Stace Constantinou
Senior Lecturer in Music
level:UG;top_up:true;international:true;foundation:false;clearing:false;full_time:true;part_time:true;start_month:September;location:Development Hub (Waterside)
Popular Music (Top-Up) BA (Hons)
Key Facts
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UCAS Code
W342
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Duration
Full Time: 1 year
Part Time: 2 years
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Full Time: £9,535
Part Time: £1,585 (per 20 credits) -
Full Time: £17,000
Updated 04/12/2025
Updated 04/12/2025
Get in touch
UK STUDENTS ENQUIRIES
study@northampton.ac.uk
0300 303 2772
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENQUIRIES
Overview
Our Popular Music BA Top- Up Degree allows you to choose your own focus within popular music. Blend a mix of practical music-making, with more traditional academic studies, or learn something new.
Choose to produce your own EP, perform at gigs, analyse and critically reflect on your own practice, record other artists, write a dissertation, compose/produce music for media, understand music philosophy, and delve into music education.
With strong ties to both the local music scene and industry, as well as nationally, we offer you the chance to network with industry insiders and develop your own network of fledgling professionals.
JAMES Accreditated
This Popular Music course is Industry Accredited by JAMES representing APRS, MPG and associate industry bodies. Accreditation of a course by relevant industry bodies provides assurance to students and employers of its potential and value.
Highlights
- Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES)
- Diverse course with various options available
- Opportunities to perform in real-world situations across Northampton
- Interaction with partner degree in Music Production
- Industry expertise from published and researching music team
- Contemporary specialisms in many areas of popular music performance
- Cutting-edge hardware/ software: Mac OS X, Logic Pro X, Ableton, Pro Tools, Native Instruments
- Extra-curricular masterclasses
- Contemporary rehearsal booths, bookable outside of lectures/ seminar
- Chance to build a network of musicians from within the course as well as within the local and national arena. There will also be the opportunity to be introduced to local music industry organisations
- Guest lectures from industry specialists
- Chose modules totalling 120 credits with either a Professional Project or Dissertation
- Guaranteed paid internship with the Northampton Employment Promise*
Three students working at a large audio mixing console in a recording studio, adjusting controls and handling cables
Close-up of a person’s hands playing a Steinway & Sons piano, with the keys and the glossy surface of the instrument in focus.
Two students seated at a professional audio mixing console in a recording studio, facing a large monitor displaying digital audio editing software with multiple tracks and waveforms. The setup includes speakers on both sides and two small lamps in the background.
Two students kneeling on the floor in a recording studio, adjusting microphones and cables in front of a large Marshall amplifier stack. Both are focused on setting up the audio equipment, with wooden acoustic panels in the background.
Two students working at a professional audio mixing console in a recording studio, adjusting controls and monitoring equipment
Top-down view of two students operating an audio mixing desk, with one person adjusting multiple knobs and sliders while the other points to illuminated buttons on a digital control panel. The console is covered with colourful controls, cables, and a computer keyboard.
Entry Requirements
Standard entry requirements apply. Applicants are expected to have studied Popular Music or a related subject at Foundation Degree/HND or equivalent.
We welcome international applications and applications from students with a range of non-traditional educational or professional qualifications.
For more information on how to make an application, please visit our How to Apply page.
If you are an International student and would like information on making an application, please see our How to Apply page.
All International and EU students applying for a course with us must meet the following minimum English language requirements:
- IELTS 6.0 (or equivalent) with a minimum of 5.5 in all bands
for study at undergraduate level.
For information regarding English language requirements at the University, please see our IELTS page.
What You'll Learn
The Popular Music top-up course at the University of Northampton is the final year of the undergraduate degree. Having already developed the skills and qualifications for years 1 and 2, in year 3 with us you’ll be able to focus from within a range of options including some of the following: Professional Project or do a Popular Music Dissertation, Performance 3, Music and Sound Design for Media, Advanced Recording and Production, Music Education, Pop and the State, and The Philosophy of Music.
This top-up third year will allow you to hone your already considerable skills in music performance, music technology as well as academic knowledge and communication. Given the different options available you could choose to focus on the academic aspect of your profile or go for a more practical musician industry approach.
Our modules are informed by staff actively researching, composing, performing and publishing in their specialist areas within the music industry. The skills, knowledge and experience you acquire with us will help you develop the necessary analytical and creative skills, to aid you when evaluating and implementing real-life practice.
Optional Modules
This module examines the relationship between popular music and the political sphereIn the first instance the focus will be on the role of the state in providing legislative frameworks that inform musical practiceSecondly it will examine how popular music has engaged with protest music, political activism and censorship.
This module is designed to develop skills in audio production and sound designThrough lectures, seminars and workshops, students will gain an understanding of the context of sound design in media applications including location based media, film and computer games.
This module gives the student the opportunity to apply their musical knowledge in areas such as performance, song writing, composition and/or arrangementThe focus is towards collaborative work with accompanying musicological analytic write ups.
The Music Education module has been designed to bridge between undergraduate study and post-compulsory teaching qualificationsMuch of the content is drawn from PGCE level accompanied by a placementThis module prepares students for teaching by providing information about a wide range of teaching and learning methodologies, theories and practice.
Continuing from the work done in Cultural Theory, this module broadens the study beyond the postmodern culture and into the realms of the analytical and the metaphysical This module explores the lasting legacy of Enlightenment philosophy on contemporary popular musicIn particular students will examine how analytical and metaphysical philosophical traditions and approaches have shaped contemporary popular musical practice across a broad range of styles and genresCritical thinking is the process of active engagement with texts, theories, ideas and information, and it is the basis for any success in the battle of ideas.
The module will enable students to develop their recording and production skills to an advanced level in order to produce recordings which are ready for commercial release on our NN1_Records labelProjects will be achieved by working at the University studio and through working with external partners.
The module will enable students to ensure their recording and production skills are to an advanced level by producing recordings which are ready for commercial release on our NN1_Records labelProjects will be achieved by working at the University studio and through working with external partners.
This module is for students intending to work in practice-based areas of contemporary music and for students interested in developing a project in a related field of popular music that may be either more entrepreneurial or theoretical.
This module provides an opportunity for students to develop, at length, a particular disciplinary interest. This may derive either from study in the first two years of the degree, or from reading and/or practice activities on their own initiative. In either case, they will bring to bear on their subject matter the analytical techniques learnt during their degree.
Please note the modules shown here relate to the academic year 25/26. The modules relating to the academic year 26/27 will be available from June 2026.
Fees and Funding
2025/26 Tuition Fees
- UK Full Time: £9,535
- UK Part Time: £1,585 per 20 credit module
- International Full Time: £17,000
Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 2025/26 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years. UON will adjust UK fees annually in line with Government Policy.
- 1TB portable hard drive (approximately £50)
- a good pair of closed back headphones (approximately £60-100)
- consumables for individual instruments (jack leads, capos, plectrums, drum skins, drum sticks, reeds, strings etc.)
- USB Flash drives (data sticks) for submitting coursework (£10-20 for two)
- £50 towards travel costs
For information on the scholarships available to you, please see our scholarships page.
For more information about possible funding options, please visit our Fees and Funding pages.
Fees quoted relate to study in the Academic Year 2024/25 only and may be subject to inflationary increases in future years.
- UK – Full Time: £9,250
- UK – Part Time: £1,540 per 20 credit module
- International – Full Time: £16,500
Staff
Mark Thursby
Senior Lecturer in Music
Facilities
Your Popular Music BA teaching will take place at Waterside Campus, specifically the newly renovated Development Hub.
Specialist facilities include:
- Three fully kitted specialised soundproofed rehearsal booths plus break-out space
- Small group sessions for most practical sessions
- Live PA equipment and technician support for assessed gigs
- Two recording studios: running Pro Tools and Audient 8024 mixing console, Neve 1073LB preamps, SSL VHD preamps, Apollo 8P, Apollo Satellite Octo, Rupert Neve Designs 5043, SoundToys bundle, Arturia V studio, Universal Audio Ultimate, Spitfire Audio Hybrid, Steven Slate Drums
- Two Mac Suites: running Logic Pro X, Ableton 10, Native Instruments Komplete 12, Pro Tools, iZotope, FabFilter
- Microphones: U87 condensers, AKG414s, Telefunken FET M60s, AKG 451s, Radial DI boxes, Radial SGI and re-amp boxes, and a full range of other industry mics
- Hardware synthesisers: Arturia DrumBrute, Novation Circuits, Roland TB303, Behringer Deepmind 12, Roland Juno DS, Novation Bass Stations, Ableton controllers – Launchkey 49s, Launcontrol XLs, Launchpad Mark 1 and Mark 2
- Live performance hardware: Vox amps, Marshall MG 4×12 amps, Orange Crush Pro amps, Peavey Amps, Ampeg PF500 Bass amplifiers, Yamaha Stage Custom kits, Gretsch Drum Kit, Studio AAX, full PA, three rehearsal rooms
- Two grand pianos: Steinway Studio B, Bechstein Boudoir Grand, two Yamaha upright pianos
Special course features include:
- Developing performance skills
- Self-directed major project (e.g. EP) or dissertation option
- Fostering musicianship and advanced recording experience
- Preparing for the music industry in the 21st century
- High-calibre rehearsal spaces, recording studios and live performance equipment
