sign in sign up
<<
Home , Music journalism

MUSIC JOURNALIST Introduction ...... 03 contentsReasons to Study at ACM ...... 07 - 11 A Day in the Life of an ACM Student ...... 13 Tutor Interview: Ngaire Ruth ...... 14 - 15 Alumnus Interview: Amit Sharma ...... 16 - 17 The Leadership Team ...... 18 ACM Extras ...... 20 - 21 Facilities & Sponsors ...... 22 Metropolis ...... 23 All Courses ...... 24 Course Information ...... 25

2 is more of a lifestyle choice than a job. Journalists live on the front line introduof the music business, one of the most fast-paced industries in the world – and the action never stops, even over the holidays. The musical landscape constantly evolves as new bands, artists, , and videos arrive on the scene, and journalists are tasked with reporting, reviewing, analysing, and commenting on each and every new development. ction Although the job can be challenging, music journalism is also one of the coolest career paths in the business. Record labels happily send you free music, weeks or months before it’s released to the public; guest list spots allow you to walk into gigs and festivals through the VIP entrance; interviews place you face to face with notable talents; and spreading the word about your favourite music becomes part of your job description. An ACM education will give you the competitive advantages you will need to succeed in journalism and the wider creative industries. Turn the page to find out more.

3 entry-level magazine journalists can earn up to £26,000 per year*

Rolling Stone is followed by over 5.2m readers on Facebook**

senior writers and editors can make £35,000 per year*

* Prospects.ac.uk, 2019 ** Facebook, 2019

4 &

both reach 1.4 million readers through **

a major magazine’s editor-in- chief can earn a salary of over £65,000 annually*

Metal Injection – the world’s largest online metal journalism platform – has attracted a social media audience of 1.2 million fans**

5 6 Reasons to Study Do What You Music Business & ACM is made up of more than 2,300 performers(*1), producers, , artists, business Innovation at ACM executives, game developers and technical services personnel across our three campuses in London, Guildford and Birmingham. People all doing what they love and a microcosm representing every corner of the industry that they one day want to work in.

Turn a Course Into a Career

93.8%(*2) of ACM Students are employed or are in continuing education within 6 months of graduating from our HE courses. We’re really proud of this statistic, which is a testament to ACM’s complete commitment to the career development of its students.

Whether you want to write beats, manage a , be an A&R, or be a sound engineer, your career starts now at ACM.

7 Scholarships & Bursaries

(*3)For the 2019/20 academic year ACM has made available scholarships worth over £130,000 combined to reward academic, technical, creative and/or are entrepreneurial excellence and will provide bursaries valued over £330,000 targeted at students from low income households and under- represented groups.

Alumni Network

Our network of graduates is over 13,000 students strong. They’re working all over the world in the music and wider creative industries, and you’ll meet many of them during the course of your studies. You’ll know many of their names and will know much more of their work.

Access to Industry

Over 50% of the UK chart is mixed, mastered and/ or recorded at ACM’s very own studio environment, Metropolis. If you’re listening to a on the radio right now, the chances are that it has been creatively treated here, by us. ACM Students enjoy exclusive access and downtime at Metropolis.

8 State of the Art Facilities

We make 135,000 hours available every year exclusively for performance, recording and creative needs of our students. Bookings are free and accessible into the evenings and on weekends, to ensure that our equipment, rehearsal rooms and recording studios are here, no matter when inspiration strikes.

Awarding Excellence

ACM has received 4 Independent Higher Education awards for providing the highest quality of personal and professional development to our students, including the Outstanding Support for Student Learning Experience award, Industry Partnership of the Year, Technology in Learning, and Breakthrough course: Innovation in Design or Delivery.(*4)

One-to-One Learning

ACM provisions over 276 one-to-one academic and industry tutorial slots each week, covering a range of subjects from Acoustics to the Zither. No matter which discipline you choose to study at ACM, you can access meeting opportunities with our entire teaching faculty.

9 Personalise Your Studies

ACM’s pioneering higher education curriculum covers over(*5) 100 different subject areas, meaning that you can flavour your studies according to your own interests and ambitions.

Our BA (Hons) Practise covers routes for , creative artists, producers, tech services, Business, Gaming and new to 2019 Rap&MC pathway.

Industry Opportunities

This year, more than 150 ACM students are taking part in festivals around Europe. Midem, The Brits, The Great Escape, BBC Introducing , MMF are just a few of the opportunities and partnerships we are proud to offer.

World Class Tutors

Over 550 staff members will be there to guide and help you through your studies.

Queen, Motorhead, Johnny Marr, Chase & Status, Stormzy, The Spice Girls, David Bowie are just a few credits that our dual professional tutors hold plus all of the qualifications you would expect your FE/HE lecturer to have.

10 Your Journey Starts Here

If you’re under 19, studying a further education course at ACM can be free. Our range of Level 2 and Level 3 courses allow you to study music now and keep your options open for the future. If you’re older and/or you’d like to join us for Degree studies instead, it’s important for you to know that our range of Higher Education study programmes are designated and approved for student loans.

It’s All About You

But there’s only 1 person we want to talk about, now. And that’s you. Our small enough to care, big enough to make a difference mantra means that we want to know about you, your history and all of your ambitions for the future. We’ll help you build bespoke programmes of activity to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you one day want to be.

*1 2019/20 cohort across FE/HE, full-time and part-time studying at ACM campuses. *2 https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/27-03-2018/experimental-uk-performance-indicators *3 Bursary and scholarships as indicated in 2019/20 Access and Participation Plan https://www.acm.ac.uk/ofs-registration/ *4 http://independenthe.com/events/independent-higher-education-awards-2018/ *5 https://www.acm.ac.uk/courses/higher-education/

11 12 A Day in the Life of a ACM Music Business & Innovation Student At ACM, every day of the week is different. You could attend a lecture, seminar, or workshop covering the modules you’ve been assigned for that term; book a one-to-one tutorial, in which you can discuss your personal goals and issues with a tutor of your choice; become part of our Metropolis Blue team; get involved in other extracurricular activities; and much more. Below is just one example of the many possible schedules you might consider over the course of a single day at ACM.

9am: Individual study session

10am: Music Industry Studies Lecture

12pm: Break

12.45: Creative Industry Trends Workshop

2.45: One-to-one Tutorial

3.15: The Creative Industry Entrepreneur Seminar

4.15: Break

4.30: Elective Module Class

6pm – 10pm: Individual study session / Extracurricular activities

13 tutor inter view NGAIRE RUTH

How did you first get into music?

It’s almost cheating to have been born in the 60s and Best part, before working for the mainstream experienced the progression of contemporary music music press in the 90s, was the community and during my lifetime – it just seems too lucky. I danced drive I felt being a young creative and part of the with wild abandon to ‘Yellow Submarine’ and all London 80s Hard Times and New Romantic the fantastic three-minute pop songs of the time, to scene. Everybody was going to be a designer, my big brother’s transistor radio as a toddler. In the writer, artist, , PR, booking agent or 70s I was going to the same places as the Bromley some other role in the creative arts. That’s when punks who became significant players in the punk I started writing about nights out for my friends’ revolution, but going home to play Bach on my piano. entertainment.

14 What makes the music industry special to you?

Music! The people. Writing about it, and hitting the mark, or applying fresh perspective. The opportunity to contribute to contemporary culture as a gatekeeper and champion, mythmaker and myth-breaker, academic and fan. magazine Electronic Sound, and I’m also an Can you tell us a bit about your academic specialising in the changing roles of career so far? music journalism; the history of the underground

and mainstream music press; how to apply I’ve worked in digital and print music journalism theory to writing; online music journalism; and DIY for over thirty years. I started writing for a monthly subculture. underground cultural magazine called Buzz, and became the live reviewer for LAM. I helped launch and also edited an independent magazine called What’s been the biggest Lime Lizard. It wasn’t long before I was recruited challenge you’ve faced while by Everett True (formerly The Legend at NME) to working in music, and how did join his new team after he became ’s you deal with it? reviews editor. I worked full-time at MM for well Budgeting on a freelance income. You develop the over a decade, during its heyday with global necessary skills with time and experience. distribution. Presenting at Transmission TV, a regional music programme, and What’s On at LBC was also a weekly chore. Which skills and attributes have been integral to your success?

I moved into digital when I became a section editor A DIY attitude. Subject knowledge that others don’t for the music magazine The Girls Are from 2011- have, and a constant drive to update skills and 2014. Now I was communicating with my writers knowledge in order to stay part of the media and via the internet, and working in the back end of a music industry – which is always progressing, site. Twenty-year-old Emily Barker, our pictures never static. Proficiency in target market analysis, editor at the time, went on to become the pictures and editing skills. editor for NME’s newly-launched website. I have also contributed to many other publications, such as Wired, Loud Women, Morning Star, What advice would you offer to The F Word, and the iTunes-recommended app future ACM students?

Take control of your own media narrative and your professional identity as a creative, before someone else does it for you.

15 alu mnus inter viewAMIT SHARMA

16 Can you tell us about yourself? What have you been up to since graduating?

I studied an HnD in Guitar and a degree in Contemporary at ACM from How did your course at ACM 2004-2007. In my final term, there was an industry prepare you for life in the music masterclass with a marketing director from industry? Warner Bros. Records. He was nice enough to have his PA invite me over for work experience, I think the main thing was understanding that even and after that I went over to Universal, starting successful people working in the music business with doing the post and eventually moving on to have different trades or pursuits bubbling away. marketing. After that, I worked at PRS For Music It’s probably why I ended up moving through tracking live royalties and moonlighting as an different sectors to find out where I belonged. I online journalist in my spare time. That led to learnt that from Adam Pain, whose Music Industry working as Features Editor at Metal Hammer Overview classes were hugely insightful, inspiring, – along with writing for its sister titles – which I and entertaining, despite those topics not being eventually left to work for Kerrang!, Total Guitar, of initial interest. It ended up helping me realise I Planet Rock, Metro and more as a freelance music could work around my passion rather than be the writer. musician on stage. Ironically, becoming a journalist actually led to more session guitar work – I’ve What’s been the top highlight of played for Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) and Stu your career so far? Hamm (G3, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani).

Interviewing legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, What was the most useful thing and Slash have probably been among the more you learnt at ACM? memorable experiences. Getting to write a Kerrang! cover story on Tool – my favourite band – On the industry side: do it for free if you hope to one was a big deal for me, especially considering I first day get paid for it. That’s how I ended up becoming read about them in the same magazine when I a writer. And as a player, Dave Kilminster’s tips was 13. Seeing parts of the world I’d never been to for killer legato or Michael Casswell’s guide to has been a big bonus too, getting to visit all sorts of sounding like Jeff Beck meets Steve Vai. places in America and South America. What advice would you offer to What made you choose to study future ACM students? at ACM? The music business is quite possibly the most I didn’t really know what I wanted to pursue as ruthless of them all. Manage your expectations, a career. I came to ACM wanting to become a and broaden your horizons as much as possible. session guitarist, and left with other ideas in mind. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – whether It felt like a good place to meet other musicians that’s working as a session player or record and get a band started. But it ended up being a lot executive or studio engineer. Ultimately, if you love more than that… what you do, it never really feels like work... 17 The Leadership Team The leadership team are a diverse group of highly experienced individuals from across the creative industries, each specifically recruited to lead and ensure continuous development here at ACM.

Every member of the team holds an influential position within the music industry, and uses a wide range of skills, experience, contacts and know- how to ensure that our learning experiences are progressive and immersively connected to the real-world creative industries.

We are a team of experts with high-status reputations that open doors, and have literally been there, done it, and are still constantly interacting with the music industry.

We collaborate together to identify exciting opportunities and create student pathways that combine to form a multifaceted structure, ensuring innovative learning at a world-class level.

BBC Introducing, the BRITs, MIDEM, The Great Escape, Tileyard, the BMAs, and the UMAs are just some of the industry events that we support, attend, and collaborate with.

Learning by doing is key at ACM, and earning by doing is also encouraged and facilitated while you study through our many platforms.

Working alongside an exceptional team of highly skilled tutors, we are collectively leading the way in music industry education here at the heart of ACM.

18 GUILDFORD. LONDON. BIRMINGHAM.

Diploma and Degree courses available Saturday school, half term workshops Study in a one of a kind environment More free bookable studios that any other institution Professional tutors direct from the music industry Mentoring and Artist development In house record labels Scholarships and bursaries available “This is obviously a great place. If you’re here you’re dedicated and this is a great environment for that. Dedicate yourself, this is the place to do it!” - Chad Smith / Red Hot Chilli Peppers 19 Extras

Collab Industry Link Events Team

Brand new for 2019 is Collab, the app that enables campus collaboration for the ACM New for 2019, join the Industry Link Events team community. Totally free to use, and learn how to organise events, work behind Collaborate in just 4 clicks. the scenes and understand every aspect of the live Developed exclusively for students attending ACM. industry. Get a CV full of industry experience as you learn at ACM. ACM Development Programme Record Labels New for 2019, the ACM Development Programme will offer one-to-one mentoring and development for all students, designed to maximise and open access. Metropolis Blue and Metro Sound are our in-house The Development Programme is made up of student-led labels in partnership with the world- mentors direct from industry who will provide class Metropolis Studios in London. dedicated career progression strategy and know- Metropolis Blue is a label for bands, singers how for students across all campuses. and songwriters. Metro Sound is dedicated to electronic, hip-hop, grime and underground Industry Link music, and aims to support electronic producers and artists.

Both labels are partnered with AWAL for digital distribution. The Industry Link department is dedicated to supporting the professional development of You can get involved with our labels in 2 ways: students, helping them take their first steps into 1. Join the label team. Get involved across all the music industry. different divisions of a record label, from A&R to PR, design, promotion, booking and more. Learn Industry Link connects students to industry by doing and gain great experience for your CV. through regular networking events, work placements, industry performances, gigs, 2. Release music through Metropolis Blue. Get showcases and audition opportunities. the full support from a complete label team who will help you develop a plan and strategy for your music.

20 We hold bi-weekly meetings alongside A&R workshops to discover new talent as well as showcases each term, making sure we keep The Podcast series covers genres such as industry aligned with our plans, releases and wellbeing, business, education, creative, signings. entrepreneurial and music industry topics.

Get involved and find out more: Metropolis Blue ACM on Spotify www.metropolis.blue Email: [email protected] ACM hosts 11 Spotify playlists featuring alumni and current students which are curated to showcase Metro Sound www.metro-sound.co.uk the wide range of talent that is grown in ACM Email: [email protected] amongst the many disciplines and music genres. Playlists include This ACM, This ACM – Beats, This ACM – Alumni, This ACM – Chill and many more. Pro Workshops Search on Spotify to find and subscribe.

Women in Music

Pro Workshops are an amazing addition to ACM’s Student Experience. Outside of the regular timetable there is a rich of Extra Curricular A brand new initiative for 2019. Activities open to all ACM students. Pro Workshops Get inspired each and every term with a host of run throughout the ACM academic year, covering activities celebrating . Watch out every discipline. for workshops, masterclasses and networking events direct from the leading females in music. Workshops include: Intro to drums, Metal Available at every campus. Workshop, Theory Godfather, Workshop,

EMP Mix Doctor, Songwriting Workshop, Keyboard Fundamentals, Acoustic Guitar Club, Recording ACM TV Workshop and Club. New for September 2019,

ACM launches a new ACM Podcast Series YouTube channel dedicated to showcasing talent, skills, tutors Made by students, for students, listen to the and music industry strands. ACM Podcast and learn on the go. Stream our 20-minute bite-sized versions for insightful Content will be filmed and published on a daily conversations of advice, knowledge and learning basis. from key industry experts. YouTube: www..com/c/AcmAcUk

21 facilities & sponsors

ACM is proud to have formed strong industry partnerships with leading manufacturers and key brands at all of our campuses. These partnerships and relationships extend further than the provision of great gear for students to work with in classrooms and studios. They also involve knowledge exchange, placements, masterclasses, employment, and the process of feeding each partner’s state-of-the-art technology directly into the curriculum through co-written modules and electives with our top industry focussed educators.

PAUL REED SMITH GPURITASRS R

22 What do Adele, Queen, Kendrick Lamar, Amy Winehouse, Drake, The Rolling Stones, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Noel Gallagher, Harry Styles, Paul McCartney, Madonna, and Mark Ronson all have in common? They are just some of the facilities & sponsors many global artists who have made music at Metropolis Studios. Established in 1989, Metropolis – located on London’s Chiswick High Road – is Europe’s largest studio complex, where over 50% of the UK Top 40 Chart is mixed, mastered, and/or recorded in an average year.

Thanks to our unique relationship with Metropolis, ACM students enjoy an access all areas pass for live performance events, industry conferences, and recording during downtime. Production students at ACM also get the chance to visit Metropolis for bespoke masterclasses and events, where Grammy Award-winning engineers such as Liam Nolan and Paul Norris explain recording techniques for live instruments such as drums and piano, as well as mixing masterclasses involving hands-on desk and audio equipment instruction. There are also session sittings and masterclasses with our Grammy Award-winning mastering engineers in their personal studios as well. Subject to availability, masterclasses from industry professionals held in the upper floor bar area, covering such topics as sync, A&R, and general music business advice related to individual career pathways, are included during these visits.

23 courses. ACM Guildford ACM London Degree 2 Year Accelerated Program (Clapham) BA(Hons) Music Industry Practice Degree > BA(Hons) Professional Music Performance » Musician Study Route Guitar | Bass | Drums | Vocals | Keys Guitar | Bass | Drums | Vocals | Keys > BA(Hons) Commercial Songwriting » Creative Artist Study Route > BA(Hons) Creative Music Production » Rap and MC Route > BA(Hons) Music Business & Innovation » Producer Study Route > BA(Hons) Game Development » Technical Services Study Route » Business and Innovation Study Route > BA(Hons) Music Industry Practice ACM Birmingham The Foundation Year (Level 0) Degree > BA(Hons) Music Industry Practice Diploma » Musician Study Route > UAL Level 2 Diploma Guitar | Bass | Drums | Vocals | Keys Music Performance and Production » Creative Artist Study Route > UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma » Rap and MC Route Music Performance (Guitar | Bass » Producer Study Route | Drums | Vocals | Keys), Music » Business and Innovation Study Route Production and Songwriting. » Tech Services

Saturday Courses Diploma Expand your love of music with our range of > UAL Level 2 Diploma Saturday courses for young people and adults in Music Performance and Production Performance, Production and Songwriting. > UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma Music Performance (Guitar | Bass | Drums | Vocals | Keys), Music Production and Songwriting.

24 courses. BA (Hons) Music Industry Practice, Customize Music Business & Innovation Route

your journey. Brand & Audience Studies Creative Industry Trends Become who Finance, Funding & Innovation Management, Artists & Repertoire you want to be. Intellectual Property Rights Marketing Strategies & Connected Communities ACM’s award-winning flexible The Creative Industry Entrepreneur curriculum offers over 160,000 Live Event Management

Business & Innovation Modules Advanced Business Strategy possible module combinations. In the table opposite, we’ve put together a Personal & Professional Development customizable set of core, mandatory, Cultural Perspectives and elective modules that you can mix Music Industry Studies Exit Specialism to best fit your personal career goals. Portfolio

Mandatory Modules Research Project For more information, check out the Courses section of our website at https://www.acm.ac.uk/courses/ Creative Writing and visit us for an Open Day soon! Digital Marketing & Social Media Skills Self-Employment Relevent Zero Relevent Electives Credit

Audience & Consumer Psychology Broadcast Studies Music in the Community Music Journalism Relevent Credit Relevent Bearing Electives

25

don’t miss a beat... follow us now to keep up to date with all things ACM!

acm_uk acm_uk acm_uk acmuk