Music Industry Management & Promotion

Practical classes are delivered in the Media Factory which houses three fully equipped theatres as well as sound recording studios, film and photography studios and a range of music rehearsal rooms and seminar spaces.

A key element of the course involves engaging in real-world, professional domain, industrial projects. You’ll be encouraged to develop your own projects which fit with your aspirations and career goals.

Examples of past student-led projects have included:

• Working with international artists and record labels
• Setting up collaborations between award winning international and British artists
• Development of business models for new and emerging markets
• Development of new music brands
• Project development for established music brands
• Development of innovative web-based music business applications
• Record label development
• Live music event and festival business development
• Music event management
• Niche market exploitation
• Involvement in the University’s Future Sound Music Conference, which brings together academia and industry professionals.

Examples of tutor-initiated projects have included:

• Organising live music events at Manchester’s Factory251 venue
• Presenting and pitching ideas to industry professionals
• Promotion of a book launch event for Unknown Pleasures - Inside Joy Division
• Promotion for the film launch of Nish Clish Banging - the MC Tunes Tapes, with a celebrity conducted interview/ Q & A session
• Promotion of a personal appearance / entertainment event featuring Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Corky Lang
• A public domain project which saw students create and launch a physical and digital compilation album featuring 19 bands and artists from the North West, including both accomplished practitioners and new talent.

In addition to the full Masters's degree, aspects of the programme can be studied resulting in other awards.

Successfully completing the 60-credit Music Industry Practice module MU4000, can result in a Postgraduate Certificate award in Music Industry Management and Promotion.

Successfully completing a further 60 credits will result in a Postgraduate Diploma award in Music Industry Management and Promotion.

Successfully completing the full 180-credit curriculum will result in a Master of Arts award in music Industry Management and Promotion award.

Students can potentially continue to a Professional Doctorate with this MA programme counting as the first year of three, based on full-time study.

Links with the music industry are excellent. Mentors include Honorary Fellow Peter Hook, Aaron Mellor and other key music industry figures depending on the nature of your interests/ areas of practice.

Peter Hook is a seminal musician who has continued to innovate and inspire throughout his career, which spans five decades.

Peter co-founded two of the most influential bands to emerge from the UK, Joy Division and New Order. He has been the driving force behind a number of other successful and influential music projects. Peter is responsible for many hit records and is considered to be one of the most iconic and influential bass guitarists in modern music. Companies including Yamaha even make signature edition bass guitars with his name on them.

Peter remains as busy as ever, continuing to find new and exciting approaches to creating music-related experiences. Peter was one of the first people to enjoy success fusing electronic dance music with orchestras, resulting in the ‘Hacienda Classical’ concerts and festivals, inspired by the iconic club that Peter co-owned in the 80s and 90s, also revisiting Joy Division’s back catalogue at the Royal Albert Hall. Peter has written a number of successful books, been central to many online and real-world events and activities. He even continues to feature in the charts with new music including a recent top 10 Billboard hit collaboration with Gorillaz and his back catalogue which continues to find new audiences. He continues to sell-out shows all over the world with his band ‘The Light’.

We also benefit from the experience of UCLan Leader in Residence and serial entrepreneur Aaron Mellor who owns and operates some of the coolest, award-winning music venues and festivals in the UK. As well as recently saving a number of important grassroots music venues from closure due to the impact of Covid-19, Aaron has also been expanding his international portfolio which includes activities in Los Angeles, Croatia, Ibiza and Dubai.

As a result of the course’s rich industry networks, we have access to a range of Preston based venues but also other celebrated music spaces including Manchester’s iconic Factory251, Gorilla, South and the Deaf Institute, where students have previously put on events, concerts and festivals as part of their studies.

In addition, the University is also a key stakeholder in the city’s ‘Preston Jazz and Improvisation Festival’ which is one of the region’s most popular event. This event has attracted audiences of circa 10,000 people in recent years.

On this course, you will study current practices in the music industry, including the recording industry, publishing, the live and social consumption of music, digital consumption, sponsorship and endorsement, branding, and the underpinning frameworks such as music law. You will consider different business models within the industry and look at the way creative products are marketed and promoted. You will engage with key issues being confronted by the industry including the impact of new technology and the development of the digital marketplace. You will undertake research into the challenges and opportunities that have arisen as a result of the constantly changing political, economic, cultural and technological environments, such as Artificial Intelligence.

The course will also give you the opportunity to engage with music industry practice at a professional level and in industrial contexts. Working on and contributing to field-based commercial projects will enable you to gain hands on experience of a range of Music Industry activities and develop your practical and interpersonal skills. You will have the opportunity for in depth reflection on music industry practices and the chance to develop your own commercial, professional and industrial strategies.

Guest speakers, conference delegates & course associates:

Zed Bias – Artist/DJ/ Producer

Liam Blake - Artist/ Musician

James Brandes – Managing Director the Digital Copyright Consultancy

David Dunne – Radio Executive

Richard Dyer – Co-founder Skiddle and Highest Point Festival
Aziz Ibrahim - Artist/ Musician/ Guitarist (Stone Roses, Simply Red, Ian Brown, Paul Weller, Asia, Aziz and Dal)

Lucilla Green - Digital Music Consultant
Ann Harrison – Partner @ SSB Law and author of ‘Music: The Business’

Paul Hutchinson – Musician/ Producer/ Studio Owner

Daniel Jones – Outreach Manager PRS for Music

Rudi Kidd - Music Industry Lawyer and Professional Advisor Gray and Co.
Alison Lamb – Artist Manager/ General Manager – Prolifica Recordings Limited

Graham Massey - Artist/ Producer (808 State, Bjork, Bowie)

Richard McAspurn - Managing Director, QBC Marketing, Entertainment & DJ Agency

Lee Monteverde – Record Producer

Silvia Montello – Head of Operations at Audio Network, Co-founder remarQabl

Teresa Moore – Director, A Greener Festival

Carl Palmer – Artist/ Musician (Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Asia, et al)
Matt Parsons – CEO Ditto Music
Jules O’Riordan – Partner Sound Advice (DJ Producer A.K.A. Judge Jules)

Tim Pearson – Head of Brand Partnerships, Paradigm Talent Agency (former Marketing & Events Director at NME/ IPC Media, promoter of Feel Nightclub) UCLan alumni
Ian Peel - Label Manager, ZTT Records & Stiff Records, London
Hugh Robjohns - Technical Editor - Sound on Sound
Nicola Spokes – Managing Director UK - Island Records
Matt Wanstall - Regional Organiser North - Musicians Union
Paul White - Editor in Chief - Sound on Sound