11/05/2021: In a new blog series UK Music take a closer look at the MAP partners that make up our ground-breaking Music Academic Partnership.

By UK Music Director of Education and Skills, Dr Oliver Morris

UK Music works with trusted educational partners through our Music Academic Partnership (MAP) scheme, to support the talent pipeline for the UK music industry, that contributes £5.8 billion to the economy and sustains 200,000 jobs.

In the first of a new blog series, we will be hearing from a number of our MAP partners about how they have been coping with the immensely challenging events of the last year and what exciting plans they have for the future.

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has delivered a range of practical music-making courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate level since 1997.  Their Music Production and Performance BA Hons course was introduced in 2019 and caters for a broad range of popular musicians.

Senior Lecturer in Music Simon Partridge outlines the importance of industry contact within the delivery of the programme, particularly in light of the changing climate of the last year:

“This more than any year, guests joining us online has provided key insights into the operations of the industry. Practice was evolving so quickly that firsthand reports were essential in making sure that we were giving the best advice to our students.

“Liam Ogburn of Working Men’s Club (Heavenly Records) is part of our alumni network and spoke with current undergraduates in February as part of a larger visiting speaker series. The conversation was a vital report from the coalface.

“Though it’s not easy for any of us as practitioners to hear about gigs cancelled and revenue lost, it is exciting to hear from artists who are not at all defeated and have managed to appear on Jools Holland, continued to build fanbase and put out a highly successful album despite of everything.

“Liam’s future plans for a return to live music, including supporting New Order, gave everyone a tantalising glimpse of exciting times to come.

“UCLan Music Production and Performance provides a creative platform, with industry experience woven into the fabric of more traditional strengths of academia at the heart of every degree.  Whilst on the course Liam played within a number of bands, which he explained fostered and developed many of the skills which now come to fruition in Working Men’s Club.

“The long list of those within our network both local, national and international are essential for us to be just as much a part of the artistic, academic and industrial communities.”

Photo credit: www.heavenlyrecordings.com (Andy Nicholson)

All educators have had to really adapt to the pandemic, which has been especially difficult for courses such as this with a practical nature and need for creative interaction.

It’s great to see what UCLan have done and we’re really proud to have them as a part of our Music Academic Partnership. Helping students understand the music industry in context is key to any MAP partner’s role as educator and involving alumni with the experience such as Liam of Working Men’s Club is key to that.

“We are excited as we see a light at the end of the tunnel in the pandemic and grateful to all of our trusted educational partners in the MAP network who have worked so hard during an extraordinarily trying period.”

Useful Links

To find out more about UCLan visit Music Production & Performance, BA (Hons) – UCLan

For further information on all our MAP partners see Music Academic Partnership: MAP – UK Music

On Instagram, if you want to hear more about music careers and are keen to get involved – Check out our MAP alumni and student-run Insta account MAPping! (@omgmapping) • Instagram photos and videos