Undergraduate Course 
Top10for satisfaction with teachingMusic, Guardian University Guide 2025

This course is designed for practising musicians who want to understand the technical environment within which commercial music takes place. 

This is one of the few courses of its type in the country and is designed to equip you with the ability to interact and innovate within a vibrant environment, nurturing a specialism in popular music and related industries. The area of popular music is a dynamic, well established creative aspect of the music industry involving sophisticated craft, technical, analytical and scholarly approaches. 

You will develop a wide range of disciplines through performance, composition, technology, media production and musicology. You will also develop an in-depth appreciation of the increasing significance of popular music in economic and professional terms. 

Here's what you can expect from this course: 

Take a look at the professional Music facilities at Markeaton Street:

John Crossley, Head of Discipline for Music and Theatre and Dance at the University of Derby talks about the industry-standard Music facilities at our Markeaton Street site.

View Professional Music facilities at Markeaton Street video transcript

The music technology part of the course covers the technology of the recording studio, video production, along with the application of music software on digital audio workstations and the production/post-production of music for a variety of commercial applications.‌

You could enhance your skills further, by going on to study our MA Music Production

JAMES accredited courses

Our Music courses are accredited by the Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), the professional music industry accreditation body, so you can be confident that they meet the high standards demanded by industry.

Head of Music and Performing Arts, John Crossley, explains what this means for students: "The re-accreditation for our music programmes continues our long standing relationship with JAMES and the Music Producers Guild (MPG). The assessors were very impressed with our facilities, our committed teaching team and how we have dealt with the challenging circumstances of a global pandemic. This stamp of approval from professional producers in the industry means that our students can be confident not only with the quality of the programmes of study but also the opportunities and support they receive as they follow their exciting careers."

Dr Paul Vandemast-Bell, Programme Leader for BSc (Hons) Music Production.

View Industry accredited Music and Music Production courses video transcript

A student working in the music studios

Music studios

The music studios at our Markeaton Street site include sound technology labs, surround-sound testing rooms and electronic labs.

Take a look at the studiosTake a look at the studios
Dubrek cafe where students undertake placements

Hands-on experience with Dubrek

Dubrek is a recording studio, rehearsal space, cafe, bar, art gallery and music venue, located in the heart of Derby city centre where students can gain work experience throughout their studies. Dubrek’s mission is to encourage people to engage with music, by championing local artists.

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Markeaton Street, Derby Campus

Build, Create, Innovate

Whether it's computing, photography, or engineering, our top-tier facilities — including a new suite of recording studios and a £12 million STEM Centre — provide the perfect setting to excel.

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What you will study

Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.

Kedleston Road, Derby Campus entrance

Undergraduate Open Days

The best way to find out if studying at Derby is right for you is to experience an Open Day. Get a feel for the city and campus, tour our first-class facilities and see where you could be living.

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How you will learn

The timetable contains around 12 hours of contact with staff a week, with the remainder of the academic week engaged in directed study. All modules are supported through UDo, the University of Derby Online, so you have access to essential support materials at any time of the day or night.

Facilities 

You’ll discover a superb range of music making facilities at our Markeaton Street site, including state-of-the-art recording studios, rehearsal space, music technology labs and three post-production rooms equipped with latest software.  

The University has invested almost £350,000 in these facilities, ensuring you have access to resources which match those of professional studios in the UK and overseas. We offer a wide range of instruments, amplifiers and outboard gear on which you can develop your skills, together with a classic 48-channel Neve recording console. 

We are one of the leading universities conducting research into surround-sound technologies and all of our control rooms accommodate 5.1 speaker arrays. We also have a surround-sound research lab which has a 40-speaker ambisonics surround speaker array allowing height and depth parameters.

While these studio facilities will provide an excellent setting for your taught sessions, they are also available for you to book at other times to fine-tune your personal music projects. You will also be encouraged to hone your performance skills at venues across the city.

Learning and assessment

A variety of assessment methods will be used. Some Popular Music modules are assessed through coursework only, others by a combination of coursework, portfolios, assignments, case studies, oral and graphic presentations, collaborative and interdisciplinary team work projects, computer testing and examinations, so providing a flexible and effective means of assessing your progress. Assessments are designed to enable you to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes for your module. An assessment component may sometimes take the form of a number of small submissions eg lab reports or short in-class tests.

The two major music projects during your final year will focus on developing your professional practice in both performance and composition. The aim is to maximise your potential for securing employment in the creative industries.

You will be taught by very experienced lecturers, many with international research portfolios and current professional experience.

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Person offering support to a student Person offering support to a student with a laptop Student smiling with tutor Tutor smiling with student and laptop

Helping you reach your full potential

Our Personal Academic Tutoring programme supports your academic journey, helping you achieve your goals and unlock your potential.

Explore the programme

Who will teach you

Cameron Jinks

Programme Leader

Awaiting staff photo

Cameron Jinks

Cameron is a Senior Lecturer in Commercial Photography.

View full staff profile

Entry requirements

2025 entry

These are the typical qualification requirements for September 2025 entry.

Contextual offers may apply to students who meet certain criteria.

RequirementWhat we're looking for
UCAS points72
A LevelDDD
T LevelPass
BTECMMP
GCSEGCSE Maths and English are preferred, however if you don't have these qualifications you will be able to undertake Maths and English at Level 2 as part of your course of study
Access to HEPass Access to HE Diploma with 60 credits: 45 at Level 3 with a minimum of Distinction: 0, Merit: 30, Pass: 15

Additional entry requirements

English language requirements

IELTS: 6.0 (with at least 5.5 in each skills area)

Fees and funding

2025/26

 Full-timePart-time
UK

£9,250 per year

N/A

International

£16,900 per year

N/A

Further information about our fees and support you may be entitled to.

Additional costs and optional extras

How to apply

Please look at our application deadlines before you apply.


UK students

If you are in Year 13 and applying for a full-time undergraduate course (including our joint honours courses), we recommend that you apply through UCAS.

Apply through UCAS

If you are applying to study part-time, or already have your qualifications, or wish to join at Year 2 or 3, you should apply directly to the University.

Apply directly to the University

Careers

Our graduates are equipped for employment within the modern commercial music sector as performers, composers, producers, educators, promoters, publishers, academics, recording studio engineers and entrepreneurial freelance musicians. They also work in a range of media organisations.  

Others have gone on to further study, at MA, MSc or PhD level, or successfully completing PGCE for school of college level teaching, some gaining QTS teaching qualifications for primary or secondary education. This enables them to become teachers, entering the primary and secondary education sector, lecturing for colleges of further education and freelance instrumental teaching. 

Notable graduates

Getting you career ready

Your degree is only part of your story.

We're here to help prepare you for life after university.

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96%
of UK graduates are in employment or further study.

Top 5
for employability.
Uni Compare Annual Student Review Rankings 2025.

87%
of UK graduates say their current activity is meaningful.

Contact us

If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.

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Additional information about your studies

Teaching hours

Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.

Course updates

The information provided on this page is correct at the time of publication but course content, costs and other individual course details do change from time to time and are updated as often as possible, so please do check these pages again when making your final decision to apply for a course. Any updated course details will also be confirmed to you at application, enrolment and in your offer letter.

If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.

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