Music Industry Studies MA

Come and study with the pioneer of Music Industry Studies at MA level within the UK.

This MA will give you an advanced and discerning knowledge of music industry practices, drawing on our international research and the experience of our tutors. On it you'll investigate current music industry practices in-depth.

The programme is taught alongside the Masters programme in Popular Music Studies, which will broaden your theoretical understanding and opportunities for research. We anticipate class sizes to be between 15 and 20 students.

All postgraduates also have access to the department's programme of research seminars and performances.

Key Facts

REF 2014
In the latest Research Excellence Framework, we increased the proportion of 4* research from 10% (in the RAE 2008)to 32%, with 40% of impact rated 4* (outstanding) and 50% of environment rated 4* (world-leading).

Why School of Music?

Strong research culture

Across the School, our research activity has a strong interdisciplinary nature and is concentrated in three cross-cutting areas:-

Critical and Contextual Approaches
Creative Practice
Media and Industry Studies.

We're at the forefront of research and postgraduate teaching. Our Institute of Popular Music (IPM) was the first academic centre created specifically to study popular music – and where better than in the home of the Beatles? It also boasts an enviable archive of donated recorded material.

Staff and students contribute fully to our research areas, which are informed by the broadly defined fields of:

Critical theory
Musicology
Music Analysis
Music and the moving image (including new media)
Ethnomusicology
Composition
Music industries
Media and cultural studies.

Research students participate fully in our research activity. They present papers at the School’s research seminars, work as Teaching Assistants within the School (with pedagogical training and support provided). There are also weekly research, career, and teaching seminars for all postgrads.

As a postgraduate student you'll be able to attend research seminars involving guest speakers from many disciplines and subdisciplines. You'll also be closely involved in classical, traditional and popular music concerts performed by professional musicians and students.

Composer Kenneth Hesketh and conductor Vasily Petrenko from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic - neighbours with whom we have launched a partnership - have recently been made honorary professors of Music at Liverpool.

Career prospects

Students from the taught postgraduate programmes in the School of Music have gone on to a wide range of careers, including various positions in the music industries, museums, arts administration, journalism, publishing, and teaching. PhDs from the School of Music are in full-time lectureships around the world (e.g. Canada, Sweden). The MMus and MA in Popular Music and Music Industry Studies have been recognised by the AHRC as appropriate training for advanced research and all three pathways prepare students for a level of further training equivalent to doctoral study.

Visit the Music Industry Studies MA page on the University of Liverpool website for more details!