We design our education to truly and demonstrably meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s music industry.
Our courses evolve through working closely with industry partners and advisors. We listen to what the industry values most when it comes to graduate skills and behaviours. This ongoing industry engagement ensures that what we offer is continuously aligned with what the industry needs.
Directly connecting with this fast-paced industry is paramount in giving us up-to-the-minute knowledge and hugely increasing your employability. We know that this regular collaboration is what propels our students and us into the future.
Our unique BIMM undergraduate degrees equip you with the best tools and required expertise to develop a fulfilling and sustainable music industry career.
Whichever degree course you choose, you can expect:
We know there’s no one better to help shape our courses than the industry itself. That’s why we regularly enlist an Industry Advisory Panel to influence everything we do. This includes our new course content, types of assessments and the critical skills most required to succeed. For our 2020 courses, we consulted and engaged with over 230 industry experts. Our Industry Advisory Panel was made up of representatives from the music industry. These included representatives from the likes of Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Spotify, UK Music and the Association of Independent Music. We consulted with industry operators, trade bodies, HR professionals and leading music recruitment organisations, as well as a range of BIMM lecturers and students.
Succeeding in today’s industry requires having multiple skills. As highlighted by our Industry Advisory Panel, we know that this is becoming even more essential for the next generation of BIMM graduates. For example, if you’re a performer, you’ll need to work with a range of other creative professionals throughout your career. These could be marketing professionals, tour managers, technicians, booking agents and more.
As a result, our relevant courses offer more rounded learning and greater freedom to develop particular capabilities. You’ll graduate with the knowledge, experience and vocabulary to work collaboratively with other creative professionals.
- Necessary employability skills
If you’re starting out in the music industry, you’ll need to understand how it works and your place within it. All of our courses include a set of modules that are responsive to employers’ needs. You’ll develop transferable and soft skills to help you succeed in the industry. These include skills such as personability, professionalism, a healthy work ethic, emotional resilience, creative and critical thinking and contextual awareness.
We realise that everyone’s different; each of you has your individual dreams, goals, interests and strengths. That’s why our courses allow you to define your own route to success via a range of optional modules. First, you’ll learn the necessary employability skills and find where you’ll fit in the industry. Then, you’ll be able to build your course according to your interests and career aspirations. You’ll also broaden your knowledge and obtain a flexible range of skills to succeed in an industry that values multifaceted music professionals.
We know that being faced with a range of optional modules can be challenging. After all, it’s not always easy to know which route is best for reaching your career goals. As a result, our students will have access to specially trained mentors. Your mentor will help guide you in deciding which of our options are the best fit for you – and which will help you navigate to your end goal. Together, you’ll form a development plan, review it throughout your course and adapt it if necessary. As our courses are flexible around you, your options can change as your dreams and aspirations develop.
Over 35 years, we’ve established invaluable and unrivalled industry connections. These are connections you won’t find anywhere else. Every single one of our courses will include the option to engage with our industry connections first-hand. You’ll undertake a project with industry professionals or undergo a work experience placement.
We offer this industry engagement so that you have authentic, real-world experiences under your belt before you graduate. It also gives you the chance to see what the role you want to go into is really like. Plus, our exclusive industry partnerships ensure you’ll work with some of the most reputable music businesses around.
Your course culminates in the chance to really focus on you. After learning about the music business as a whole and how you feature within it, you’ll embark on your Final Project. It can be a business plan, industry placement, creative performance or dissertation. Your Final Project, alongside a digital portfolio and CV, will convey who you are and who you’ll become within the industry. It’s the perfect tool to have as you launch into your industry career.
While some students know exactly what they want to achieve when they leave, the vast majority are still figuring things out. We offer one-to-one tutorials in a range of other areas to broaden students’ career choices. Our one-to-one tutorials cover academic, pastoral or technical topics, as well as developing a personal action plan if needed. This way, nothing is off the table while you’re studying with us – or when you graduate. This way, nothing is off the table while you’re studying with us – or when you graduate.
