Contemporary and Popular Music BA Honours

Course overview

This three-year Contemporary and Popular Music degree focuses on a range of musics and approaches, from acoustic singer-songwriting to jazz and experimental electronic forms, and from ethnomusicology to cultural theory. You'll grow as an accomplished musician while developing your creativity and critical thinking.

While you may choose to specialise in contemporary and popular music, the beauty of music at Newcastle University is that we offer a broad musical education so you can also take modules on world, classical, and folk and traditional music.

You’ll be able to study a range of historical, theoretical and cultural topics such as: music analysis; music history; DJing and turntablism; studio production; composition; and music, politics and policy.

You'll receive one-on-one tuition and group lessons from our performance tutors, who are experts in their craft.

Hear from our graduates about their Newcastle experience

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Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Your future

Join our network of confident and successful graduates who benefit from our well-established ties with arts, music and creative organisations and businesses in the city, in the wider region and beyond.

Preparing you for career success

We work with a range of partners across the Music sector, providing you with professional development and networking opportunities. 

We're the only North-East Music Academic Partner of UK Music, the collective voice of the UK’s world-leading music industry, which represents all sectors of the music industry to champion Music.

Through this partnership we provide a range of sector-leading opportunities, including:

• engaging with the industry
• providing research and networking opportunities
• a range of career development support

We also work closely with a broad range of regional cultural organisations, including strategic partnerships with the Glasshouse, so you can engage with the professional music sector and give back to the region in which you will be studying.

Find out more about the careers our graduates choose