Christopher Cox, BA Music with Enterprise

Having originally chosen to study BA Music, first year student Christopher Cox decided part way through his first semester at the University of Leeds that he wanted a little bit extra from his course. The BA Music with Enterprise programme, offered by the School of Music is an exciting new course aimed at students with interests in music and entrepreneurship, was exactly what he was looking for.

As a keen performer, Christopher wanted to continue studying music, but wanted to learn more about business and how it works behind the scenes. He explained: “Hopefully I’ll end up on stage, but I want to have a back up plan. Plus I find the management side of things really interesting.”

During his first year, Christopher took part in a range of workshops contributed to by Enterprise Ambassadors; a select group of business owners who help students understand how their enterprise education fits with the wider perspective of business. Christopher said: “The workshops were great, really interactive, put us under pressure and in real life situations, which gave us invaluable hands on experience.”

Christopher also felt his first year modules were really valuable: “With Innovation and Creativity in Business, I discovered how ideas are developed and how creativity operates within a business; and Understanding Social Enterprise, which involved researching enterprising people and their businesses, helped me understand how they tackle social and environmental issues.”

“As part of one of my first year assessments, I wrote a business plan for a cereal café which donated a meal to the homeless community for every five bowls of cereal sold. I enjoyed learning about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and how to put it into practice”, said Christopher.

Now looking forward to his second year of BA Music with Enterprise, Christopher is keen to start planning a Year in Industry where he hopes to confirm a placement with Warner Music.