ACM (The Academy of Contemporary Music) has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.
Course summary
This practical course will mentor, coach and equip you with the business, project management, entrepreneurial and collaborative skills needed to work across various creative business roles. These roles include agent, artist manager, A&R and label manager, music marketing and PR, live events, tour or venue manager. You will work on industry briefs and projects that will allow you to create and build impressive business, management, entrepreneurial and innovative skills for your portfolio. You will understand investors in creative industries and the income streams that flow from creative work such as intellectual property rights, publishing and 'sync' income and streaming, live performance, music distribution and the impact of AI and new technologies. You will collaborate with the next generation of creatives with big ideas for creative start-ups and be supported to run your own events, manage artists, and get involved in marketing and promoting creative business’ and musical releases across a variety of sectors and genres. There will be opportunities for students to network with industry professionals and gain valuable insights into the music business and wider creative industries. For students with creative musical skills and aspirations, we also offer a carefully curated hybrid business programme that allows you to study topics from both the business programme and a specialist music programme of your choice: composition, performance, production or songwriting. Developed for the next generation of music practitioners with big ideas, you’ll cover a range of units that will help you to expand your skill set and become fluent in your area of music practice alongside creative industry business, marketing and management.
Modules
Our tripartite commitment to our students’ academic, professional and personal development is recognised in a brand new curriculum, specifically purposed to bridge the gap between what industry needs and what education has traditionally provided. ACM's pioneering Creative Industries Future programme framework treats our students as individuals. We build bespoke programmes of study for each of them, based on their own history and aspirations for the future, with over 100 different modules and numerous unique module combinations to choose from. On UCAS, we actively publish a certain number of career destinations that are commonly stated as aspirational by our applicants and desirable by our industry, advising you as to which module combinations you might want to consider in pursuit of those particular career goals. If you’d like to pursue something different, however, it’s also completely possible to build and personalise your own programmes, as you see fit. Of course, we also understand that not everybody has a specific career destination yet, and so for those of you who haven’t quite made up your mind, the first thing we ask you to think about and choose from is one of six broad study routes. These study routes are described as Musician, Creative Artist, Producer, Management & Entrepreneurship, Games Development and Live Production and Sound. Choosing a route will dictate a selection of route-specific modules that you will study. Further into your course, in addition to the route-specific modules, you can then select from a suite of zero-credit elective modules and credit-bearing elective modules as you start to formulate your ambitions for the future more clearly. We also believe that there are some things that every Creative professional needs to learn about and understand. Things such as copyright, who the main players in Industry are and how the various sectors of artist management, records, publishing and live are changing in an ever more digital world. That’s why our Creative Industries Futures qualification also includes a small number of mandatory modules that every student must engage with. Whether students choose to focus on music performance, songwriting, production, live sound and production, games development and business management, we pride ourselves on delivering an immersive creative industry education in which we match the highest quality of teaching and learning with an unparalleled student experience. With its students representing every corner of the field they one day hope to work in, ACM is a microcosm of the creative industry in which they really can work together and learn by doing. We’re interested in our students’ careers as much as their studies, dedicating an entire department to supporting their professional development and helping them take their first steps into the creative industry. ACM’s Industry Link team ,through regular networking events, work placements, performance and audition opportunities, students are able to showcase their knowledge and talent to music industry executives (from labels, publishers, management companies and more) and gain first-hand feedback from those in the know. The department connects students to a network of top-tier industry partners in the music and wider creative industries, and also offers regular tutorial and masterclass opportunities with visiting guests. ACM students also enjoy an access all areas pass to Europe’s largest recording complex, in which the likes of Queen, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Will.i.am and countless others have recorded, and some still record, today. This joining of educational and professional environments, where over 50% of the UK Music chart is recorded, mixed or mastered in an average year, has created a unique end-to-end proposition for those wanting to pursue a career in the music and wider creative industries, not to be found anywhere else in music education.
Assessment method
ACM uses real-world activity, learning and problem scenarios for all of its assessments. Our ethos is to embody learning-by-doing and students are therefore assessed through the demonstration of this learning by industry professionals who bring the latest knowledge, highest calibre of creativity and their entire experience into the classroom. Assessment methods are varied and balanced to suit a wide range of learners and may take practical, written, portfolio or other form. Students are often given the opportunity to work collaboratively with those studying other music related disciplines, representative of the way in which the Music and wider Creative Industries also require collaboration. Showcasing work to industry is inbuilt into the assessment process thanks to our unique link with Metropolis Studios and students will receive feedback from industry experts, supporting their professional and career development in addition to their academia. All written and portfolio assessments are submitted electronically by way of our Virtual Learning Environment and where possible, feedback is delivered in audio and video form, as well as written.
How to apply
29Jan
This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.
Application codes
Please select a course option – you will then see the application code you need to use to apply for the course.
Points of entry
The following entry points are available for this course:
- Year 1
- Year 2
Entry requirements for advanced entry (i.e. into Year 2 and beyond)
Successful completion of prior learning with a minimum of 180 Credits, and maximum of 240 Credits.
International applicants
Due to recent government changes, any students who do not hold UK citizenship must now have settlement status in order to study at ACM. This could be full settlement status or pre settlement status. For more information about eligibility, head to www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families/what-settled-and-presettled-status-means. If you already have settlement status or citizenship, we will be able to progress but will need to have the documentation sent to us. If you think you will be eligible, let us know and we will be able to progress but you will not be able to start the course until confirmation has been provided. If you do not hold any of the above we can progress an application forwards as we are in the process of obtaining “Student Sponsorship licensing”. We hope to have this in place for September, however please be aware that this is subject to confirmation, Even with student sponsorship your place on the programme is subject to your successful visa application and any subsequent immigration laws and regulations that may apply.
Entry requirements
Qualification requirements
UCAS Tariff - 104 points
Please click the following link to find out more about qualification requirements for this course
https://www.acm.ac.uk/courses/higher-education/business-innovation-route/
Student Outcomes
Operated by the Office for Students
There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
| Republic of Ireland | £11100 | Year 1 |
| England | £11100 | Year 1 |
| Northern Ireland | £11100 | Year 1 |
| Scotland | £11100 | Year 1 |
| Wales | £11100 | Year 1 |
| Channel Islands | £11100 | Year 1 |
| EU | £17200 | Year 1 |
| International | £17200 | 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
Where we identify passion and potential for a creative industries career and issue you with an offer of study, we promise that we’ll do all we can to make sure that our immersive education is affordable to you. With our accelerated study programmes, you'll graduate in 2 years, instead of the usual 3, saving £5,550 in tuition fees and a whole year's worth of living costs compared to those students opting to study on a traditional 3 year pathway.
More information on matters relating to Student Finance can be obtained from our Student Finance team on 01483 500 800 or via email on [email protected] .
Provider information
ACM (The Academy of Contemporary Music)
The Rodboro Buildings
Bridge Street
Guildford
GU1 4SB