Performance and Music Management with Foundation Year BMus (Hons)

Performance for Recording will help students develop the required skills needed to perform in a studio recording environment to a high standard. The module will help students to develop the playing skills specific to the studio environment and increase student’s understanding to different recording and musical approaches. Performance for Recording runs in Semester 1 and is an introduction to the performance strand in the learning journey. It covers a comprehensive overview of contemporary studio practice and the specific concepts relevant to performing for the recording process.

The module will extend listening, playing, and organisational techniques required to operate as an effective session musician. The module is also s fun introduction to the recording studio facilities at UWL. This module is also supported by extra instrumental lessons so that students can continue to develop their musical skills in their chosen instrument.

Recording theory is a broad module introducing a variety of topics vital to the field of music technology. It also serves as a base for the more practical and technically orientated modules in the music technology degree courses at LCM/UWL. It is a key module designed to equip students with a grounding in the core knowledge and techniques germane to the disciplinary nature of the music technology courses.

The module aims to provide the student with a solid grounding in the theory, techniques and terminology associated with contemporary acoustic and digital recording practice, as well as ensuring a fundamental grasp of the basic physics of sound and sound propagation.

The Management Role is an introductory module for level 4 students. The module provides students with the basic under-pinning, and historical grounding required to understand and navigate the UK music industry. By the end of the module students will have the knowledge necessary to begin investigation into specialised fields of advanced music management.

After the performance for studio module, students are encouraged to explore a range of different performance styles. Situated Performance runs in Semester 2 and is designed to enhance student’s interaction with different performance environments as well as different types of audience. The module will extend listening, playing, and organisational techniques required to operate as an effective performer while considering the limitations of different performance situations. Performance for Audience will help students develop the required skills needed to perform as an ensemble no matter where they are.

Recording Practice will help you develop the required skills needed to operate studio recording technology to a high standard. The module will further the listening skills covered in Recording Theory and will increase your sensitivity to different recording and musical contexts. It covers a comprehensive overview of contemporary studio technology and the recording process.

The module will also extend ear-training techniques and examine each component of studio technology in detail. In addition, it will address how the techniques of recording are coupled to the technology, providing each student with a backbone of knowledge designed to help the recording demands of the second year.

This module is a key foundation to understanding the principles and doctrines of UK Law that are commonplace in the media and music industry.

With this module, you will gain an understanding of current UK legal practices and requirements of the music and entertainment industries. This will inform you how future business ideas can develop and provide long-term income. There will be an introduction to reading typical contracts and understanding their legal standing and limitations.

Career Strategies is a module that encourages students to evaluate and understand their potential career in the music industry. Students will attend lectures and workshops to evaluate the multiple opportunities available to them when they complete their degree. The module aims to calibrate their career goals at an early stage in their professional development. At the end of this module students will have a clear idea of how to maximise the rest of their degree to aim for a career specific to their skillsets.

At this point in the performance journey, students have learned to adapt to various settings and investigated their own artistic voice. Having learned these skills, the students now need to learn how to lead other musicians to achieve their artistic vision. Leading in Performance is a workshop-based module designed to assist students in achieving their musical leadership goals using a combination of group management and musical literacy skills.

This module will culminate in a scenario where students will lead a performance of two songs with only one rehearsal to prepare for the concert. The aim of this module is for students to assume leadership roles and drive a small team of musicians in an experience similar to that of a late-night TV show house band.

Having completed the level 4 performance subjects, students move from the practical aspects of performing in a variety of settings to the more artistic exploration of what it means to be a performer. Performance Artistry is an advanced performance subject designed to develop students' understanding of their role as a content creator and a performer. As such, the module functions in a similar manner to a record label artist development (A&R) department. This module gives performance students a deeper understanding of their relationship to the music industry.

The module will consider a variety of current approaches to visual based marketing campaigns. It will educate students in the visual aspects of social media activities, examining the various perspectives drawn from a combination of theoretical research and practical engagement.

Students will simulate the role of a digital marketer; they will plan campaigns using a mix of creative approaches suitable for the contemporary music industry. Completing this module will equip students with vital digital content creation and marketing skills applicable to the current creative marketing environment.

This module aims to get students thinking about research: How can they understand the practices of music management on a deeper theoretical level? Students engage in the processes of collecting and analysing data and reflect on theoretical approaches to the study of the subject area. Students then conduct a review of academic literature in their field, which is relevant to their chosen topic. These activities are used to think about ways that students can improve their theoretical approaches to professional practice. Developing these research skills will form the basis for designing a major project at level 6.

This module is designed to develop the students’ understanding of music publishing, and the surrounding infrastructure that supports this important music revenue stream. Such associated infrastructure includes, collection societies, advertising agencies, and other musical trade bodies. It will investigate their membership, their roles, and their primary function within the industry of licensing songs and recordings, as well as, distributing income to intellectual property rights holders. At the end of this module, students will have a fundamental understanding of this often-invisible income stream.

The performance and management project is a self-directed module that allows students to showcase the skills and abilities developed during the previous years of study. The module spans the whole academic year and provides students with the opportunity to develop a recording and performance based on a particular stylistic interest. It is expected that the recording and performance is clearly related to the content of the course, and displays an understanding of how to record, perform, and launch music to a wider audience.

Performance for audience is a collaborative module that encourages students to stretch their musical boundaries and develop longer thematically connected musical performances. In this module students must generate 25-minute performances that both sustain performance energy and deliver a well curated musical experience for audiences. In this module students demonstrate a mastery of performance logistics, musical organisation, and audience engagement.

In this module students will take their previously acquired industry knowledge and further their skills using applied scenarios. The module is broken into two parts that will cover both theoretical underpinnings and applied learning scenarios. In the first section, students will engage with broad theoretical concepts that underpin digital marketing and will apply these to current market exemplars. The second section will focus on the demonstration of previously acquired knowledge and skill sets in an applied learning scenario. At the end of this module students will be capable of assembling teams and developing complex marketing campaigns for industry leading acts.

Performance for industry is the culminating performance experience where level 6 students have the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of performance to a panel of industry experts. Students will propose and design a performance event in consultation with the module tutor that represents their aesthetic journey as an artist and performer.

This module focuses on the development of your portfolio career. Increasingly, the successful modern freelancer requires a diverse range of skill sets in:

• writing styles
• technique
• arrangement
• production
• the ability to expand your client base and income streams.

Workflow demands will be examined in a time managed ethos to allow best practice. The module also explores creative outlets, future facing opportunities and residual income streams to allow you to pursue a career as a music professional whilst developing your portfolio.