7MUMN018W Final Project 2025-26

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FINAL PROJECT 7MUMN018W
Double module – 40 credits

MODULE HANDBOOK 2025-26

Scheduled days and times: Wednesdays, 18:00-20:00, in G1.03, Kodak Lecture Theatre, and by mutual arrangement with allocated supervisor from Week 6. See below for details.

Work Required
A single Final Project submission (100% weighting), the form of which is agreed at the outset of the module with the Module Leader and should not be changed subsequently without your supervisor’s agreement. Three options are available in the current year, all individual work only:

1.Dissertation (8000 words)
2.Portfolio of Writings (8000 words)
3.Written Thesis with Practical Project (4000-word thesis and body of practical work)

Deadline: 13:00, Monday 29th June 2026

CONTENTS

SECTION 1: General Information 3
Learning Outcomes 3
Indicative Syllabus Content 3
Teaching and Learning Methods 4
Living CV 4
SECTION 2: submission and assessment of work 5
Assessment Methods and Weightings 5
Assessment Rationale 5
Assessment Criteria 5
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity 6
Submission Requirements 7
Word Length 8
Lateness Penalties 8
Return of Work and Marks 8
Referral Conditions 9
SECTION 3: preparing for study 10
Guidance on the Three Assignment Options 10
Module Schedule 14
Glossary 15
Risks and Ethics Checklist 17
SECTION 4: Learning, Supervision and Resources 18
Workshops / Group Tutorials – Weeks 1–3, 5, and 7–8 18
Format of the Literature Review to be submitted in Week 6 18
Role of Your Supervisor 18
Research and Library Resources 18
How do I check for any module rescheduling or news 20

SECTION 1: General Information
With a strong focus on students’ personal and professional goals and interests, the Final Project will consolidate the knowledge, skills, and insights gained throughout the course, culminating in an innovative piece of work which addresses a challenge or issue currently impacting the music business. Through self-initiated research, students identify an appropriate topic relevant to their discipline and embark on a process of supervised but independent inquiry.

A distinctive feature of this Research Project is that it is a substantial piece of critical academic work, which embeds research and a theoretical framework as appropriate for a dissertation but offers students options in terms of output format. The format might be that of a Dissertation (8000 words), but alternative forms are also available, to be negotiated and agreed with the project supervisor.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, the successful student will be able to:

1.Apply a systematic understanding of knowledge and specialist theoretical and methodological approaches, towards identifying and incorporating interrelationships with other relevant disciplines as they apply to the advancement of contemporary organisation, contexts, and cultures of music business management.
2.Selects and apply advanced principles, concepts, theoretical frameworks and approaches to critically develop systematic responses to existing music business management discourses and methodologies, suggesting new ideas in complex contexts.
3.Design and develop an advanced specialist research project in written and/or agreed media formats to strategically enhance own and/or others learning, work or practice within the music industries.
4.Communicate ideas, analysis, and critical thinking effectively in sustained and academically rigorous written and/or agreed media formats.
5.Take responsibility for leading the systematic and critical evaluation of own and others’ capabilities, performance and development, applying strategic management approaches in complex contexts.

Course Outcomes the Module Contributes to
CLO01 Demonstrate a deep and systematic understanding of knowledge in global music industries infrastructures and can work with theoretical/research-based knowledge at the forefront of the academic discipline. (KU CS)

CLO03 Systematically synthesis advanced and specialist information and ideas and formulate and develop innovative proposal to address strategic issues or opportunities in the context of cultural curiosity and the global creative industries (PPP KTS)

CLO07 Undertake analysis of complex, incomplete or contradictory areas of knowledge communicating the outcome effectively as they relate to creative production. (PPP KTS CS)

CLO09 Synthesise information in a manner that may be innovative, utilising knowledge or processes from the forefront of their discipline/practice. (KU PPP CS)
Indicative Syllabus Content
There is no formal syllabus; content consists of a series of lectures together with research skills relevant to, and determined by, the topic chosen by the student, which is self-defined and negotiated with an allocated supervisor. The student will be given guidance about research, writing (in style and form appropriate to outcome format) and how to structure, reference and present their research project. This guidance may be delivered through lectures and scheduled academic skills sessions, embedded within the module or directly through individual and group supervision tutorials. The nature of the guidance will depend upon the agreed outcome format which will be negotiated between the student and the supervision team. Students are expected to study independently and to maintain communication and regular engagement with their supervisor throughout the module.
Teaching and Learning Methods
Indicative teaching and learning methods (with typical scheduled / supervised time for each student):

Lectures, seminars, workshops and group discussions assist students with refining writing plans and articulating ideas (24 hours)
Individual supervision tutorials support students in developing ideas and completing the work (6 hours per student)
Tutors also provide supervisory feedback on submitted drafts

At this level students are expected to be able to work with a high degree of autonomy, and to complete the final Project through substantial self-managed study time. This should amount to approximately 370 hours in addition to the scheduled / supervised time.

Note that individual tutorials from Week 6 of this module are normally in person, but may be online, subject to agreement with your supervisor.
Living CV
As students in the Westminster School of Arts, you will be expected to build a professional, Living CV as you pass each module of your degree.

The Living CV outputs for this module are:

I can identify and incorporate my knowledge of the organisation, contexts, and cultures of music business management to produce an impactful research project.
I can apply existing industry frameworks and approaches to meet the complex and changing demands of the contemporary music industry.
I can design and develop an advanced research methodology that enhances the understanding of a specific context of the contemporary music industry.
I can use data, analytics, and my specialist knowledge of the contemporary music industry to develop a professional research project.
I can critically evaluate the performance, development and application of strategic management approaches to specific contexts within the contemporary music industry.

On successful completion of the assessment for this module, you will be able to add these outputs to your personal CV.

SECTION 2: submission and assessment of work
Assessment Methods and Weightings
Coursework: Research Project, 100% of module grade
Assessment Rationale
There are two types of assessment in this module – formative and summative.

Formative assessments do not count towards your final grade for the module. They are for you to test your knowledge and receive feedback from your peers and tutors.

Formative assessment in this module will consist of individual and/or group tutorials throughout the module, which will be opportunities for you to present and discuss your work in progress and gain feedback from tutors and/or peers.

You will also be required to submit a Literature Review in Week 6 (see guidance below) and regular drafts in subsequent weeks for tutor feedback.

Summative assessments DO count towards your final grade for the module. The summative assessment for this module may take various forms, outlined below.

The module is assessed by a single Final Project (weighted at 100% of the marks of the module). A distinctive feature of the Final Project is that it offers students options in terms of output format, while demonstrating “critical reflexivity” and presenting an argument informed by evidence and explicitly acknowledged research. The Final Project develops all learning outcomes.

The Final Project can be completed in a range of ways; however, care should be taken to ensure you are meeting the module Learning Outcomes and you consider the assessment criteria. You should work with your tutor to agree the form and submission format that best suits your research ideas.

The most common output format is a written Dissertation (8000 words). However, the module Learning Outcomes can be achieved through a range of formats. Students will negotiate and agree the form and submission format of the Final Project with their tutor(s). Examples of approved formats are:

-Written Dissertation 8000 words
-Written thesis (4000 words) with Practical Project (Individual)
-Portfolio of writing (8000 words, format appropriate to course research context)

NOTE: Available formats will be subject to agreement by the supervision team.
Assessment Criteria
A well-developed project that demonstrates a systematic understanding of knowledge and specialist theoretical and methodological approaches
Appropriate principles, concepts and theoretical frameworks have been selected
A well-developed, reasoned and structured advanced project in an appropriate format
Consistent and clear communication and critical analysis
Demonstration of project ownership through the planning

Your work is graded with reference to a grading rubric, which is available on Blackboard.
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
-You are reminded that the university considers plagiarism and commissioning to be very serious offences. Check your Course Handbook for guidance on this. Discuss with your tutor or the module leader if you want clarification and/or advice on how to avoid this.

-Note that resubmitting work already presented for a previous assessment may be considered ‘double counting’ or self-plagiarism and will also then be an assessment offence. If you intend to work closely with a previous essay you must discuss this with your tutor.

-It is an expectation that you will engage throughout the module by meeting your supervisor and providing drafts of work in progress. Note that the last of the assessment criteria states: ‘… demonstrating engagement in academic integrity’. This is best done through regular attendance and provision of drafts, as well as conforming to expectations of academic integrity (see below).

Referencing Requirements for Assignments and Copyright of Images
Statements, assertions and ideas made in written coursework should be supported by citing relevant sources. Sources cited in your work should be listed at the end of the assignment in a reference list. Any material that you read for the module but do not cite in the work should also be included in the reference list.

We recommend that you use the Harvard referencing system, which is the most widely used in the University. If you are not sure how to do this, the library provides guidance (available via the library website pages and see also below).

When completing practical work, any material from other sources (especially images and text), must be carefully referenced. It is also important not to use images as part of your creative work if they are copyrighted, although there are sources of images that are free to use (for example under Creative Commons Licencing).

It is not acceptable to copy and paste from other web sources (text or images, video, sound etc) without attribution and you run the risk of being accused of plagiarism or copyright infringement if you attempt to present such work as your own (knowingly or unknowingly). If you are in doubt about whether you are allowed to use material from a source, then don’t! For more advice talk to your tutors.

Academic Integrity
What you submit for assessment must be your own current work. Written work is automatically scanned through a text matching system to check for possible plagiarism. Appropriated images (still or moving) can also be traced back to their source.

Do not reuse material from other assessments that you may have completed on other modules.

Collusion with other students (except when working in groups, as agreed with tutors), recycling previous assignments (unless this is explicitly allowed by the module leader) and/or plagiarism (copying) of other sources all are offences and are dealt with accordingly.

Plagiarism is a particular form of cheating. Plagiarism must be avoided at all costs and students who break the rules, however innocently, will be penalised. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand correct referencing practices. As a university-level student, you are expected to use appropriate references and keep carefully detailed notes of all your sources of material, including any material downloaded from the web.

Plagiarism is defined as submission for assessment of material (written, visual or oral) originally produced by another person or persons, or by use of AI tools, without acknowledgement, in such a way that the work could be assumed to be your own. Plagiarism may involve the unattributed use of another person’s work, ideas, opinions, theory, facts, statistics, graphs, models, paintings, performance, computer code, drawings, quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words, or paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words. Plagiarism may also involve unattributed use of AI tools – see the section on this below.

Plagiarism covers both direct copying and copying or paraphrasing with only minor adjustments:

a direct quotation from or appropriation of an image, audio, video or text must be indicated by the use of references and explicit identification of sources;
directly quoted textual sources must be identified by quotation marks (or a separate indented paragraph in italics for a substantive section of more than two lines) and the source of the quote (author, date of publication, and page number) provided immediately alongside the quotation;
a paraphrased summary must be indicated by attribution of the author, date and source of the material including page numbers for the section(s) which have been summarised.

If you are unsure about how to clearly acknowledge your sources, reference, and paraphrase, please refer to the guides and tutorials on Blackboard, or talk to your tutors.

Generative AI in your Studies
Generative AI (GenAI) can be used for non-assessed tasks and independent learning, but its use in assessed work must be disclosed.

You must include a statement in an ‘Acknowledgements’ or ‘AI Declarations’ section if you have used any AI-driven tools, specifying which tools and how they were used.

Acceptable uses include grammar checks, keyword generation, outline planning, and concept explanation.

Artificial Intelligence Use Declaration

In preparing this assignment, I used the following AI tools:

[Tool name] to [specific use]

I confirm that I have not used AI to generate content that I am presenting as my own work, and I remain fully responsible for the ideas, analysis, and conclusions in this submission.

You can be specific about how AI supported your work. For example:

-I used ChatGPT to brainstorm essay topics
-I used Grammarly to check grammar and spelling
-I used Scribbr to check for signs of AI generation

Providing detail strengthens your declaration and shows critical use of AI.

Using GenAI to generate original content for assessments is prohibited and considered cheating.

You must be able to explain and justify your work if interviewed about your assignment. Attempts to hide the use of GenAI will be considered cheating and will lead to referral for academic misconduct.

See the university’s guidance on using Generative AI for more details.
Submission Requirements
You submit your Research Project through Blackboard by 13:00, Monday 29th June 2026.

All submission formats: You are required to submit your work as a single file. We recommend you submit in PDF format, as more stable, and ensure that you limit image file size (if using Word to compile your work, you can optimise file size through File / Reduce File Size…). Turnitin has a maximum submission file size of 100MB. Advice on submission and reducing file sizes is at: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/current-students/studies/exams-and-coursework/coursework-submission

It is your responsibility to keep back-up copies for yourself. Computer / technology malfunction is not normally accepted as grounds for a mitigating circumstances claim.

The work must be typed/word-processed, 1.5 or double-spaced, with page numbers and a word count included on the document on the first page.

Recommended font size – 12 point, with standard font (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc).

Whilst the body of the text should be 1.5 or double-spaced, direct quotations of more than two lines in length should be single-spaced and indented (as such they do not require quotation marks).

More details on the required formats of the three assignment options are below in the next section.
Word Length
Important: Appendices*, bibliographies, discographies, filmographies, acknowledgements, dedications and abstract are not included in this total. The introduction and conclusion, chapter headings, foot and end notes, and all quotations and citations in your argument, do count towards your total word count.

With a standard 10% leeway, the permitted word count is therefore:

Dissertation: 7200 – 8800 words
Portfolio of writings: 7200 – 8800 words
Written Thesis with Practical Project: 3600 – 4400 word thesis, plus body of practical work

* NB: If you use appendices as part of your argument these will be included in your word count.

If your word count falls outside of these limits your mark will be affected and you may fail overall.

Discuss any concerns about word count limits with your supervisor or contact the Module Leader.
Lateness Penalties
If you submit your coursework late but within 24 hours or one working day of the specified deadline, 10% of the overall marks available for that element of assessment (i.e. 10%) will be deducted, as a penalty for late submission, except for work which obtains a mark in the range 40 – 49%, in which case the mark will be capped at the pass mark (40%). If you submit your coursework more than 24 hours after the specified deadline you will be given a mark of zero for the work in question. Late work and any claim of Mitigating Circumstances relating to coursework must be submitted at the earliest opportunity to ensure as far as possible that the work can still be marked.
Return of Work and Marks
Marking and moderation for your Research Projects is a time-consuming and thorough process, and so we aim to return your marks and feedback by late-August. Any delays to this process will be communicated to you through Blackboard and email.
Referral Conditions
You may be referred in the module if your overall module grade is below the pass mark of 40 from your initial submission. If you are offered referral, you will then be required to resubmit the Research Project, working to the original brief (as given here) and normally to the same topic. Note that if you do successfully pass at the referral stage your Research Project and therefore the module mark will be capped at 40. The referral deadline is Thursday 11th January 2027.

SECTION 3: preparing for study
Guidance on the Three Assignment Options

Option 1. Dissertation (8000 words)
Postgraduate writing is obviously different to that of earlier levels. Students are expected to take significant responsibility in the determination of the research topic and the production of the dissertation. With support from your tutors, you will have to decide or refine your dissertation topic or research question. This defining process is crucial – if you set yourself a vague, general or simplistic question/topic, the dissertation will reflect this. The following notes will help you to better define your project:

Suitable Dissertation topics
The topic could be any aspect of music culture and should relate to the taught programme and must be relevant to a master’s degree in Music Business Management. It must be susceptible to academic treatment and relate to available resources of information – part of the initial research task is to identify such information and establish its availability, or not. We encourage creativity and originality in choice of topic – with newly emerging topics there may not be a lot of suitable literature available, but there are usually ways of adapting existing material from other fields or generating some of your own sources, for example by interviewing practitioners or writers – your tutor can advise on this. It is crucial that the topic should be one that generates your interest, curiosity and enthusiasm. Once your topic has been approved (by your supervisor), it should not be changed without consultation.

Researching your dissertation
See the detailed guidance below under Research and Library Resources.

Format of the Dissertation
The word count requirement is 8000 words (see above for details of what is included or not in the word count, and for permitted leeway).
The front cover page should be clearly marked with: your Research Project title, Module title and code (Final Project 7MUMN018W), Course, University of Westminster, Year and the Word count. Try to give it a clear, interesting-sounding title, suggesting an argument, rather than some long question.
Next you should have a Contents List – this should include: Abstract, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Ch.1., Ch.2. etc., Conclusion, Bibliography and any Appendices. Each chapter can be based on a key theme or debate linked to the main research topic.
Next include a short Abstract (c. 200 words). See the Glossary below for guidance on this.
The main body of the Dissertation should be divided into clear chapters, each of which should have some indicative title. An average Dissertation would have around three main chapters, though you could have more. It might also be appropriate to include subtitles.
It must be fully referenced, using the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
It must be paginated (page numbered).
Images should appear roughly where discussed. All images should be clearly numbered (fig.1, etc.) and must have full captions: artist/photographer, title (in italics), and date. Images should be referred to in the text as fig.1 etc. and not footnoted.
Bibliography listing all sources used in the Dissertation, using the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
See the Glossary section below for more details on the terms above.

Option 2. Portfolio of Writings (8000 words)
In this option, students will produce a portfolio of individual pieces of writing that display an overall coherence, and which together amount to a submission of 8000 words. The portfolio would comprise of between three and five individual pieces of writing and would be preceded by a short Introduction of up to 400 words, explaining the overall subject area and the relation between the submitted texts. The overall subject and individual elements must be agreed with your tutors and should not be changed without the supervisor’s agreement.

Researching your Portfolio of Writings
See the detailed guidance below under Research and Library Resources.

Format of the Portfolio of Writings
Each individual element should follow a standard essay-type format, with a title, introduction, main body of the text and a conclusion. The format can be varied according to the writings that could be included.

Examples of possible approaches

a.A strategic industry report, reviewing (for example) existing industry reports, studies and data; organisational strategies; policy documents, etc.

b.A music business proposal, integrating (for example) a personal development plan; critical understanding of a specific role; financial or production reports; reflections on professional practice; a research diary, etc.

It is advised that portfolios include a literature review or (if appropriate) multiple, smaller reviews of relevant literature with each piece of writing to illustrate the issue or research questions to be addressed. Additionally, an overall reflective commentary to ‘bring together’ the findings drawn from the individual sections could be included instead of a conclusion.

The word count requirement is 8000 words (see above for details of what is included or not in the word count, and for permitted leeway).

A Portfolio of Writings submission requires:
A cover sheet, giving name, title, course, word count etc., as per a Dissertation submission.
A list of contents.
A short Introduction of c.400 words which gives an overview of the portfolio.
Full referencing of the argument in each piece of writing, in the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
A bibliography at the end of each piece of writing, relating to that specific text and using the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
Images could be included in each element, as appropriate, and should be fully numbered and captioned in standard format.
See the Glossary section below for more details on the terms above.

The separate elements should be combined as a single file and should be submitted to Turnitin as a single PDF document. Note that it must be a regular PDF file – Turnitin does not accept the ‘PDF Portfolio’ file type.

Option 3: Written thesis (4000 words) with Practical Project (Individual)
This option requires that students carry out a piece of research with accompanying practical project, which tests some appropriate research question agreed with your tutors. The research question needs to be carefully chosen and must be appropriate to this form of enquiry (textual and audio-visual), and to Music Business Management and the taught curriculum of the course.

With the Final Project, the main aim is to test a defined research question against music or music-related audio-visual practice. It is not essential that you produce the actual practical work generated in the research process yourself but could instead enable others to make that practice. For example, you could act more as a facilitator, working with a particular group or community who would make the creative work, while your own role as the researcher would instead be to document that process and the work that they produced.

Examples of possible approaches

c.Sustainable music. Here the research question might consider to what extent some sustainable form of music production is feasible. The field of sustainable music production would need thoroughly researching, while a body of practical work could test the various sustainable options available. The written thesis would then bring together the examples from the practice, along with the broader research, into one coherent whole, to suggest viable approaches and answers to the question of sustainability.

d.Cultural identity. Here the research question might enquire into the extent to which contemporary music can be used to articulate or sustain a specific cultural identity in London – as for example, a particular community (Italian, Latin-American, etc). The thesis would involve research into the target community and the ways in which that community uses music and music-related media, whether in social activities, memory, promotional activity around events, etc. The practical project would directly relate to those usages of music – for example in documenting social activities, lifestyle, etc.

Researching your Written Thesis with Practical Project
See the detailed guidance below under Research and Library Resources.

Format of Written Thesis with Practical Project
The two components of the project (written thesis and practical project) need to be combined in a single PDF and submitted to Turnitin (note: it must be a regular PDF file – Turnitin does not accept the ‘PDF Portfolio’ file type). The submission should be in the following format:

You must include an overall Cover sheet, giving name, title, module, course, word count etc., as per a Dissertation submission.
This must be followed by a List of contents and an Abstract. The two components will then include:

1. The Written Thesis
The word count requirement is 4000 words (see above for details of what is included or not in the word count, and for permitted leeway).
It should include an appropriate research question and methodology, as part of the introduction.
It must be structured as a coherent argument and organised in chapters / sections.
Chapters / sections should be numbered and have clear titles.
The thesis must be fully referenced, using the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
The thesis needs to engage critically with the practice produced in the practical project.
All images should be numbered and fully captioned.
A bibliography is required using the approved CiteThemRight Harvard system.
See the Glossary section below for more details on each part of the Written Thesis.

2. The Practical Project
The primary aim of the practical project is to test the research question. The project requires that you produce, or enable others to produce, a body of music work that directly relates to your written thesis and which is used to test your research question. The final output might be a collection of recordings, a video, online media, or other form of music-related expression, as appropriate to the research question and thesis.
You will present this practical work through full visual documentation as an Appendix to the thesis, according to the form of presentation.
Any audio or other media that cannot be included directly within the Appendix can be included as links in the thesis. The actual audio or other media content will then need to be uploaded to a OneDrive link by the same deadline – this link will be created for you by your tutor (you must not upload to any other location, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc).
Discuss the specific submission requirements of your practical project with your supervisor.

Module Schedule
The module begins with a series of group workshops, seminars and tutorials which address the finalisation of your topics and readiness to begin the research and/or writing. This stage ends with you submitting your Literature Review in Week 6 by 1 pm, Wednesday 25th February. For format see below.

Every student is then allocated an individual supervisor for the Research Project after the Literature Review is submitted in Week 6. Each student is allocated up to 6 hours of onsite and/or online meetings with their assigned supervisors across Semesters 2 and 3.

Please note that supervisors will not read complete drafts within two weeks of the final deadline (i.e. we can only discuss final adjustments to an already well-drafted piece of work – we cannot read new full drafts at this late stage in the module).

L. WEEK SESSION ACTIVITY
1 21st January 2026
18:00-20:00
G1.03 Module Briefing
-Group seminar: What is a Research Project
-Workshop: N/A

2 28th January
18:00-20:00
G1.03 Finding an ‘Original’ Topic
-Seminar: What is ‘Originality’
-Workshop: Brainstorming & Keywords

3 4th February
18:00-20:00
G1.03 Critical Reading & Writing (AELD)
-Group seminar: Analogue Notetaking for Research
-Workshop: Refining With Questions

4 11th February No Session / Independent study
5 18th February
18:00-20:00
G1.03 The Literature Review
-Group seminar: Writing a Literature Review
-Workshop: Paraphrasing & Summarising
-Mid-Module Check-In (MMC)

6 25th February No Session / Independent study
-Submission of Literature Review: 13:00 (Formative assessment, for guidance see below)

7 4th March
18:00-20:00
G1.03 Research Methods, ethics, and academic integrity
-Group seminar: Research & Analysis
-Workshop: Research Statements

8 11th March
18:00-20:00
G1.03 Optional Tutorials with Module Leader
(please arrange via email)

Students to begin arranging tutorials with their assigned supervisors from Week 8

9 18th March Independent study
10 25th March Independent study
11 1st April I

7MUMN018W Final Project 2025-26最先出现在KJESSAY历史案例。