Popular Music
Popular music occupies a central place in contemporary culture, shaping social identities, driving significant economic activity, and providing the soundtrack to how millions of people experience their lives. Studying it at degree level means engaging seriously with its history, its creative processes, and the technologies through which it is made and heard. This three-year programme at the University of Gloucestershire places you inside that creative world from the very beginning, with access to professional studio facilities including a Dante-enabled setup, Pro Tools and Logic Pro, and a full range of high-quality microphones and outboard equipment that reflect current industry standards.
From your first year you will be hands-on, recording your own work, collaborating with other musicians and producers, and developing both the practical skills and the creative instincts that the music industry demands. Alongside your studio and production work you will build historical and critical understanding of popular music, exploring how genres have emerged and evolved, how the music industry has developed and transformed, and how popular music connects to broader social, political, and technological change. You will develop creative, technical, and intellectual capabilities in parallel, graduating as a practitioner who can both make music and think clearly about it.
Graduates from popular music programmes pursue careers across the music industry and creative sectors. Roles as recording artists, producers, session musicians, music technologists, songwriters, and music educators are all natural destinations, as are positions in artist management, promotion, music journalism, and digital music distribution. The technical production skills you develop are also applicable in audio post-production, podcasting, game audio, and corporate media.
Many graduates build portfolio careers that combine performing, producing, and teaching in various proportions, reflecting the reality of the contemporary music industry.