Music Journalism at Chester is an exciting and fascinating course. With a diverse programme of activities and a wealth of industry contacts, students will have plenty of opportunity to grow their knowledge and apply their skills first-hand. Take a look below for an insight into some of the things you can expect on the course.
Why Chester?
At Chester, our Music Journalism course offers a well-worked balance between academic scholarship in popular music studies, alongside vocational production skills in terms of actually producing music podcasts, documentaries, websites and magazines, and working with other programmes to produce music radio and TV content. Located at the Parkgate Road Campus in Chester, you'll be in easy reach of both Liverpool and Manchester, as well as the City's own thriving music scene.
Out-and-About
Not confined to the classroom, Music Journalism students will have the chance to develop their knowledge off campus. This year, the university paid for all three year groups to take The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour around Liverpool - it's amazing to see the birthplace of all of the Fab Four, as well as places such as Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, before following the long and winding road to the famous Cavern Club.
Magical Mystery Tour
Students also had the opportunity to join February’s Department of Media tour to Berlin, where we took part in activities such as the Bowie tour and the Ramones museum, while also visiting many of the city’s record stores, and checking out psych band The Murlocs at a venue on the River Spree.
Berlin 2019
And it doesn't stop there! Thanks to our strong connections with local venues and promotion companies in Chester, students have also been out and about exploring and producing content for local venues and gigs. Some are currently writing a feature about the venue St Mary’s, for instance, for Student News, the student newspaper, whilst those in their second year are taking part in exciting work placements at local gig promotion agencies.
Working closely with the UK's leading festival of music writing - Louder Than Words - students have gained experience with this important music festival, and I am pleased to say that we will be involved once again in November 2019.
Industry Connections
As well as getting off campus, I have also used my industry connections to invite guest speakers onto campus, including the founder of Liverpool-based music magazine Bido Lito; the people behind Manchester music website Silent Radio; the owner of music PR agency Urban Rebel, and ex-student John Longbottom, who has used his Chester Journalism degree to work at Kerrang!, for Star Wars, and now with his own music-based brewery! It is very important to maintain these connections with the music and media industries, and to hear from current practitioners both for networking (as such events have also led to work placements), and also for the publication of student work.
Industry Guest Speakers
Our Staff Have a Wealth of Industry Experience
I am currently enjoying success with my own research, which is very much part of my on-going work at Chester. I have a co-edited book about Pink Floyd with Routledge, a book about club culture with Reaktion, and Bloomsbury will also be publishing my book DiscoTexts. I have been asked to talk about my collection of music journalism Discombobulated at the 2019 Bestival festival, plus the BBC are making a film based on one of my screenplays.
If you like the sound of the above, or you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me - i'd be more than happy to help: s.morrison@chester.ac.uk
If you're looking to start your studies in September 2019, then why not come and meet me at one of our upcoming Experience Days? I will be around on both the 3rd April and 27th April to answer any questions you may have.
