Music biz folk: City U London's Cultural Policy and Management Masters program?

M

MatthewH

makes strange noises.
Hi all,

Bit of a longshot here but do any of you working in music in London have any thoughts on City Uni's Cultural Policy and Management Masters program? Or City in general for post-graduate stuff?

http://www.city.ac.uk/cpm/index.html

I just finished a Public Policy degree here in Montreal and that program looks interesting, possibly enough to justify a year in an expensive city.

Ideally, jobwise, I'm aiming for cultural policy consultant/researcher at an NGO or whatnot. I've got a pretty long history of working in music: engineering, bands, solo stuff, plus working in a few non-profit orgs.

thanks!
Matthew
 
M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
The course looks like fun - the people lecturing on it seem pretty good - but there are probably people on here that know more about the place than I do. Industry contacts from the course would probably be good. I think it would kinda depend on where you want to be based - you'd certainly get a grounding in cultural policy from the point of view of the UK/London arts scene; if you're looking at Canadian or US based jobs as opposed to more Europe based ones I'm not sure if it would help, similarly the way cultural policies work in the UK is kinda different from other parts of Europe.

I was shocked when I did an MA in London at how young everyone was - straight from uni.

I spent time in Montreal on an arts residency and there are congruencies between how it operates there and here, I can see how it would benefit you going from Montreal to here to get an alternative view about funding policies, socially inclusive strategies etc, but I guess you know that already. The professional placement bit looks good. There are loads and loads of internships going on - look at artsjobs.org.uk, you may wanna try that route out as well. To my eyes Montreal looked waaaay more together than in London and I'm not sure I would want to come here from there, but it could be a good challenge ;)

Sorry looking back on the answer I'm not being that clear but I'm really drunk and tired.
 
shiels

shiels

_
Sort of unrelated but does anyone here know much about the Sonic Culture masters at UEL? if anyone knows someone who's done it or is in it now and could put me in contact that'd be brilliant. Is it competitive for places ie should i have applied already for the september start?
 
M

MatthewH

makes strange noises.
mistersloane said:
I spent time in Montreal on an arts residency and there are congruencies between how it operates there and here, I can see how it would benefit you going from Montreal to here to get an alternative view about funding policies, socially inclusive strategies etc, but I guess you know that already. The professional placement bit looks good. There are loads and loads of internships going on - look at artsjobs.org.uk, you may wanna try that route out as well. To my eyes Montreal looked waaaay more together than in London and I'm not sure I would want to come here from there, but it could be a good challenge ;)
Click to expand...

Some interesting observations there. And I'll get on that Artsjobs site. I wouldn't mind working in the UK at all if it works out that way.

I lived in London 2000-2002 and it really underlined how much Canadian policy is about cultural protectionism. Canada protects itself against the US; Quebec protects itself against everybody. We're cultural importers.

The UK isn't like that - it's a big exporter. Even just London is artistically self-sufficient; you could wall it off and still have a world of music. Not a healthy world but a world nonetheless. So, you don't really need to support the arts in the same sense as we do.

Maybe that's what's giving the impression of us having things together - that we need it more?

Matthew
 
M

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
MatthewH said:
Some interesting observations there. And I'll get on that Artsjobs site. I wouldn't mind working in the UK at all if it works out that way.

I lived in London 2000-2002 and it really underlined how much Canadian policy is about cultural protectionism. Canada protects itself against the US; Quebec protects itself against everybody. We're cultural importers.

The UK isn't like that - it's a big exporter. Even just London is artistically self-sufficient; you could wall it off and still have a world of music. Not a healthy world but a world nonetheless. So, you don't really need to support the arts in the same sense as we do.

Maybe that's what's giving the impression of us having things together - that we need it more?

Matthew
Click to expand...

I'd say from that response that you don't need to do an MA, and it might be wasted on you, and I'm sure you'll be able to get a job here no problem. People are always looking for fresh approaches, and you'd certainly be able to give them that.

That's a really interesting take on it. I just found it amazing that the arts were actually funded in Quebec! And from a grass roots level upwards. People's approaches were just so refreshing.
Things changed here a bit and for a while (not for much longer I fear) the Arts Council etc did make it easier for artists/organisations, it used to be a pain. You'll find London's really exploded arts-wise if you haven't been back since 2002 though. There are fucking galleries and clubs everywhere.
 
M

MatthewH

makes strange noises.
I might be able to give them a fresh approach - in fact, I'm convinced of that - but that doesn't mean the Home Office is going to just let me move over.

They use a points system. If I did a Masters there I'd win points. Then I'd have to get a job offer that was guaranteed to pay more than x amount - maybe £25k - with more points given the more I'd be earning. I'd also get points for not being over 34. Still there's no guarantee that I'd be able to get the required 75 points; it's basically set up to encourage 20-something, rich PhDs to immigrate.

So, it's a shitty system, but really, it's shitty trying to immigrate to any rich country, Canada included.

Just on a Quebec note, most of the local arts orgs are set up to foster QC culture, which they often interpret to mean French-language culture. English-speakers aren't at the policy-making table. So even with all that money and infrastructure, it can be pretty tough if you're making English-language stuff, depending on the type of art you do.
 
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