Study commercial music

Overview
Study options
Student stories
Our facilities
Careers & jobs
Accreditations
Guides

Let's make music together

Commercial music studies give you the opportunity to work together across production, performing and technology specialisations.

Design your own degree

All Massey design students start with broad core courses. Then in later years you can specialise or gain wide-ranging skills.

Stretch and grow

Do it all at Massey. Learn the fundamentals. Be challenged. Evolve, whether you're just starting out or an established creator.

Overview

Want to work in the music industry? Massey prepares you to take your place on stage, or behind the scenes. We focus on popular music genres and new technology and methods.

Learn from top musicians and other industry professionals with decades of experience in performance, production and promotion. Explore how to make music, and how to make it a commercial success. Work in mixed teams across our three majors — as you will in the music business — to put on gigs, record and create music.

Get hands-on experience in our five recording studios and music tech lab. Master new instruments and equipment. Gain industry experience with internship options.

Commercial music is a good fit if you:

do well in school subjects such as music or technology
want to specialise but also adapt to an ever-change industry
like creativity and collaboration.

Key topics

Commercial music courses may cover:

composing and performing
instrument design
music production, including industry-standard production tools
music management, such as branding, contracts and events
sound engineering for recordings or live events
streaming and digital media.

How to study commercial music

Discover what we offer if you’re interested in commercial music – whether you’re coming to university for the first time, changing direction or returning to advance your study or career.

Undergraduate study An undergraduate qualification is generally the first thing you’ll study at university. In some qualifications you can choose what subject you’d like to specialise in.

Bachelor's degrees

Degrees are the standard qualifications you do at university – the most common is called a bachelor’s. Degrees give you enough time to explore your interests, and also focus on specific subjects.

Music Industry – Bachelor of Commercial Music

Specialisation

Location: Wellington campus

Seek out and develop new ways to work in the commercial music industry. Learn artist development, management and distribution, and how to stage live events and tours.

Music Practice – Bachelor of Commercial Music

Specialisation

Location: Wellington campus

Study musicianship and performance in the popular genre of your choice — whether you’re a singer, DJ, or in a band. Music Practice will give you the skills and confidence to take risks and make it in the music industry.

Music Technology – Bachelor of Commercial Music

Specialisation

Location: Wellington campus

Explore and extend how music is created, produced and heard. In Music Technology, you’ll work at the intersection of music, creativity and technology.

Mātauranga Toi Māori – Bachelor of Commercial Music

Specialisation

Study creative arts and help shape a future where te ao Māori is at the forefront of Aotearoa creative industries. A first for Aotearoa tertiary education, the Mātauranga Toi Māori major engages te ao Māori in any of our creative disciplines in Commercial Music – Music Practice, Music Technology or Music Industry.

Postgraduate study Once you’ve graduated with a bachelor’s degree – or have equivalent experience – you’ll be ready to take on postgraduate study.

Postgraduate bachelor's degrees with honours

Go deeper into a major subject from your undergraduate bachelor's degree, graduate certificate or graduate diploma; at a higher level of study.

Bachelor of Commercial Music (Honours) – BCommMus(Hons)

Qualification

Credits: 120
Location: Wellington campus

Refine your specialist music skills with postgraduate study in Commercial Music. Singer, DJ, lighting tech, or tour manager—whatever your jam, we’ll help you get further.

Master's degrees

A master's degree normally builds on a main subject of study from your undergraduate degree.

Master of Arts – MA

Qualification

Credits: 180

If you have achieved a high standard of academic performance in your Bachelor of Arts or BA (Hons), shift up a gear and complete an MA. It will stretch your horizons and take your prospects up a whole level.

Master of Commercial Music – MCommMus

Qualification

Credits: 180
Location: Wellington campus

Pursue commercial music research pathways, supported through connections and partnerships with industry and the sector. Our Master of Commercial Music spans music production and recording, performance, song writing and composition for games and screen-based media, publishing, promotion and management, music technology, sound design, experimental practices, and much more.

Master of Design – MDes

Qualification

Credits: 180
Location: Wellington campus

Go in depth with an advanced design research qualification. You’ll develop a creative outcome, often of direct application to design industry or community. We will help you make strong connections with the business, public or non-profit sector.

Master of Fine Arts – MFA

Qualification

Credits: 180
Location: Wellington campus

Embed yourself in a rich dialogue about your creative practice in Massey’s Master of Fine Arts. Our MFA embraces intersections between knowledge systems, a spectrum of making processes, and modes of audience engagement.

PhD and other doctoral degrees

Doctoral degrees, including PhDs, are the highest degrees we award. They’re very demanding and their entry criteria reflect this.

Doctor of Philosophy – PhD

Qualification

Credits: 360
Location: Auckland campus, Wellington campus, Manawatū campus (Palmerston North)

A prestigious research qualification that demonstrates your ability to carry out independent and original research in your chosen field.

Relevant research areas at Massey

Discover research expertise, projects and initiatives relating to commercial music at Massey.

Commercial music research

What our students say

“I chose music because I was living and breathing it. I realised I didn’t want to do anything other than write music.”

Ellie Rose

Bachelor of Commercial Music

“Forward-thinking faculty with great connections with the tight-knit music industry of New Zealand—what else would I be doing?”

Elleana Dumper

Tour coordinator, Banished Music

Bachelor of Commercial Music

“I play drums for New Zealand artist BENEE. We’ve toured internationally, travelling all over Europe and America.”

Felix Holton

Bachelor of Commercial Music

Our facilities

You'll have access to a wide range of first-class facilities when you study with us.

Recording studios

live-rooms controlled by two sought-after desks — 72ch Neve and 48ch SSL Duality analogue console
control rooms with monitoring by Dynaudio Acoustics soffit mounted speakers in 5.1.

Location: Wellington campus

Dubbing theatre

Our 5.1 dubbing studio features:

Avid S6 48ch digital console with 7.1 Dynaudio Acoustics Block monitoring
16ch Avid Icon console.

Location: Wellington campus

Rehearsal rooms

Students can access five acoustically treated rehearsal rooms with backline and vocal PA systems suitable for modern music.

The production rehearsal room, which also doubles as a live venue, is equipped with PA and full professional lighting rig.

Location: Wellington campus

Jobs in commercial music

The music industry is ever-changing, thanks to creativity and entrepreneurial flair, and to new digital technologies and online platforms.

Commercial music careers include:

composers and songwriters, who also create music for apps, games, films, TV
musicians
producers, who work closely with musicians
promoters and artist managers, who arrange gigs, concerts and other ways to showcase performers
record label or station executive
software or hardware developers, who devise new ways to create or record music
sound engineers
stage or lighting designers.

Annual salary ranges for jobs

– $52,000 to $97,000
– $48,000 to $89,000
– $66,000 to $121,000
– $27 to $52 per hour

Salary ranges disclaimer

Indicative pay rates are:

in New Zealand dollars
based on data.

Which commercial music qualification?

Examples of where our qualifications may take you.

Table showing jobs and what you could study to enter them.
Qualification	Jobs
Bachelor of Commercial Music (Music Industry) Bachelor of Commercial Music (Mātauranga Toi Māori / Music Industry) Master of Commercial Music	Artist manager, label executive or music promoter
Bachelor of Commercial Music (Music Practice) Bachelor of Commercial Music (Mātauranga Toi Māori / Music Practice) Master of Commercial Music	Musician, composer or songwriter
Bachelor of Commercial Music (Music Technology) Bachelor of Commercial Music (Mātauranga Toi Māori / Music Technology) Master of Commercial Music	Sound engineer, lighting designer or software developer

Accreditations and rankings

QS Ranking - Art & Design

College of Creative Arts – Toi Rauwhārangi ranks in the global top 200 for art and design by QS World University Rankings.

Ranked 2nd in Asia Pacific for the Red Dot Design ranking

Massey is ranked 2nd in Asia Pacific in 2025 in the international Red Dot Design Ranking for the third consecutive year, the only design school to be ranked in New Zealand and Australia. This year’s results places Massey in the top 3 universities in Asia Pacific for the 11th year in a row.

Learn more