Puoro Pakihi,
Perform, produce, and promote the music of tomorrow.
- Commercial Music
- Music Industry
- Music Performance & Composition
- Music Technology
- Mātauranga Toi Māori
Recording studio
Connor Moore, Music Performance.
Create new music for a new world.
Get hands-on experience in high-tech production facilities that compete with the best in the southern hemisphere.
Work with some of New Zealand’s top musicians and professionals with strong industry connections.
Gain practical skills, experience and connections you need for a career in the multi-billion-dollar music industry.
Discover a future-focused creative career that’s driven by new technology.
What can I study?
Commercial Music
Bachelor of Commercial Music
Radical shifts are happening in the global music industry.
Learn how to perform, promote, and produce the music of tomorrow from leading New Zealand artists and industry specialists.
Explore your interests in commercial music by taking a selection of courses from across our music subject areas, or add on an optional minor in Music Industry, Music Technology, or Music Performance & Composition for a focussed study experience.
Check out the Creative Arts Course Guide to learn more about the courses you will be taking.
Music Industry
Bachelor of Commercial Music
with a minor in Music Industry
Seek out and develop new ways to commercialise music in a fast-changing digital world with the Music Industry minor.
Study artist development and management, label and distribution networks, music publishing, and the production of one-off and large-scale live events.
Learn about emerging business models that challenge traditional industry conventions.
Work together with other students, supported by staff with international music industry experience.
Check out the Creative Arts Course Guide to learn more about the courses you will be taking.
Harri Robinson
BCommMus
Music Industry student
Graduated 2018
“Studying at Toi Rauwhārangi gave me the grounding I needed in order to process and understand my teenage experiences in the music industry. Rather than getting stuck in a cycle of constant volunteering-for-exposure like so many people looking to break through, Massey helped me to channel my previous industry experiences in a direct way, and figure out which facet of the industry would suit me best.
“Being able to seek advice from industry professionals of such a high caliber gave me such unique insight into the industry overall; it was lovely to have a network of professionals who’ve gone through the industry themselves there to support you, who can provide a realistic approach to the industry they’re teaching.
“Thanks in no small part to this course, I am now the Programme Director at Radioactive.FM, Wellington’s stalwart alternative community radio station; I have also workshopped my third-year project into the Student Radio Network’s first show entirely featuring high-school aged hosts, ‘High Frequency’, which Massey’s Toi Rauwhārangi is now sponsoring!”
Harri Robinson
Music Performance & Composition
Bachelor of Commercial Music
with a minor in Music Performance & Composition
Study musicianship and performance using your instrument or musical interface of choice with the Music Performance & Composition minor.
Explore digital production and composition techniques.
Improve your song-writing and composition, and learn essential recording production methods.
Work in groups in an environment that encourages creative risk-taking.
Check out the Creative Arts Course Guide to learn more about the courses you will be taking.
Josie Moon
BCommMus
Music Performance & Composition student
“The degree taught me about collaboration and finding yourself in musical spaces that are unfamiliar.
“I was studying musicology at another university and I realised that I didn’t want to just write about music. I wanted to make it too.
“As soon as I realised that I could sing, I just decided that I was going to make music my career without a Plan B.”
Josie Moon performing at Rhythm and Vines, 2018.
Music Technology
Bachelor of Commercial Music
with a minor in Music Technology
Drive change and disruption in the music industry with the Music Technology minor.
Use world-class recording and production studios and custom-designed technology labs.
Collaborate with other music students and respond to industry needs.
Learn hardware and software development (including programming, coding and electronics).
Explore the world of sound engineering. Operate industry-standard large consoles and the latest digital recording and editing technologies.
Develop live light and sound skills so you've got all aspects of live events in venues covered.
Check out the Creative Arts Course Guide to learn more about the courses you will be taking.
Kaysha Bowler
BCommMus
Music Technology student
Graduated in 2018
“I have always been musical and from an early age I’ve known that I wanted to have a career in the music industry.
“At high school I was in bands playing drums, guitar and keyboard, now I am much more into electronic music rather than traditional instruments.
“Music technology is more than just building instruments and pedals. For me it's experimenting and creating cutting-edge technologies that allow us to do more as creatives and musicians.”
Kaysha Bowler with Plex, her custom-built hardware and software controller.
Mātauranga Toi Māori
add this major to any of our College of Creative Arts qualifications
Bachelor of Commercial Music
Bachelor of Design with Honours
Bachelor of Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Screen Arts with Honours
Bachelor of Screen Arts
He Toi Whakairo, He Mana Tangata
Immerse yourself in Māori creative knowledge, histories, and practices, and learn how to apply them critically and confidently within your chosen field. This is where your studies, your culture, and your creative future meet.
Click HERE to learn more about our Mātauranga Toi Māori major.
The Mātauranga Toi Māori major works alongside any of our undergraduate Bachelor degrees, which gives you the best of both worlds. You can learn to use the latest technologies in any discipline, plus give your creative practice grounding in Te Āo Māori.
You can take Mātauranga Toi Māori as your primary major in Fine Arts or Commercial Music, or pair it as a double-major within Design or Screen Arts.
Check out the Creative Arts Course Guide to learn more about the courses you will be taking.
Te Rau Karamu Marae 2025
What degree?
-
Bachelor of Commercial Music
Create new music for a new world.
Ideal if
- You are interested in music and want to explore the various pathways in which a music career can lead to.
- You are a school leaver or you’re starting a new career path.
- You want a full immersive experience in music.
Majors
- No majors, but three minors on offer.
Key information
- Duration
- Three years full-time study.
- Entry
The Bachelor of Commercial Music is a fully open entry qualification. Open entry means all you need to do is get University Entrance and apply online.
- Location
- Wellington.
- Study options
Optional minors in Music Industry, Music Performance & Composition, and Music Technology. Optional major in Mātaurangi Toi Māori.
- Intakes
- February or July.
- Application
- See Massey website for application due dates.
-
Bachelor of Commercial Music (Honours)
Make something more of your music.
Ideal if
- You achieved highly in the Bachelor of Commercial Music.
- You want to refine your specialist music skills and become an advanced practitioner.
- You have a project you want to work on with the support of our experts.
- You want to support your creative practice with research.
- You are interested in a Masters or PhD down the track.
Key information
- Duration
- One year full-time study.
- Entry
You'll need to have achieved at least a B average in the Bachelor of Commercial Music or an equivalent degree.
- Location
- Wellington.
- Intakes
- February.
- Application
- Due 15 February.
-
Post-graduate Study
Become the absolute top in your field by pursuing rigorous research, and pushing and challenging current knowledge. Contribute significantly to the understanding of a field of interest.
Ideal if
- You want to produce a sustained piece of advanced research work in a creative arts discipline. This could be a written thesis, or one comprised of creative practice research and a written component.
- You have completed a postgraduate Bachelor (Honours) degree with first class or second class (division 1) honours, or a Master degree with first class or second class (division 1) honours in a relevant field. This qualification must also include a substantive (minimum 30 credits) research project, dissertation or thesis in which you have achieved a minimum grade of B+.
Key information
- Duration
- Three to four years full time, or six years part time.
- Location
- Auckland, Wellington, Manawatū, or by distance within New Zealand.
- Intakes
- February or July
- Application
- Apply anytime
Dr Oli Wilson
Associate professor
School of Music and Screen Arts, Te Rewa O Puanga
Associate professor Oli Wilson is a musician, educator, and widely published researcher of popular music.
Dr Wilson’s main area of research concerns the impact new digital and communication technologies have on music culture in indigenous communities. He has undertaken extensive research on the recording industry in Papua New Guinea, and has published on New Zealand and Australian popular music.
Oli is also a music practitioner having performed, co-written or produced several NZ-charting singles and albums. He currently plays keyboards in one of New Zealand’s most internationally high-profile group The Chills, and regularly performs internationally.
Turn your talents into a lifelong creative career.