Based in Liverpool - birthplace of The Beatles, and a UNESCO City of Music, this programme aims to reframe and extend contemporary discourse about The Beatles beyond the historical and musicological into a broader and more robust 21st-century context.
Introduction
You will explore how The Beatles, their music and their story are inextricably bound up within an increasing number of creative and cultural industries including (but not limited to): music, media and social media, tourism, and heritage. Through interactions with the Liverpool Beatles tourism and heritage sectors, you will experience first-hand the role and significance The Beatles and their legacy contribute to these industries at local, regional and national levels.
You will have the opportunity to hear from and speak with guest lecturers, as well as visit and explore sites and venues in and around Liverpool and Merseyside that were formative in The Beatles’ early years.
What you'll learn
Departmental support:
Dedicated to small group teaching
Diverse and international student community
Connections with local and national arts, music, culture and heritage institutions
Vibrant and active research environment with links to the city’s Beatles heritage
Interdisciplinary teaching and research environment.
Course content
Discover what you'll learn, what you'll study, and how you'll be taught and assessed.
If you're able to study part-time, you'll
study the same modules as the full-time master's degree over a longer period, usually 24 months. You
can make studying work for you by arranging your personal schedule
around lectures and seminars which take place during the day. After you
complete all the taught modules, you will complete your final
dissertation or project and will celebrate your achievements
at graduation the following term.
Studying part-time means you can study alongside work or any
other life commitments. You will
study the same modules as the full-time master's degree over a longer period, usually 24 months. You
can make studying work for you by arranging your personal schedule
around lectures and seminars which take place during the day. After you
complete all the taught modules, you will complete your final
dissertation or project and will celebrate your achievements
at graduation the following term.
Semester one
Please note: programme and module details are illustrative and subject to change.
Compulsory modules
Researching the Music Industry (MUSI510)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
The module examines some of the interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the music industries and explores these contributions. Drawing on examples it examines, in a practical way, how research in the field is conducted. Students learn how to plan and develop a research project in preparation for their dissertation. Students will develop their understanding through lectures, online class discussions and tutorials. Successful students on this module will develop skills in research appropriate for the study of the music industries at postgraduate level, including bibliographic skills and the ability to find and evaluate various kinds of evidence.
Heritage & Culture: The Beatles’ Liverpool through 1966 (MUSI533)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 1
This module examines the complex and dynamic interplay between the Beatles and the city of Liverpool’s rich cultural, musical, economic and political history, arguing that more than simply being ‘from’ Liverpool, the Beatles were – and remain – ‘of’ Liverpool. The module will explore the concept of Beatles heritage via a range of local perspectives focussing particularly on race, gender and class.
The Beatles in the 20th Century (MUSI531)
Credits: 30 /
Semester: semester 1
This module will serve as the foundation for exploring the creative, industrial and cultural implications of the Beatles, their music and their career within the context of the 20th century. The module will take a critical approach in surveying the vast body of academic, popular and historic research on the group, with the intention of seeking to replace well-worn narratives and tropes with new and emerging scholarship and discourse drawn from a wide range of disciplines.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
Semester two
Compulsory modules
Heritage & Legacy: The Beatles’ Liverpool 1967-Present (MUSI536)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
Through the concepts of ‘heritage’ and ‘legacy’, this module explores the complex and contested history of the city of Liverpool’s involvement in, understanding of and engagement with the story and history of the Beatles. Taking a chronological approach, the module will survey changes in the culture, industry, politics and communities of Liverpool from the late-1960s to the present day. Paying particular attention to music-making and music industry in Liverpool, the module will also examine the ways in which the group’s local legacy has both helped and hindered successive generations of Liverpool musicians. The module will also look at the evolution of the role local politics and community have played in the city’s evolving narratives of Beatles heritage and legacy as presented to both local residents and tourists from around the world.
The Beatles and Cultural Planning (MUSI532)
Credits: 15 /
Semester: semester 2
This industry-facing module explores the concept and practice of cultural planning through particular study of the Beatles Heritage industry in Liverpool and beyond. Lectures will include guest speakers/practitioners working in Beatles tourism/heritage. Topics of study will include: arts and heritage in the community, community engagement, public communication, event, exhibition and season planning, fundraising and giving and public policy and local government.
The Beatles in the 21st Century (MUSI534)
Credits: 30 /
Semester: semester 2
After decades of vigorous safeguarding of the Beatles’ key intellectual property assets, beginning the 1990s and accelerating into the 21st century, Apple Corps, the Beatles’ management company, launched ‘the post-Sixties Beatles’ brand. It has since become one of the most visible and profitable commodities in contemporary popular music and culture. This module will serve as a critical survey of how and why the Beatles’ music, story and history and have circulated through popular music and culture in the 21st century, through study of key Beatles stakeholder and non-stakeholder entities, significant Beatles developments, releases and events, as well as through study of scholarly concepts including fandom, legacy, and cultural branding.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
Final project
Compulsory modules
Dissertation MA The Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage (MUSI530)
Credits: 60 /
Semester: summer
The MA dissertation affords students to complete an extended piece of original scholarship on any facet of the Beatles’ career, history, industry, heritage or legacy. Drawing on skills, theories and concepts developed throughout the programme, students will identify an original research question and undertake collection of secondary and/or primary data to present their findings.
Work Placement for MA The Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage (MUSI537)
Credits: 60 /
Semester: summer
This module will enable students to gain experience of working in an organisation involved in the management, circulation and production of Beatles heritage. This module involves students working in a range of departments within an organisation involved in Beatles heritage in Liverpool. They will shadow departmental managers and learn the modes and methods of managing with the aim of acquiring knowledge that is both specific to Beatles tourism and heritage as well as transferable to other sectors including arts, heritage, leisure and tourism.
Programme details and modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change.
How you'll learn
Teaching on the MA in Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage is delivered through a combination of seminars and tutorials held on campus. Some modules may have lectures and separate seminar sessions scheduled, but all classes will take place on campus in person. Class sizes tend to be small, and a typical class will include between 10-12 students.
How you're assessed
Students on the Beatles MA will be assessed by a combination of formative and summative coursework with an emphasis on authentic assessment where possible. This will take a number of different forms, including essays, projects, presentations, proposals, and a dissertation. In addition, Other assessment formats may also apply.
Liverpool Hallmarks
We have a distinctive approach to education, the Liverpool Curriculum Framework, which focuses on research-connected teaching, active learning, and authentic assessment to ensure our students graduate as digitally fluent and confident global citizens.
Your experience
The Department of Music is an established centre for the study of both The Beatles and Popular Music. It comprises the Institute of Popular Music – the world’s first specialist centre for the study of popular music – and counts renowned experts in the Beatles amongst its academic staff, including staff who sit on the City of Liverpool’s Beatles Legacy Group.
Support for students with differing needs from the Disability advice and guidance team. They can identify and recommend appropriate support provisions for you.
Why study Music at Liverpool?
We pride ourselves on being an innovative department that embraces the full spectrum of music, from the great works of the past to emerging trends such as sound for computer games
Our staff and students come from a variety of performance and non-performance backgrounds and share interests that span classical, popular, world and film music
Long established as a classical music department, in 1988 we created the Institute of Popular Music – the world’s first specialist centre for the study of Popular Music
Music placed in the top quartile for impact classified as outstanding (4*) (REF 2021)
Our recently refurbished facilities boast brand new studios, teaching spaces, and industry standard equipment. These include recording and production studios, an SSL studio, practice rooms with Yamaha pianos, a multipurpose rehearsal and performance space, iMac suites and a games research lab
In March 2022 we opened the Tung Auditorium, a new state-of-the-art performance venue seating up to 400 people, with space for a 70-piece orchestra.
What students say...
I enjoy the atmosphere in lectures which strikes the perfect balance. It is a relaxed, friendly, and inclusive environment. But equally it is focused, structured and purposeful. This blend creates a perfect setting for learning, but also for speaking up and contributing to the discussion, in a collaborative team of both students and tutors.
Students from the taught postgraduate programmes in the department of Music have gone on to a wide range of careers, including various positions in the music industries, museums, arts administration, journalism, publishing, and teaching.
Career support from day one to graduation and beyond
Graduates will be equipped to enter a wide range of industries, including the local Beatles-related sector, heritage, museums, tourism and leisure, music, and creative industries in general. Students from the Department of Music have gone on to a wide range of careers, including various positions in the music industries, museums, arts administration, journalism, publishing, and teaching.
Fees and funding
Your tuition fees, funding your studies, and other costs to consider.
Tuition fees
UK fees (applies to Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland)
Full-time place, per year
£10,400
Part-time place, per year
£5,200
International fees
Full-time place, per year
£21,300
Part-time place, per year
£10,650
Fees stated are for the 2023-24 academic year.
Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching and assessment, operating facilities such as libraries, IT equipment, and access to academic and personal support.
We understand that budgeting for your time at university is important, and we want to make sure you understand any course-related costs that are not covered by your tuition fee. This could include buying a laptop, books, or stationery.
You will normally need a 2:1 honours degree, or above, or equivalent. No specific subjects are required.
We also encourage applications from those from non-traditional backgrounds, for example without a degree. In these circumstances, you must submit a piece of written work of approximately 3,000 words. This should discuss the influence of the Beatles on the city of Liverpool and its music heritage. Please be sure to cite external references in your work.
Each application will be assessed on its own merits. An interview may form part of the selection process.
International qualifications
If you hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet our entry requirements, you could be eligible for a Pre-Master’s course. This is offered on campus at the University of Liverpool International College, in partnership with Kaplan International Pathways. It’s a specialist preparation course for postgraduate study, and when you pass the Pre-Master’s at the required level with good attendance, you’re guaranteed entry to a University of Liverpool master’s degree.
Liverpool bursts with diversity and creativity which makes it ideal for you to undertake your postgraduate studies and access various opportunities for you and your family.
To fully immerse yourself in the university experience living in halls will keep you close to campus where you can always meet new people. Find your home away from home.
Discover what expenses are covered by the cost of your tuition fees and other finance-related information you may need regarding your studies at Liverpool.
Contact us
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