Applications Open for New Masters Course
We're proud to announce we are accepting students to our new Masters in Popular Music Performance, in affiliation with the London College of Music and University of West London.
- Explore in-depth an area of musicianship that interests you
- Combine practical and academic study with extensive ensemble work and individual tuition
- Expand and develop your competitive edge
- Gain academic recognition to explore theories and ideas
Studying at this level will broaden your horizons as a musician and scholar, to support you in a multi-faceted career. The Masters will enable you to explore areas of interest in greater depth, develop new skills and open new avenues of investigation both musically and academically.
We will be offering this 1 year course at our centres in Exeter, Gateshead, Glasgow and Southampton (Fees £5,995 P/A).
We are accepting applications for January and September 2018 start.
You can find out more information here.
Or by contacting [email protected] stating which centre you're interested in studying at.
Volunteer @ Bearded Theory Festival 2018: AMS Students ONLY
AMS Students wanted for industry experience at 3 day music festival - ticket and travel included!
The Academy of Music and Sound will be hosting the One Big Showcase stage at the 3 day music festival, Bearded Theory 24th -27th May in Derbyshire.
We will bring our students together from across the country to gain industry experience at the independent festival, that regularly sells out and has won an array of awards including Best Small Festival, Promoter of the Year, Best Family Festival, Gig of the Year and UK’s Best Independent Festival.
Performing acts have included Slaves, Peter Hook, UB40, Buzzcocks, The Levellers, Reverend & the Makers, Madness, Foy Vance and The Jam to name a few.
This is open to Academy of Music and Sound students only, studying in England on our Foundation Degree in Music Performance and Foundation Degree in Creative Music Production.
Register your interest at [email protected] with your name, centre location, email address, contact number, area of interest(s), centre location and explain why you would be suitable for the role in less than 300 words.
• Performance (Band/Singer-songwriter)
• Performance (DJ-set)
• Sound and Lighting
• Stage Management
• Filming
• Social Media
• Vlogging/Blogging
• Stewarding
• Photography
Unsigned Bands, Artists and Performers WANTED - Your chance to play at Bearded Theory Festival
Are you an unsigned band? Or write and perform your own songs? Perform poetry or live art? We’re looking for some talented individuals to join us at Bearded Theory 2018!
The Academy of Music and Sound will be hosting a stage at the 3 day music festival! 
Bearded Theory 24th -27th May in Derbyshire, with the fantastic opportunity for unsigned bands, artists and performers to play at our One Big Showcase stage.
The festival regularly sells out and has won an array of awards including Best Small Festival, Promoter of the Year, Best Family Festival, Gig of the Year and UK’s Best Independent Festival.
Performing acts have included Slaves, Peter Hook, UB40, Buzzcocks, The Levellers, Reverend & the Makers, Madness, Foy Vance and The Jam to name a few.
To get involved complete and submit the form below. Please try & provide as many links as possible, the more we can see you performing the better. We will contact the submissions who have been selected to play, after the submission deadline – December 31st 2017*.
*Correction – an earlier post stated the submission deadline as December 31st 2018.
You must be over 18 to enter.
www.academyofmusic.ac.uk
www.beardedtheory.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter @Academyms and Instagram @ams_uk
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
Thank you to everyone who has applied. We will be contacting the final line-up before 31st of January.
Are you an unsigned band? Or write and perform your own songs? Perform poetry or live art? We’re looking for some talented individuals to join us at Bearded Theory 2018!
The Academy of Music and Sound will be hosting a stage at the 3 day music festival!
Bearded Theory 24th -27th May in Derbyshire, with the fantastic opportunity for unsigned bands, artists and performers to play at our One Big Showcase stage.
The festival regularly sells out and has won an array of awards including Best Small Festival, Promoter of the Year, Best Family Festival, Gig of the Year and UK’s Best Independent Festival.
Performing acts have included Slaves, Peter Hook, UB40, Buzzcocks, The Levellers, Reverend & the Makers, Madness, Foy Vance and The Jam to name a few.
To get involved complete and submit the form below. Please try and provide as many links as possible, the more we can see you performing the better. We will contact the submissions who have been selected to play, after the submission deadline – December 31st 2017*.
*Correction – an earlier post stated the submission deadline as December 31st 2018.
You must be over 18 to enter.
www.academyofmusic.ac.uk
www.beardedtheory.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter @Academyms and Instagram @ams_uk
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
Thank you to everyone who has applied. We will be contacting the final line-up before 31st of January.
Fast Track to an online BA degree in Performance Industries
Do you have 5+ years musical experience? You could be eligible for Fast Track entry to an online BA degree in Performance Industries.
Gain a BA qualification at your own pace and from home in 12 months (full time) or 18 months (part time). You can study from anywhere in the UK, with your own personal mentor and access to one of our 8 highly acclaimed study centres and facilities. With your proven experience as a musician you can access the final year of a full degree and launch your career to the next level in one of the many careers in the music industry.
For more details visit the AMS Online website.
AMS North East Singer-Songwriting teacher Barry Hyde and the Malody Ensemble
AMS North East Song Writing teacher Barry Hyde has just been given a 4 star review for his gig at the weekend!
St Pancras Old Church, London
The Futureheads frontman revisits a decade of mental illness in a haunting, darkly funny and deeply moving set.
Academy of Music and Sound Gateshead run stage at Corbridge Festival
Every year the students at Academy of Music and Sound North East get to run their own stage at Corbridge Festival, which is fast becoming one of the biggest festivals in the North East. Not only is this a chance for the students to play and show case their own music, but also to run a professional stage in an industry setting. This year they booked some external bands such as Jen Stevens and The Hiccups, The Warm Collective and Velvoir. These established bands drew in the crowds and ensured the tent was full all day. JKG windows of Newcastle gave away a free guitar and Trinity London contributed to the event as well. The stage was run professionally and the bands and audience had a great time! Well done to everyone involved.
- Dan Donnelly AMS North East centre manager
Fast Track your way to a BA (Hons) Performance Industries in 12 months
For most musicians, playing, creating and performing are things we are passionate about. Things that we HAVE to do, not just want to do. By developing your instrumental, creative and performance skills through practice, you will have amassed a great deal of experience that can be rewarded with FAST TRACK entry to the final year of the AMSonline BA (hons) in Performance Industries.
For those with previous experience of making and playing music, gaining a BA(hons) qualification can take as little as 12 (full time) or 18 (part time) months of study. This is made possible through a process known as recognized prior learning, or RPL. RPL is a commonly used process in education aimed at “widening participation’ and inclusivity.
The process involves mapping your previous musical experiences against the knowledge and competencies that someone would expect to develop in the early years of a degree. One of our AMSonline advisors can provide a preliminary eligibility check in as little as 15 minutes, putting you on a FAST TRACK path to achieving BA(hons) in as little as 12 months.
To find out if your eligible for direct final year entry to the AMSonline BA (hons) performance industries, call 0843 224 9300 to speak in confidence to one of our team, or visit www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/amsonline and enquire online.
Earn more as a musician with a BA hons Performance Industries
In a survey of over 5000 working musicians, researchers from the Berklee college of music found that the average wage of those working in music was in the region of £35,000 p.a and that for more than half of respondents, this income was generated from a portfolio of 3 or more musical jobs. These findings are mirrored in the feedback of AMS’ graduate population. Of the 75% of our BA graduates that have secured music industry employment within 6 months of completing their course, a large number are working across multiple musical and managerial positions as they carve out their career in the industry.
“ The BA prepared me for working in the industry. It allowed me to understand how a self-employed musician makes a living and what they have to do in order to keep gaining work.” – (Michael Mackay, BA(hons) Performance Industries,)
“ The course content was varied, with business skills and lots of practical music skills. I’ve used all the skills I learned on the course in the year since I graduated and I think it’s made a real difference to how I regard myself as a creative professional." – (Jena Thomson, BA (hons) Performance Industries)
For those working in today’s modern music industry a flexible approach to employment will help you secure a more stable income.
With fast track entry, student funding and flexible learning hours available, the AMSonline BA(hons) in Performance Industries program could help you to unlock new earning opportunities as a working musician. For more information, please call our AMSonline advice line on 0843 224 9300, or visit www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/amsonline
Musicians - Having a Degree can help open up new career opportunities.
While you certainly don’t need a degree in music to get gigs, join a band, enjoy or even get paid for making music, there is much research to support the fact that for many musicians, a music degree is the key to unlocking new career opportunities.
If you are struggling to establish a sustainable career in music, despite years of practice, experience and hard work, an AMSonline degree may be the essential ingredient to help you achieve your goals.
Musicians with degree’s find it easier to secure work in education, either by qualifying to deliver lectures at college level, charging more for private lessons or gaining access to the cert ed post graduate qualification that allows them to teach professionally in schools. Many musicians use teaching as a stable supplement to their income, allowing them to pay the bills while continuing to pursue their artistic and performance passions. Teaching can be hugely rewarding and may lead to gains in playing/practice “I've always felt my teaching improves my performing and helps me to have an intelligent approach to my own practice” – (Alex Laing, Guardian)
How’s aboutthe development of transferrable skills and qualities? Having a degree can help to show that you have tenacity, that you see things through and are ultimately committed to your music. What about IT skills, networking, business and events management? These are all areas that you will develop through AMSonline’s BA(hons) in performance industries.
“ The BA definitely opened by eyes to the concept of having a portfolio career in the music industry…….,it showed me how easy (with the right mind set) having a career in music can be" (Alyssa Renwick, BA (hons) Performance Industries)
If you’re keen to create new opportunities in you musical career, call AMSonline on 0843 224 9300 and see if you can gain FAST TRACK entry into the final year of our BA(hons) Performance Industries. Visit www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/amsonline for more info.
Academy of Music and Sound at Corbridge Festival 2016!
In the wake of the recent rise in hate crime and the shootings in Orlando, our students have started a movement called Hearts not Parts in support of the LGBT community. On the 28th June they ran a very successful fund raising event to fund their stage at The upcoming Corbridge Festival on the 9th of July. The Academy of Music and sound are running and curating the 3rd Stage at Corbridge Festival as a Hearts Not Parts Stage, preaching tolerance and respect in troubled times. Amongst the line up is our very own Fletcher Jackson a band formed in Academy of Music and Sound North East. Fletcher Jackson have become one of the most hotly tipped local bands in the last year.
Our students will be playing alongside The Coral and Grandmaster Flash plus many more internationally renowned acts!
Get started in your BA hons with minimal outlay.
If you already have access to an internet connected computer workstation, and your instrument, you’re ready to go! All of your BA hons course material is available on our Moodle virtual learning environment, meaning you don’t need to spring for expensive textbooks or equipment. Our VLE ensures you are able to fit your studies around your existing commitments, allowing you to study at any time in any space.
Call 0843 224 9300 or email [email protected] to find out more about the AMS Online BA hons Performance Industries Top Up course or visit www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/amsonline.
Find out if you’re eligible to complete a BA hons in 12 months
The Academy of Music and Sound offer a Fast Track to a BA hons for professional musicians who can demonstrate that their experience is equivalent to the first two years of a degree. Our specialist advisors can let you know within 30minutes, if you are eligible for fast track. They can support you in making your application to the University of Wolverhampton and to Student Loans England. Our advisors can also give you full details about the contents of the course and the logistics of studying for a supported distance learning qualification.
Call 0843 224 9300, email [email protected] to find out more about theAMS Online BA(hons) Performance Industries Top Up course or Visit www.academyofmusic.ac.uk/amsonline