Music (Audiovisual Cultures)

Entry requirements

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in Music or an equivalent subject.

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.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MA Music (Audiovisual Cultures) offers you a unique opportunity to engage with cutting-edge interdisciplinary research on music and the moving image.

You will investigate the audiovisual culture of film, video games, social media, augmented reality, protest chants, music videos, opera, television, and the sounding visual arts from a range of perspectives and approaches, including theoretical and aesthetic debate, ethnographic filmmaking, and multimedia collage.

Study across disciplines

As a student of audiovisual culture, you will gain an interdisciplinary understanding of how music and the moving image work together in a variety of contexts. Modules from the Department of Music cross the spectrum of audiovisual cultures, from pop and contemporary art music, to ethnomusicology and the sonic arts. You can also choose from a range of related topics in other departments on subjects including world cinema, postcolonial theory, gender and sexuality, and communication theory.

Explore new approaches to critical thinking

This MA degree combines essay-based assignments with refreshed forms of scholarship, including the curation of online content, filmmaking, vlogging, installation work, sound walks, digital archiving, and collaborative creativity. Throughout your time at Goldsmiths, you will be encouraged to cultivate a creative approach to your critical thinking and to challenge the norms of academic scholarship.

Pioneering teaching

As a student on this programme, you will join a department renowned for its progressive and creative work with audiovisual theory, composition, and performance-as-research. You will be exposed to Goldsmiths’ unique approach to learning and teaching, which combines theory with creative practice and welcomes cross-cultural perspectives.

Vibrant audiovisual community

The Department of Music is celebrated for its multi-disciplinary work with music and media, with staff producing internationally significant work in audiovisual theory, orchestration for film, audiovisual composition, music computing, creative practice, and ethnographic filmmaking. You will be encouraged to attend a lively events programme, which includes our international research seminar series and various related research units, such as the Unit for Sound Practice Research, the Contemporary Music Research Unit, the Popular Music Research Unit, Music and Ethnographic Film, and the Fringe and Underground Music Group.

As students of audiovisual media, you can also become involved in several bespoke projects:

• Postgraduate students in the Department of Music edit their own peer-reviewed scholarly journal, Sonic Scope: New Approaches to Audiovisual Culture. You will gain valuable work experience by joining the scholarly editorial team to source, edit and promote content for the new issues, make promo videos, work with the social media and publicity team and submit work for possible publication.
• Longplayer is a bi-annual festival of experimental music which threads from campus, through the streets of Deptford, and all the way to the River Thames. You will be welcome to join the planning team for the event.
• PureGold is the Department’s annual live music festival, run in collaboration with the Department’s record label, NX Records. You will be encouraged to join the vibrant team of performers, presenters, and technicians during your time at Goldsmiths.
• Music Week is a festival that opens every academic year. All music students participate by joining one of our numerous ensembles to perform around campus.

There are also many ways to become involved with audiovisual culture outside of the Music Department. Invention, Creativity and Experience is a college-wide research strand that deals with Virtual and Augmented Realities, and the Embodied AudioVisual Interaction research Group is a cross-department research group working on sound as a medium.

Goldsmiths is based in New Cross, a vibrant area in one of the most international cities in the world, just 10 minutes from London Bridge. Our location will allow you to experience the numerous galleries, performance venues, and pop-up spaces instrumental to our contemporary audiovisual culture.

Prepare yourself for a career in a variety of related areas

The diverse content of this MA, and its range of assessment styles, will provide you with transferable skills useful for a range of employment options once you graduate. Subsequent careers could include academia, publishing, broadcasting, work in film and television sound departments, journalism, the creative and cultural industries, music management, arts administration, research in and composition for new media and online culture, sound curation, librarianship, teaching, digital archiving, AR and VR consultancy.

Goldsmiths is ranked in the 42nd in the world for Performing Arts (QS World University Subject Rankings 2021).

Information for international students

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 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 and funding

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

Assessment