Commercial Modern MusicNuacheol Tráchtála

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This four-year course has been designed for guitarists, bass players, drummers, vocalists, songwriters, music producers and those running commercial music projects who want to gain a Level 8 qualification in modern music, while at the same time fulfilling their creative and commercial potential.

It will encourage you to hone your live performance skills and recording studio technical knowledge while also developing your career goals, which may include being a professional performer, professional songwriter or producer, music manager or publisher, academic researcher or teacher.

There are six streams: Drums, Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting and Music Production* (the Music Production stream is a new addition for the academic year 2023/24 and subject to validation)

You’ll have access to BIMM Connect, an exclusive social networking platform and home to Europe’s largest private community of music students and graduates.

Aside from linking users to thousands of potential creative opportunities across each of our campuses, this free service delivers a range of valuable tools to help you achieve your creative potential and career goals. Resources include a jobs board, events page, group forums and opportunities to showcase and promote your work – plus lots of other resources aimed at getting you the right information when you need it.

Subjects for the performance and songwriting streams (including optional subjects) include music business & study skills, artist development & entrepreneurship, live performance, music theory and keyboard skills, songwriting, performativity & live music, arrangement analysis, cultural perspectives, Research Methods, professional musicianship options, digital marketing in the music business, studio musicianship, The Songwriter/Producer studio recording, music publishing, Professional Project, Analytical Perspectives, Solo Performance, Ensemble Performance, Music Teaching Practice, Professional Development, Commercial Songwriting and Composition and Analysis.

The Music Production stream will include a range of core and optional modules including (but not limited to) Live Sound Engineering, Creative Mix Techniques, Creating Sample Libraries, Digital Performance Skills, Sound Design & Writing for Media, Practical Learning & Teaching in the Creative Arts, Electroacoustic Composition, Game Sound & Music, Immersive Audio Techniques, Audio Postproduction, Interactive Music Applications, you can tailor the degree to fit your own personal goals.

Leaving Certificate Requirements

Additional Requirements

Applicants welcome to make a late application by 1st May at 5.15pm or use CAO change of mind before 1st July at 5.15pm

You must attend an assessment/audition to establish your playing standard and eligibility for the course.

Video auditions can be arranged for applicants who may be living overseas. 

QQI/FET Requirements

In addition to the QQI minimum entry requirements, QQI quotas and QQI points apply. The max QQI points awarded is 390. Further details at www.tudublin.ie/qqi

Mature Applicants

Applications from mature students (23+) are welcome. The primary entry requirement for mature applicants is audition only.  Further details at www.tudublin.ie/mature

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency as detailed on our website. Applicants for this course should have a minimum IELTS (Academic Version) English Proficiency of 6 overall (or equivalent) with nothing less than 6 in each component.

All applicants that applied for TU961 will be called for audition/interview process. Please visit BIMM Dublin for more information.

As with all courses at BIMM, the BA (Hons) in Commercial Modern Music is designed to help students establish a sustainable career within the music industry.

At BIMM Institute Dublin 85% of our 2017 group of graduates were employed within six months of graduation, working in the music industry as artists and performers, session musicians, in artist management, record labels, music publishing, social media entrepreneurship and live music production. Many graduates have also gone on to pursue postgraduate studies in fields such as performance, music research, composition and teaching.

Graduates have toured the world with high-profile artists such as James Vincent McMorrow and Dua Lipa. A number of Dublin graduates have embarked on successful careers such as The Fontaines DC, Maria Somerville, Thumper and AE Mak and Peter Walsh who has a successful career in music publishing and Gemma Bradley who is now a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK.

Shortly after graduating from BIMM Institute Dublin, Fontaines D.C. signed with the highly revered independent label Partisan Records. The band's debut LP Dogrel was released to critical acclaim in April of 2019, reaching no.4 in the Irish album chart and no.9 in the UK and was nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize in the UK and the Choice Music Prize in Ireland. Later that year it was selected as Album Of The Year by Rough Trade and BBC6 Music. Their second studio album, A Hero's Death, entered the UK and Irish album charts at no.2 in April 2022, which brought the band a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Act 2021. The bands third and most recent album, Skinty Fia, soared to no.1 in the Official Album Charts in the UK and Ireland in early 2022.  

BIMM group students have scored an unprecedented 30 UK Top 40 singles and Top 20 albums, including George Ezra and James Bay. Other graduates have gone on to have successful careers in the wider music industry such as booking agent Natashia Bent who works with Foals and First Aid Kit.

Graduate Job Titles:

This course enhances student employability prospects in a variety of areas in the music and creative industries including the following: commercial band performance, live session playing, playing on recording sessions, band management, music journalism, live TV and radio broadcasting, tour management, stage management, film, game and multimedia licensing and music composition, performing in both wedding and cover function bands, musical theatre, working in a variety of roles in music venues, event promotion, Artiste and Repertoire and record labels, working in live music agencies and teaching music.

Graduate Employers:

• Aiken Promotions
• Ali Coffee Casting
• Atlantic Records
• BBC (The Voice)
• Disney Land USA
• Faction Records
• Festival Republic.
• First Music Contact
• IMRO,
• ITV (X factor)
• Liebbman Promotions,
• Lindsey Holmes Publicity
• MCD Productions
• Music Maker
• Music Network,
• Philip McGee (Producer)
• PIAS, Downtown Music Publishing,
• Premier Entertainment International (Cruise Ships)
• Sky
• Patrick's Festival
• The Abbey Theatre
• The Button Factory
• Ultra Music Publishing & Records,
• Warner Music,
• Whelans

We are currently closed for Advanced Entry Applications. The courses that will be open for advanced entry will be listed on the CAO website in January 2025. For information on how to make an Advanced Entry application, please visit our CAO Hub. 

If this course opens for advanced entry, the following will apply:

To qualify for Advanced Entry applicants must be currently studying, completing, or have successfully completed, studies at Level 6, 7 or 8 in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) or an equivalent, in a related area. You must demonstrate by providing transcripts of results that you have achieved the learning outcomes for each stage you wish to advance past, for example:

• To enter Year 2 via Advanced Entry, you must demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes for Year 1.
• For entry to Year 3, you must demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes for Years 1 and 2.
• For entry to Year 4, you must demonstrate that you have met the learning outcomes for Years 1, 2, and 3.

If English is not your first language you will need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency as detailed on our website.

I really enjoyed my time at BIMM. Having tutors who are actively working in the music industry was a massive help to both my studies and my own personal career as a musician. During my time at BIMM I organised several release campaigns for my band, had a No 1 single in the iTunes Rock charts, recorded on the BIMM album, and attended many industry panels/showcases organised by the college.

Since graduating, I have been writing for music blogs, gigging/recording with my bands and now I’m organising events with artists such as Idles, Mabel, Gerry Leonard, The Edge and Josh Homme.

Graduates have pursued Level 9 postgraduate courses such as ; MA in Music Therapy University of Limerick, MA in Popular Music Research Goldsmith's University, MA in Music, Mind & Brain at Goldsmith University and Level 9 studies in the areas of Public Relations and Marketing. 

Graduates may wish to pursue the MA Popular Music Practice at BIMM Institute Dublin.