Music Journalism BA (Hons) Department of Music, Media and Performance
Music Journalism
Gain a backstage pass to the best gigs, biggest festivals and the most spectacular club nights on the planet as you discover how to effectively capture the energy of music in words!
The Music Journalism degree at Chester will give you the best possible start into the fabulous world of words and music. From early on in you course, you will hear from professional writers from a range of genres, and have the opportunity to start writing and publishing reviews. Music professionals are involved at every stage of this degree, which focuses on real-world experiences and opportunities in music writing.
The second year work experience module has also seen students take up placements at Mojo, Clash, NME and Mixmag. The digital revolution has also completely changed the way we make, distribute, consume and critique music. It is, therefore, a fascinating time to be entering the industry, and beyond the written word, you will also gain experience in how music criticism is communicated in the radio and TV mediums, and as well as making magazines, you will also be producing video and podcast content, and designing websites.
The Music Journalism degree at the University of Chester is now one of the most established programes of its kind in the country, located in the heart of one of the country’s most beautiful cities. So, the perfect duet: a fabulous subject for study, in a great place to study it!
“Coming to Chester to study music journalism has been an invaluable life-affirming experience thus far. The course has equipped me for the working world through a practical and theoretical lens. Music journalism at the University of Chester can offer you a wide range of opportunities that will improve your skillset tenfold and open doors in the future. The city, the students, and the faculty have made my Chester adventure unforgettable.”
Paul Berry (graduate)
Your Name In Print
Our current cohort of Music Journalism students are an extremely industrious bunch. And of course part of the glamour of working as a music journalist – beyond the free passes and complimentary music – is to see your byline… your name in print! Many Chester students are already seeing their work being published, for titles including Mixmag and NME. From online sites such as Silent Radio, through to print titles like Bido Lito, your career as a music journalist will start the moment you step onto campus. Magazine
produced by Journalism students, 2023
“I’d encourage anyone who is passionate about writing… and has a passion for music…. to definitely choose the Music journalism degree. The amount of transferrable skills you gain throughout the course is well worth the degree, and certainly helped me secure my job, postgraduation”.
Connor Ledsom (graduate)
Off campus
Of course, a university education is about what happens both on, and off, campus. The Music Journalism course is always keen to get on the road, whether that be gigs and interviews in Chester, Manchester and Liverpool; trips to the likes of the British Music Experience, Bido Lito magazine’s offices or The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour, or indeed indulging in music further afield on study trips to Prague, Amsterdam and Berlin (including the Bowie tour of Berlin).
Careers
In terms of graduates, the course has already led to students taking up jobs at NME, the BBC and Kerrang! The experience of learning valuable academic skills, but also practical media skills in podcasting, video documentary making and social media, equips the students with all they need to enter the workplace.
Chester Bangs it might get loud
The Music Journalism programme has established its own Twitter feed, named (in honour of the legendary American rock critic Lester Bangs)@ChesterBangs. On that feed you will find some of the one-word reviews with which we start each class (to warm the creative faculties). Feel free to use this Twitter feed to get in touch with the programme, even before you have joined us.
If you have a passion for music and enjoy writing, then a degree in Music Journalism could be the course for you. Spending three years at the University of Chester listening to, talking about, reflecting on, and producing content about music will provide a fantastic opportunity for you to further develop your love affair with music and the written word, whilst also honing your skills in how to combine the two.
This leaflet will hopefully give you a flavour of the Music Journalism course at Chester. If you’re keen to find out more, you can visit us at the website, or contact me. See you soon.
For more information contact: Programme Leader: Dr Simon A. Morrison
e: s.morrison@chester.ac.uk.
Department of Music, Media and Performance
www.chester.ac.uk
For admissions enquiries: Postgraduate Admissions
University of Chester Parkgate Road
Chester, CH1 4BJ
t: 01244 512456
e: postgrad@chester.ac.uk
For further information, please contact:
Department of Music, Media and Performance Creative Campus, Kingsway Kingsway
Chester, CH2 2LB
t: 01244 515855
e: mmp@chester.ac.uk
Like many universities across the UK, we are carefully planning for the next year to ensure the health and safety of our students and to ensure that however the situation may develop or change, the academic year will be completed for all students. This may mean we use some alternative modes of delivery to those described in this leaflet, but we’ll still be delivering a high quality learning experience. Further details will follow on our website once plans have been confirmed.