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Creative Music Production BA(Hons)

2025-26

Undergraduate Open Days

Start date

22 September 2025

Duration

3 years full-time
4 years inc. placement year

Entry requirements

A Level - BBB-BCC

BTEC - DDM-DMM

See full entry requirements

About the course

Reasons to study

  1. Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), our Creative Music Production BA(Hons) course will provide the foundations for a rewarding music production or music technology career. 
  2. You’ll learn in state-of-the-art, professional-standard facilities. There are 21 different studios, so you’ll have plenty of recording and composition spaces to use; our facilities are home to a range of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), plug-ins, synths, mics, and processing equipment.
  3. You’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally- recognised researchers, and visiting artists, with past visitors including Richie Hawtin, award winning techno producer (and Huddersfield honorary graduate). 

Ready to enhance your artistic potential with advanced production and recording techniques? If you want to hone your creative skills, by composing, performing, and innovating in our studios, the Creative Music Production BA(Hons) degree is for you.

On the course, you’ll learn to write original new music using the computer, recording studio, and other analogue and digital music technology. You’ll study DAW or hardware-based sequencing, sampling, synthesis, and sound design.

Whether you’re interested in house, techno, drum and base, hitpop electronica or something completely new, you'll develop advanced techniques ready for work in the music industry. You can also secure both short and year-long industry placements to enhance your prospects.

Why study Creative Music Production BA(Hons)

Accredited by Joint Audio Media Education Support (JAMES), our Creative Music Production BA(Hons) is taught from approved professional-standard facilities. There are 21 different studios, so you’ll have plenty of recording and composition studio space to use; our facilities are home to a range of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), plug-ins, synths, mics, and outboard equipment, all of which is regularly upgraded, to ensure it’s up to date with industry standards.

The course will provide you with industry-standard skills and highly developed creative abilities, preparing you for a range of jobs. These include: * DJ * producer * sound designer * studio manager * mix engineer * remixer * events technician * roles in radio, film, TV, or the media.

You’ll have the opportunity to work with commercially successful tutors, internationally- recognised researchers and visiting artists, who can help you build on your production talents. Past visiting artists include D.Ramirez (releases on Tool Room records and Defected Records), John Warhurst (Oscar and Bafta winning Sound Editor, and Huddersfield alumnus) and Nitin Sawhney (producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and orchestral composer).

You’ll also explore the latest new music in the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and experience cutting-edge experimental artists at our Electric Spring Festival.

Following this degree, you can explore a broad range of options, from performing and songwriting to recording, music composition, studio production, and live sound. You might also consider further study – in our MA in Creative Music Production, for example – or you may want to explore the vast opportunities offered by the wider creative industries in the UK and internationally.

Course detail

Core modules:

Music, Culture and Society

This module will introduce you to a range of approaches to studying music and music technology. You will develop research, source-handling, evaluation, and critical-thinking skills and apply these to repertoires, cultures, and issues appropriate to your degree course. Linked lectures and seminars will increase your knowledge of key themes and concerns in music studies, give you opportunities to debate your ideas with others, and develop your confidence as an increasingly independent researcher.

Desktop Music Production 1
Studio Engineering and Mixing Essentials
Songwriting 1
Performance Skills 1
Audio Technology

Entry requirements

BBB-BCCat A Level .

120-104 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications alongside evidence of prior Music or Music Technology experience (which could be offered either through formal qualifications or a portfolio of creative work).

Merit at T Level.

DDM-DMM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.

  • Practical and theory music grades 6-8 will be accepted in the total points.
  • Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above.
  • 120-104 UCAS tariff points from International Baccalaureate qualifications.

Entry is also possible for applicants who don't hold standard UK qualifications.

International and mature applicants who don't hold standard UK qualifications can provide a portfolio to demonstrate skills relevant to the course. You can do this by sending us links to any production and/or recording work you have created or collaborated in.

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum requirements of an English Language qualification. The minimum for IELTS is 6.0 overall with no element lower than 5.5, or equivalent. Read more about the University’s entry requirements for students outside of the UK on our International Entry Requirements page.

Other suitable experience or qualifications will be considered. For further information please see the University's minimum entry requirements.

Placements


This course offers you the opportunity to take an optional one-year (48 week) work placement after your second year, in the UK or abroad. This provides an opportunity for you to relate theory to practice and to develop skills in a real work environment. Our teaching staff have developed excellent links with local employers and will help you to find a suitable placement if necessary. Previous placement providers have included Warner Music, Pinewood Studios (Avid), WigWam, Angel Studios, Shoot Productions, the Institute for Music/Acoustic Research and Co-ordination (IRCAM) in Paris, as well as schools, audio electronics companies, radio stations and various media and production houses.

I enrolled on the Music Technology course because of its year-long placement opportunity. I decided to spend my year working as a freelance sound engineer. I think the placement year is vital in getting you ready for the real world enviroment.

Joel Davies 1

Joel Davis, Music Technology BMus(Hons)

Our Department

Take a look at what studying in the Music Technology department at the University of Huddersfield has to offer, from student experiences to facilities. Click images to find out more.

Your Career


Previous graduates have gone on to work in a range of careers including studio managers, post-production, freelance engineers, programmers, sound design and professional audio sales. A selection of companies that have employed Huddersfield graduates in recent years include Abbey Road Studios, Calrec Audio, ITV, BBC, Kiss FM, British Grove Studios and Metrophonic.** There is support available after you graduate from our 3M Buckley Innovation Centre where you can get advice on starting your own business. The university also supports students to progress to postgraduate and research study.

*Percentage of our undergraduate students from these subject areas go on to work and/or further study within fifteen months of graduating (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20, UK domiciled, other activities excluded).

**Source: LinkedIn

98-100 Graduates employed*

Student support

At the University of Huddersfield, you'll find support networks and services to help you get ahead in your studies and social life. Whether you study at undergraduate or postgraduate level, you'll soon discover that you're never far away from our dedicated staff and resources to help you to navigate through your personal student journey. Find out more about all our support services.

Research excellence

Research plays an important role in informing all our teaching and learning activities. Through research our staff remain up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, which means you develop knowledge and skills that are current and highly relevant to industry. Our staff are recognised as leading figures in their fields, as evidenced by major commissions, performances, recordings, and publications.

In the 2021 REF, 89% of music research at Huddersfield was judged to be Internationally Excellent, with 47% of the overall submission ranked as ‘World-Leading’. In addition to a very strong profile of individual research outputs, Huddersfield’s research environment for music received the maximum 4* rating (one of only four institutions to do so), and was ranked above Royal Holloway, Cambridge, Manchester and Oxford. The impact of Huddersfield’s music research received a top-ten ranking. This acknowledged the breadth and reach of research at Huddersfield, with case studies encompassing the new discipline of sound archaeology, New York Experimentalism, and strategies for supporting women and girls working in music technology.

For more information, please refer to our research pages.

Important information

Although we always try and ensure we deliver our courses as described, sometimes we may have to make changes for the following reasons

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