; a grasp of the history and culture of songwriting; solid production and recording skills; and expertise in musicianship, business, entrepreneurship and live performance. You’ll also have gained a working knowledge of the way the music industry operates, thanks to regular songwriting-specific masterclasses and events and visits from industry specialists. 

Modules

Year 1 (Level 4)

  • Creative Songwriting: Exploring Songcraft
  • Creative Songwriting II: Establishing Songcraft
  • Theory and Musicianship for Songwriters
  • Fundamentals for Writer-Performers
  • Fundamentals for Writer-Producers
  • Music Business for Songwriters
Year 2 (Level 5)
  • Applied Songwriting: Extending Songcraft
  • Applied Songwriting II: Embedding Songcraft
  • Songwriting and Communities
  • Creative Performance Project
  • Contemporary Practice for Writer-Producers
  • Marketing Strategies for Songwriters
Year 3 (Level 6)
  • Advanced Songwriting: Creative Identity & Repertoire
  • Professional Practice
  • The Enterprising Songwriter
- The Enterprising Songwriter II


How to apply

Application codes

Course code:
W3W8
Institution code:
I25
Campus name:
ICMP London
Campus code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3

International applicants

International students will typically hold a relevant equivalent qualification, please check your qualification with our Admissions team. In addition, you should hold a relevant English language qualification equivalent to CEFR Level B2. ICMP are able to sponsor students that require a Student Route Visa to study in the UK. For more information on the application process contact [email protected].

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Additional entry requirements

Audition

All applicants will be invited to attend an audition/interview


Student Outcomes

Operated by the Office for Students
100%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
100%
Go onto work and study

The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £9250 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9250 Year 1
Scotland £9250 Year 1
Wales £9250 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £9250 Year 1
EU £10250 Year 1
International £15250 Year 1
Channel Islands £9250 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.

Sponsorship information

For students to be eligible for SLC funding, they must be studying a designated course. Courses at the ICMP are designated each year by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. We have developed together with valued partners several scholarships and bursaries which supplement our outreach and widening participation activities and enhance access to our courses. Please contact our admissions team for more information.

Songwriting at Institute of Contemporary Music Performance - UCAS