The Institute Of Contemporary Music Performance
MA Songwriting
London, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
14 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 16,250 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international student fee
Key Summary
Highly creative, research-based, and tailored to your personal interests, ICMP's MA Songwriting supports you to develop a substantial creative songwriting project of your choosing – typically a debut album. Covering all aspects of songwriting practice, you’ll follow your individual creative path while launching a bespoke portfolio career in songwriting.
The MA Songwriting is an all-encompassing songwriting course that lets you take the lead with your learning. As London’s very first songwriting-specific postgraduate programme, this degree has always been pioneering – and continues to be so – giving you autonomy to progress your distinct areas of interest within songwriting.
As a highly creative songwriter, you’ll explore your skills in a critical and contextual setting across this research-based, creative-focused, industry-led programme. Working in a peer community, with teaching support from some of the world’s most esteemed songwriting practitioners and academics, you’ll examine and refine your creative songwriting output, considering artistic, commercial, and intellectual goals and outcomes.
As an ICMP Songwriting masters student, you’ll form part of a small but close-knit team, immediately becoming part of the strong, diverse, and inclusive ICMP Songwriting community. Your fellow ICMP students will become your musical collaborators, and you’ll regularly engage in small-group ‘A&R-style’ feedback and critical discussion sessions as you constructively critique each other’s works in progress.
Key facts
- Enhance your creativity and confidence as a songwriter and academic.
- Write at least one song a week over your year of study.
- Create a significant body of creative songwriting work, spanning artistic, academic and business study areas.
- Tailor your learning to your areas of personal interest.
- Explore your creative identity as a songwriter and realise your unique sonic identity.
- Expand your songwriting depth by exploring technical songwriting, musicology and creative voice – from artist, commercial and intellectual viewpoints.
- Study with support and guidance from groundbreaking songwriters and producers – all active in today’s modern music business.
- Gain the knowledge, understanding and business skills for a successful lifelong songwriting career.
- Connect with the wider London music industry to showcase your songwriting at top events, like ICMP’s Songwriters’ Circle.
- Build an impressive global music scene network and engage in international collaboration opportunities.
- Study as a one-year full-time or two-year part-time programme, with dedicated learning groups for both study options.
- Benefit from a high level of contact teaching hours, delivered in small groups in world-class facilities.
Financial Support
Student support for postgraduate music masters courses is available to students studying at ICMP.
Eligible students on designated postgraduate courses at ICMP will be able to access the postgraduate masters loan in the same way, and at the same value, as they could at a publicly funded provider. Individuals will be able to borrow up to £12,858. If you opt to study part-time, your loan would be split into two instalments over the two years of study.
Creative Development Scholarship 2026/27
ICMP offers a scholarship up to the value of £4,000 to each eligible EU, EEA or Swiss student enrolling on one of our undergraduate CertHE and degree programmes or postgraduate programmes, starting in September 2026.
To qualify for this scholarship you should be an EU, EEA or Swiss applicant, who has been resident in either the UK, an EU or EEA country or Switzerland for a minimum of three years.
All applicants fulfilling this criterion will automatically receive our Creative Development Scholarship. There is no need to complete any additional paperwork.
ICMP reserves the right to review and amend scholarship criteria at any time. We also reserve the right to withdraw this offer of a scholarship to new applicants at any time.
Course Details
Over the year, you’ll take a journey of creative exploration, musicology, and creative voice – all supported with continued practical songwriting exercises. On top of honing your songcraft and sonic identity, you’ll embrace critical analysis and research skills, as well as business plan development. Everything you’ve learned will culminate in your final creative project, where you’ll be guided in your chosen field by a specialist supervisor who’ll support you to realise your professional and creative ambitions.
- Creative Purpose And Process For Songwriting
- Songcraft: Musical And Sonic Imagination
- Established And Progressive Songwriting Industries
- Songcraft: Lyric Architecture
- Research And Repertoire Project
Teaching and Learning
On the MA Songwriting programme, you will be taught by lectures, seminar discussions, and practical workshops as appropriate.
When not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions, you'll be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, concert venues, rehearsal facilities and preparing coursework assignments. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities, including our Learning Resource Centre, our many performance and practice rooms, and well-equipped tech suites.
Throughout the duration of your course, your time will be split as follows:
- Teaching hours per week
Semester A • Year 1: 9hrs - Total Teaching, Learning and Assessment hours per year
Year 1: 132hrs - Total self-study hours per year
Year 1: 1668