Popular Music and Culture

Entry requirements

Applicants should either have at least a second class honours degree in the cognate subject of Music, or at least a second class honours degree in a non-cognate subject supported by evidence of an aptitude for the subject applied for, or have equivalent experience or training, normally from within the work environment.

You should include reference to the following areas in your supporting statement:

• Why you want to study on the MA Popular Music and Culture at Leeds Beckett University
• What popular music inspires you to want to work in the music industries and why
• Talk about a recent example that shows how passionate you are about popular music and how it relates to aspects of culture
• Talk about a book or article you have recently read that gave you a real insight into popular music history and culture

Months of entry

September

Course content

Be part of a lively popular-music research community that embraces a wide variety of popular music and work alongside performers, composers and studio producers.

As part of this course, you’ll:

• Join peers with backgrounds in music, cultural studies, music journalism, sociology, live music promotion and the creative arts
• Explore today’s local live music scene and its connection to the wider industry
• Discover the interconnectedness of popular music and cultures worldwide
• Engage with the multiple modes of popular music such as audio, video and still images
• Use ethnographic and analytical methods to gain an understanding of popular music styles and cultures
• Discuss the ways in which popular music is produced, mediated, celebrated and sold to audiences through the use of cultural codes, symbols and signs
• Take a closer look at popular music history, how it's curated, constructed and circulated
• Investigate how popular music heritage has been represented, mobilized and interpreted

Expert practitioners
You’ll benefit from being taught by a highly skilled and experienced teaching team. This includes professional international performer Dr Sue Miller, who has published widely on popular music, practice research (‘Capturing Liveness’) and Latin music (‘Improvising Sabor, Cuban Dance Music in New York’), Dr Paul Thompson (‘Creativity in the Recording Studio’) and Dr Tenley Martin (‘Transnational Flamenco’). Both Dr Miller and Dr Thompson have collaborated on British Academy funded practice research projects in popular music.

Industry links
You’ll have the chance to network with industry professionals on the course and through our guest lecture series. Previous speakers have included the musician and sound designer Suzanne Ciani, multimedia artist and author Paul D Miller AKA DJ Spooky, and Production/Tour Manager Simon Green (Wu Tang Clan).

We also have fantastic links with local and national music, arts and festival organisations, which help ensure you get the most from your course.