English College to Offer Heavy Metal Degree, Detractors Deem it a 'Waste of Time'

A college in England is offering academic-minded metalheads the chance to pursue their passion with a two year degree in heavy metal music. New College Nottingham is offering the course starting in September due to student demand, but has already gotten its share of detractors, reports BBC News The degree, which is part of the overall music program of the school, would allow students to study the history of heavy metal, how the heavy metal industry operates within the music industry as a whole, and, of course, students will have to write and tour behind their own heavy metal songs. Those who complete the heavy metal degree can finish their four-year musical degree at Nottingham Trent University.

However, Chris McGovern, Chairman for the Campaign for Real Education, feels that the program is a waste of time.

"There are too many degrees being offered that lack credibility in the marketplace. I suspect that may be the case with this course, unless you want to be a heavy metal star, in which case why would you need a degree in the subject? It might seem an attractive, easy option to some people. But you don't need to do a degree in heavy metal. It's a waste of time."

Liam Maloy, who created and will teach the program, defended the program's content as worthy of academic study.

"It's a degree, so it will be academically rigorous...In the past, heavy metal has not been taken seriously and is seen as lacking academic credibility when compared with other genres such as jazz and classical music. But that's just a cultural construction."

What Chris McGovern does not understand is that heavy metal is as culturally relevant, or indeed more so, as other genres of music for study, such as jazz and classical music. Indeed, many heavy metal artists base their music on jazz and classical influences, and many serious musical minds muse that heavy metal is the modern continuation of those genres. After all, heavy metal musicians strive for musical complexity and challenging songs to perform, and writing those types of songs require sound knowledge of musical theory. Furthermore, heavy metal has survived for five decades now due to the musicians canny ability to reach fans globally and survive shifting pop culture tastes and industry upheavals, so students could learn how to survive the hard life in the music industry by studying the pioneering practices of heavy metal.