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Music (Popular Music Research) at Goldsmiths, University of London - UCAS

Course options

2024 - 2025
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

The MA in Music (Popular Music Research) engages with scholarly debates and public controversies around popular music, while examining and developing both traditional and innovative ways of researching popular music. The Masters provides a grounding in the development of popular music research as a subfield of musicology, and encourages critical thinking about:

  • musical texts, artefacts and ecologies
  • audiences, reception and questions of interpretation
  • creativity, industries and production
  • repertoires broad in historical range and geographical scope
The course addresses contemporary issues of significance to academics, musicians, industries and organisations involved with popular music. You'll develop research skills, critical thinking and rigorous methodological expertise with a range of applications both within the academy (at doctoral level) and outside (in music related industries, marketing, arts management, museums and archives, the sciences). Although a knowledge of and passion for popular music is vital, it is not essential that your first degree is in music or popular music. We welcome applicants from a wide range of disciplines: the course is designed to be of benefit not only to those wishing to continue their research at doctoral level, but also those wishing to reflect on their experiences as musicians, listeners, or media and arts industry professionals.

Modules

You take the following compulsory modules: Critical Musicology and Popular Music 30 credits Popular Music and its Critics 30 credits Option modules You choose 60 credits of option modules. Options change on an annual basis, and recent examples include: Advanced Music Studies 30 credits Contemporary Ethnomusicology 30 credits Contemporary Music: Practice and Discourse 30 credits Ethnographic Film and Music Research 30 credits Music Management 30 credits New Directions in Popular Music Research 30 credits Performance as Research (Ethnomusicology) 30 credits Research through Musical Performance 30 credits Sound Agendas 30 credits Philosophies of Music 30 credits Dissertation Dissertation 60 credits *Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Assessment method

Dissertation, essays, discussions.

Entry requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard or equivalent. Your qualification should comprise a substantial academic element relevant to the selected MA pathway and option choices. A detailed transcript of your degree is preferred. 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. 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.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Additional fee information

Unless otherwise stated the annual fee for part-time students is half the full-time fee quoted.
Music (Popular Music Research) at Goldsmiths, University of London - UCAS