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CUA50815 - Diploma of Music Industry

Course code C66

This nationally-recognised qualification is designed to prepare students for a wide range of careers in the music industry, giving them the knowledge and skills to become a performer, composer or sound engineer.

As well as gaining essential theoretical knowledge, students will be assessed on their understanding of the specialised, technical and managerial competencies required to work in the music industry. Students learn in a multi-disciplinary performing arts academy, and have access to hundreds of outstanding performances over the course of the year. Within the course students can specialise in Composition, Sound Production or Performance (Classical, Jazz, Contemporary Performance, or Contemporary Music Artist).

Why ECU?

  • QILT logo

    ECU top in teaching quality

    For the fifth year in a row, ECU has received the top undergraduate teaching quality ranking of all 37 public universities in Australia.

    ECU was also the top-ranked public university in Australia for undergraduate skills development for the sixth year in a row.

    View QILT results.

  • The Good Universities Guide 2021

    Good Universities Guide

    In the 2021 Good Universities Guide, ECU graduates have given us a 5-star rating for teaching quality, skills development, student support, learning resources, learner engagement and overall student experience.

    The 5-star rating for teaching quality has now been achieved for 14 straight years.

    Read more about the Good Universities Guide.

  • THE Impact Rankings 2020

    THE Impact Rankings

    ECU has been ranked number 9 in the world for Quality Education and is in the top 100 overall in the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact rankings, showing how the global higher education sector is working towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

    Read more about the THE Impact Rankings

  • THE World University Rankings 2020 Top 100 Young

    THE Young University Rankings

    ECU has been ranked in the world's top 100 universities under 50 years old in the 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) Young Universities Rankings, THE World University Rankings.

Choose student type

Entry requirements

ECU admission and English language requirements apply.

See Course Entry for further information.

Course code

C66

Admissions

ECU admission profile

Fees

See Fees and Scholarships for further information.

Duration

1 year full-time

See Course Details for further information.

Availability & Campus

Semester 1 Semester 2
Joondalup
Mount Lawley FT
South West
Online
FT - Full-time PT - Part-time

Entry requirements

ECU admission and English language requirements apply.

See Course Entry for further information.

Course code

C66

Fees

See Fees and Scholarships for further information.

Duration

1 year full-time

See Course Details for further information.

Availability & Campus

This course is not offered on-campus or online to international students.

Course Entry

Admission requirements you'll need to meet for this course.

  • The following course-specific admission requirements are mandatory and must be satisfied by all applicants. These requirements are in addition to or supersede the minimum requirements outlined within the Academic admission requirements band section below.

    All applicants are required to attend an audition, and attend an interview, and undertake a written theory test, and normally be turning at least 17 by 30th June in the year of commencing the course.

    Note For more information, including guidelines for specific disciplines, please see our Interviews, folios and auditions web page.

    Academic admission requirements (Band 1) may be satisfied through completion of one of the following:

    • Completion of Year 10 or equivalent.

  • English competency requirements may be satisfied through completion of one of the following:

    • Year 10 English completion or equivalent.

Applications for this course are not accepted through ECU's Experience Based Entry Scheme.

Course Details

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Semester availability

Semester 1: Study full-time at Mount Lawley

Semester availability

This course is not offered on-campus or online to international students.

Course Structure

Students may complete a 16 unit specialisation in Composition, Performance or Sound Production. The Performance specialisation includes streams in Classical Performance, Contemporary Performance and Jazz Performance.

C66|1

For more detailed unit information for this course take a look at our Handbook. To organise your life for next semester visit the Semester timetable.

Student handbook

VET Specialisations you can study in this course

Need some help deciding what to study?

Our future student events include a mix of on-campus and online sessions designed to help you decide what to study at ECU.

Fees and Scholarships

Choose student type

VET course fees are set by the WA Government and they vary from course to course. For more information, please go to Fees and Scholarships.

Scholarships

ECU has a scholarship program that provides many opportunities each year to students undertaking studies here.

Find a scholarship

Career Opportunities

Designed to prepare students for careers in the music industry.

Possible future job titles

Musician, Performance Artist, Composer, Performer, Entertainer, Sound Recordist, Sound Designer, Sound Engineer, Sound Mixer

Courses you can consider if you are interested in progressing further in this area.

Become World Ready

World Ready facilities

WAAPA Music Auditorium
Music Auditorium

View the 360 Degree virtual tour

Sound decision leads to working with Cirque du Soleil

Just two years after finishing his WAAPA training, Production & Design graduate Christian Peterson is now touring the world as a sound engineer with Cirque du Soleil.

After graduating, Christian worked full-time as a sound technician on festivals, concerts and theatre shows in Perth and around Australia. After scoring a gig on the Perth leg of the Cirque du Soleil show, Kooza he was offered the tour of Australia, New Zealand and Dubai with the Cirque show, Toruk.

Christian then spent several months in Montreal, Canada – where Cirque is based – designing and building the arena version of Corteo. He is currently touring North America with Corteo. Nice work we say!

Student stories

  • Jesse Hutchings

    Jesse Hutchings

    WAAPA Sound graduate

    "WAAPA sets you up with a solid foundation to build your career"

    The course covered everything from technical knowledge to crucial people-managing skills, when dealing with musicians or fellow workers in other departments. It's a great learning environment and the connections I have made from WAAPA have proven invaluable to my career thus far.

  • Christian Peterson

    Christian Peterson

    WAAPA Sound graduate

    "The highlight of my WAAPA experience was working on shows; they're all student run, so students can 'take it and make it yours'"

    That's crucial for transitioning into work outside of WAAPA, where project management and collaborating with other people and departments is a skill everyone needs. The lecturers were awesome and many of them have become colleagues and great friends. Many work in the industry so their knowledge is current and relevant to the work.

    I really enjoy the mix of creative and technical work that's involved in sound engineering. Some days I'm behind the console mixing a show, and other days I'm rigging the speakers, making cables and loading trucks. Sound is very subjective and we all respond to it differently; if an audience walks away applauding and happy, then that makes it all worth it.

    Luckily, I'm now working with Cirque du Soleil, surrounded by a great team, with people from all around the world!

  • Dane Alderson

    Dane Alderson

    WAAPA Bachelor of Jazz (Performance) graduate

    "I was immersed into a creative and ambitious environment"

    The environment at WAAPA has helped me establish the skills I needed to further my musical career. Being able to learn from some of the finest jazz educators on the planet, while performing and jamming with like-minded students was imperative to my development as a full-time musician.

    I look back at my journey through WAAPA with pride, gratitude and many fond memories.

Quick guide to uni-speak

    • ATAR is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate university courses in Australia. The ATAR is a percentile score which denotes a student's ranking relative to their state-wide peers upon completion of their secondary education.

    • CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. A CRICOS code is allocated to education institutions (like ECU) who are approved to recruit, enrol and deliver education to overseas students. Courses with a CRICOS code are available to international students who meet the entry requirements.

    • A major, or unit set, is your chosen area of in-depth study in an undergraduate course. It usually involves 8 units of study, or one-third of the units in a 3-year degree. Talk to your Student Information Office if you need help choosing a major subject.

    • Minors include between 4 and 6 study units in a specific discipline. Not all courses require you to complete a minor. Your minor subject doesn't appear on your printed degree (parchment), but is part of your academic transcript.

    • If you're enrolled in 3 or more units in a semester this is considered full-time study. To complete most 3-year degrees studying full-time you'll need to complete 4 units per semester, i.e. 24 units over 3 years.

    • If a course is available to study part-time you can generally expect it to take twice as long to complete as it would in full-time mode. Part-time students are enrolled in 1 or 2 units maximum per semester.

      Note: International students who hold a student visa can only choose the full-time study option for our courses. This is to ensure the course is completed within the duration of the student visa.

    • Most courses start in Semester 1 each year, usually in the last week of February. Some courses can be started in Semester 2 (we call this mid-year). There's a week of Orientation before each semester to help you get used to uni life.

    • A lot of our courses start in Semester 2 each year, usually in the last week of July. We call this mid-year. There's a week of Orientation beforehand to help you get used to uni life.

    • We use a points system to make it easier for you to understand your study progress. Most Bachelors degree study units are allocated 15 credit points. If you're studying a 3-year full-time degree you'll need to successfully complete 360 credit points - that's 24 units x 15 points per unit.

    • These are compulsory units you have to successfully complete as part of your course.

    • An elective is a unit you choose to study that counts towards your course requirements, but isn't compulsory. For some courses we recommend elective units. In some situations, a course coordinator may approve an elective unit as a replacement for a compulsory one.