Music with Foundation Year

Music at degree level is one of the most intellectually and practically demanding subjects available, combining the study of musical history, theory, and aesthetics with active development as a composer, performer, or producer. It requires both analytical rigour and creative imagination, asking you to understand how music works at a technical level, to situate it in its cultural and historical contexts, and to develop your own practice as a musician. Goldsmiths has a particular reputation for its engagement with contemporary and experimental music, popular music studies, and the intersection of music with technology, society, and politics.

This four-year full-time integrated degree at Goldsmiths includes a foundation year, designed to build your musical, academic, and creative foundations before you enter the main programme. This makes the degree accessible to students who are passionate about music but may need additional preparation, whether in music theory, academic writing, or both. Once in the main programme, you will study music history and analysis, composition, performance, music technology, critical and cultural theory as applied to music, and a range of topics that reflect Goldsmiths' distinctive interests in popular, experimental, and world music traditions.

The programme encourages critical reflection on what music is, how it functions socially, and what role you wish to play as a musician in contemporary culture.

Music graduates from Goldsmiths go on to work as musicians, composers, producers, educators, music journalists and critics, arts administrators, music therapists, and in a wide range of creative industry roles. Many continue to postgraduate study in music, performance practice, musicology, or related disciplines. Goldsmiths' connections with the London music scene and the broader creative economy provide rich networking and professional opportunities throughout the degree.