The BA Global Popular Music offers a unique programme that allows students to focus on popular and contemporary music styles and cultures in global perspective.
The degree includes regional modules that build on the expertise of SOAS staff in music in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, world music performance, practical skills modules in multimedia, approaches to the study of popular music, and opportunities for directed independent study projects on topics ranging from K-Pop to hip-hop, Latin to Rai.
The programme leads into careers and vocational pathways including arts management, festival administration and curating, music journalism, teaching, performing and composing, album production, and management and consultancy within the music industry in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Programme Code: W301
Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings
Start of programme: September 2015
Mode of Attendance: Full-time
BTEC: DDM
Access to HE: Minimum of 30 Level 3 Credits at Distinction
Scottish Highers: AABBB
Scottish Advanced Highers: ABB
Irish LC: 320 points from 5 Higher level subjects at grade C1 or above
Advanced Placement: 4 4 4 (Two semesters - UCAS Group A) plus US HSGD with GPA 3.0
Euro Bacc: 80%
French Bacc: 14/20
German Abitur: 2.0
Italy DES: 80/100
Austria Mat: 2.0
Polish Mat: Overall 75% including 3 extended level subjects
Occasionally the availability of optional modules changes as a result of staffing and other circumstances. Students who had signed up for such modules will be notified as soon as possible and given the opportunity to choose from available alternatives.
Students are required to take modules to the total value of 360 credits over the duration of their degree, 120 credits per year. A 30 credits module will be taught over both terms, while a 15 credits module is taught over one term.
Up to 90 credits may come from "open option modules" (modules outside of this programme - e.g. language or non-music modules), but only 30 credits of open option modules may be taken in each year.
You will take six 15 credits introductory modules and 30 credits of open option modules.
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sounds and Cultures | 155800071 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Decolonising Pop: K-Pop and Beyond | 155800089 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Writing Across the Arts | 158100012 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Performance 1 | 155800062 | 15 | Full Year |
Choose ONE of the following Modules
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Works: art, films, literature, music | 158100003 | 15 | Term 2 |
Choose related Language or Non-Language open option modules to the value of 30 credits
Students will take the following compulsory module
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Music Business | 155800053 | 15 | Term 2 |
Choose a module(s) from the List of Skills below to the value of 15 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Popular Music below to the value of 30 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Other Music below to the value of 30 credits
Choose related Language or Non-Language open option modules to the value of 30 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Modules below to the value of 30 credits
Students will take the following two compulsory modules
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban Soundscapes | 155800083 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Arts, Culture and Commodification: Themes in the Global Creative and Cultural Industries | 158100001 | 15 | Term 2 |
Choose a module(s) from the List of Skills below to the value of 15 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Popular Music below to the value of 15 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Other Music below to the value of 30 credits
Choose related Language or Non-Language open option modules to the value of 30 credits
Choose a module(s) from the List of Modules below to the value of 30 credits
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Song, Voice, and Body in Indian Music | 155800093 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Sound, Text, and Image in South Asian Arts | 158100005 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Music and travel on the Silk Road | 158100006 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Music in Africa: Critical Listening - The Mande World | 155800096 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Music in Africa: Musical crosscurrents in East Africa and the Indian Ocean | 158100007 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Music, Religion and Society in the Middle East and North Africa | 155800092 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Music and Sound Art in South Asian Religions | 155800086 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Musical Traditions of East Asia | 155800078 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pop and Politics in East Asia | 155800077 | 15 | Term 1 |
| The World of Cuban Music | 155800058 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Global Hip-Hop | 155800084 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composition | 155800082 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Key Concepts in Cultural Theory | 158100002 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Curating Global Arts | 158100004 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Gender and Music | 155800073 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Sound Recording | 155800069 | 15 | Term 1 |
| Presenting World Music On Radio | 155800076 | 15 | Term 2 |
| Module | Code | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance 2 | 155800042 | 15 | Full Year |
| Performance 3 | 155800045 | 30 | Full Year |
The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. If you are a current student you can find structure information on the previous year link at the top of the page or through your Department. Please read the important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.
The Department of Music has been highly rated for teaching and research in all recent assessment exercises, and is regularly ranked amongst the top Music departments in the UK in Good University Guides.
The Department has a unique concentration of expertise in popular music of the major regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and their diasporas. Its staff, research associates and teaching fellows have wide-ranging experience in the music industry, including the production of high profile albums, radio and print journalism, and concert and festival organisation.
Our students have access to the world renowned SOAS Library, which holds numerous books, journals and recordings relevant to the study of ethnomusicology and world music, as well as the nearby British Library Sound Archive and other London libraries and museums. The Department also maintains a large working collection of musical instruments from Asia and Africa.
All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.
As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. In the School of Arts, most undergraduate modules have a one- or two-hour lecture or seminar every week. Some, but not all, also have a 1-hour seminar or tutorial every week.
More information is on the page for each module.
If you still have questions about this programme or studying at SOAS get in touch.
Undergraduate applications should be made through UCAS.