How you’d get it

How you’d get this certificate

  1. Zavmo teaches you. You learn the units one-to-one with an AI tutor, on your own work.
  2. You register with an approved centre. That is a college, training provider or employer RSL Awards Ltd has approved to offer this qualification. Zavmo is not an approved centre, so you register with them, not with us.
  3. The centre assesses, and RSL Awards Ltd awards. A qualified assessor at the centre judges your evidence, and the certificate comes from RSL Awards Ltd.

More on studying for a qualification

01What it is

RSL Awards have a complete portfolio of Vocational Qualifications, covering Music, Performing Arts and Creative Digital Media from Levels 1-5.

These are the units RSL Awards Ltd registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated. Zavmo teaches towards them on your own work, and work done here is recognised as prior learning under the agreements we hold.

Zavmo is not an awarding body, is not an approved centre, and is not affiliated with RSL Awards Ltd. It does the teaching and the mapping. RSL Awards Ltd sets this qualification and awards it, and a qualified human assessor makes the assessment decision.

Free first step

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02The units

What each unit actually teaches you to do

Auditioning for Music Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll prepare for and perform in music auditions by selecting suitable repertoire, demonstrating appropriate dress and presentation, and understanding audition requirements. The unit also covers confidence, professionalism, and accurate musical performance.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare effectively for a music audition, demonstrating appropriate skills and knowledge.
  • Perform confidently and professionally during a music audition.
  • Evaluate audition performance and identify areas for improvement.
Careers in Music Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to assess their skills and experience relevant to the music industry. You'll identify strengths and weaknesses, research potential employment areas, and make informed decisions about career development.

What you'll be able to do

  • Assess their current skill set in relation to the music industry
  • Identify potential areas for employment within the music industry based on their skills and interests
Collaborative Music Composition Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit develops learners' collabourative music composition skills. You'll demonstrate active listening, clear communication, constructive feedback, and contribute creatively to produce finished original repertoire as part of a team.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate effective collaboration skills when working with others on a music composition
  • Demonstrate the ability to contribute ideas and suggestions to the collaborative composition process
  • Demonstrate the ability to create finished original repertoire as part of a collaborative team
Composing Lyrics Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll learn to write lyrics appropriate for a given piece of music. The unit covers understanding mood and theme, structuring lyrics effectively, and using language creatively to suit the intended audience.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the ability to write lyrics that are appropriate for a given piece of music
  • Demonstrate the ability to structure lyrics effectively
  • Demonstrate the ability to use language creatively and effectively in lyrics
Composing Music (Styles) Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll research and analyse the characteristics of a defined musical style to compose an original finished musical work. The unit develops skills in incorporating key musical elements and demonstrating proficiency with relevant instruments or software.

What you'll be able to do

  • Create a finished musical work in a defined style.
Composing Music for Media Destinations Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to plan, create, and evaluate original music compositions tailored for specific media applications. You'll consider the characteristics, audience, purpose, and constraints of the media to produce appropriate musical pieces.

What you'll be able to do

  • Plan a musical composition suitable for a specified media application
  • Create a musical composition that meets the requirements of the specified media application
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the musical composition in relation to the specified media application
Creating a Social Media Strategy Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to develop a social media strategy to promote a product, service, or event to a specified audience. You'll define objectives, identify key components, select platforms, and align the strategy with overall marketing goals.

What you'll be able to do

  • Develop a social media strategy to promote a specific product, service, or event
  • Identify a target audience for the social media strategy
  • Select appropriate social media platforms for the identified audience
DJ Skills Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll learn to set up and operate standard DJ equipment, including mixers, turntables, and audio interfaces. The unit covers correct connection, configuration, and basic mixing techniques such as fading and beatmatching.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the ability to correctly set up DJ equipment, including mixers, turntables, and audio interfaces
  • Demonstrate the ability to operate DJ equipment effectively, including mixing, blending, and beatmatching
Development of Music Technology Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll explore the development of music technology and its impact on recording. This includes identifying key technological advancements, describing their influence on recording techniques, and analysing how these changes have shaped the sound and style of recorded music.

What you'll be able to do

  • Analyse the effects of the development of music technology on music recording.
Digital Recording and Production Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit develops learners' skills in digital audio recording and production, including selecting and operating appropriate equipment. You'll record sound sources, apply editing techniques, and evaluate recordings to achieve desired outcomes.

What you'll be able to do

  • Record sound sources using appropriate digital audio recording equipment
  • Edit recordings using digital audio recording equipment to achieve a desired outcome
Earning Money in the Music Industry Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to understand income generation for music artists from composition, live, and recorded performance. You'll explore income sources, payment structures, and the role of collection societies and organisations in managing earnings.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the various sources of income available to a music artist
  • Understand how income is generated from composition, including royalties and licensing
  • Understand how income is generated from live performance, including ticket sales and merchandise
  • Understand how income is generated from recorded performance, including sales and streaming
How the Music Industry Works Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit offers learners a comprehensive understanding of the music industry's structure and revenue streams. You'll explore the roles of key organisations, relationships between sectors, and the impact of technology on industry operations.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the structure of the music industry, including key organisations and their roles
  • Understand the various revenue streams within the music industry, such as publishing, royalties, and live performance income
Improving Instrumental Performance Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll understand instrument care and maintenance, plan and apply methods to develop instrument-specific technique, and review their progress by identifying strengths and areas for improvement. The unit also covers the impact of environmental factors and physical well-being on performance.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand the care requirements of an instrument and the instrumentalist.
  • Plan and use a range of methods to develop instrument-specific technique.
  • Review progress in instrumental techniques, identifying strengths and areas for development.
Improvising Music Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit develops learners' ability to improvise musically within a given context. You'll improvise melodies and rhythms, respond to changes in tempo, key, and dynamics, and maintain musical coherence throughout improvisation.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate improvisational skills in a musical context.
  • Respond musically to different stimuli during improvisation.
  • Maintain awareness of the musical context while improvising.
  • Use appropriate musical techniques and vocabulary during improvisation.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the improvisation in relation to the musical context.
Listening to Music Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to analyse the relationship between musical elements and emotional response. You'll identify key elements such as melody and rhythm, describe their emotional impact, analyse dynamics and tempo, and evaluate the effectiveness of musical techniques.

What you'll be able to do

  • Analyse the relationship between key elements of music and emotional response.
Live Event Health and Safety Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll gain knowledge of health and safety policies and procedures relevant to live events. The unit covers legislation, stakeholder responsibilities, hazard identification, risk assessments, and emergency procedures to manage safe event environments.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand health and safety policies relevant to live events
  • Understand health and safety procedures for managing a safe event, including risk assessments and emergency procedures
Managing a Social Media Campaign Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll learn to plan, implement, and manage a social media campaign promoting a product, service, or event. The unit includes defining objectives, identifying key messages, budgeting, scheduling, and analysing audience demographics.

What you'll be able to do

  • Create a detailed plan for a social media campaign to promote a specific product, service, or event.
  • Identify and define the target audience for the social media campaign.
  • Develop engaging content suitable for the chosen social media platforms.
  • Implement the social media campaign across the selected platforms.
  • Monitor and analyse the performance of the social media campaign, using appropriate metrics.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the social media campaign in reaching the specified audience.
Music Artist and You Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to research a chosen music artist's background, influences, and key works. You'll identify specific musical elements in the artist's work and explain how these have influenced their own musical style and creations.

What you'll be able to do

  • Research the work of a chosen music artist
  • Identify specific elements of a music artist's work that have influenced their own work
  • Demonstrate how the identified elements have been incorporated into their own musical work
Music Marketing and Promotion Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll gain an understanding of marketing and promotional processes within the music industry, including marketing roles, channels, and activities. The unit covers analysing target audiences and evaluating the effectiveness of marketing strategies for music projects.

What you'll be able to do

  • Explain the key marketing and promotional processes used in the music industry.
  • Analyse different marketing and promotional strategies for music products and artists.
  • Understand how to apply marketing and promotional techniques to support a music project.
Music Sequencing and Production Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll gain foundational knowledge of digital audio workstation (DAW) software to create music projects. The unit covers software features, project creation, importing and managing audio and MIDI files, and using basic editing tools to produce music.

What you'll be able to do

  • Use DAW software to create a music project.
Music Styles in Context Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll explore the social, cultural, and historical contexts of a specified music style and analyse its characteristic melodic and harmonic elements. The unit enables understanding of how context influences musical features within the style.

What you'll be able to do

  • Identify the key contextual factors relevant to a specified style of music
  • Analyse the musical elements that characterise a specified style of music
  • Explain the relationship between context and musical elements in a specified style of music
Organising a Music Event Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll contribute to the organisation of a defined music event by supporting planning stages, resource management, logistics, and communication. The unit emphasises aligning contributions with overall event objectives and effective teamwork.

What you'll be able to do

  • Assist in the planning stages of a music event, contributing ideas and suggestions.
  • Support the organisation of resources and logistics for the music event.
  • Undertake assigned tasks related to the music event, such as marketing or stage management.
  • Communicate effectively with other members of the event organisation team.
  • Evaluate your contribution to the organisation of the music event.
Performing Music Live Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll develop the skills and knowledge necessary to prepare for and perform music in live settings. The unit covers preparation of the venue and equipment, instrumental or vocal technique, stage presence, and audience engagement.

What you'll be able to do

  • Prepare for a live music performance, considering factors such as venue and audience
  • Demonstrate technical skills required for performing music in a live environment
  • Demonstrate performance skills required for performing music in a live environment, including stage presence and audience engagement
Performing Music for Recording Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll learn to perform music effectively in a recording studio environment. This includes applying appropriate microphone techniques, performing with accuracy and consistency, responding to direction, maintaining focus, and managing multiple takes.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate skills to perform music in a recording studio environment
Performing Music to Camera Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit develops learners' ability to perform music effectively on camera, focusing on posture, stage presence, eye contact, and engagement with camera angles and framing. You'll apply facial expressions and body language to enhance the visual appeal of music videos.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the ability to perform music effectively in front of a camera.
  • Apply appropriate performance techniques to enhance the visual appeal of a music video.
  • Evaluate and refine performance based on camera presence and visual impact.
Podcast Production Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit equips learners with the skills to create and produce a podcast, including defining the target audience and purpose, structuring content, and planning segments. You'll record and edit audio to produce a clear, engaging podcast episode.

What you'll be able to do

  • Plan and structure the content of a podcast episode.
  • Record and edit audio content to create a professional-sounding podcast.
  • Produce a complete podcast episode, ready for distribution.
Practical Harmony Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to compose chord progressions, melodies, and bass lines demonstrating practical harmony principles. You'll apply block harmony, voice leading, and melodic contour while assessing their compositional strengths and areas for development.

What you'll be able to do

  • Compose chord progressions that demonstrate an understanding of the functional application of block harmony, including the use of primary and secondary chords
  • Compose melodies for chord progressions, demonstrating an understanding of the relationship between harmony and melody, including voice leading and melodic contour
  • Compose bass lines for chord progressions, demonstrating an understanding of the relationship between harmony and melody, including root movement and bass line construction
  • Assess areas of success in the application of practical harmony within compositions
  • Identify areas requiring further development in relation to practical harmony application within compositions
Practical Musicianship Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll gain a comprehensive understanding of fundamental musicianship skills including rhythm, pitch, and harmony. The unit involves applying these skills practically in performance and composition contexts to enhance musical expression.

What you'll be able to do

  • Understand fundamental musicianship skills, such as rhythm, pitch, and harmony
  • Apply musicianship skills in practical musical contexts, such as performance or composition
  • Demonstrate the ability to use musicianship skills to enhance musical expression
Practical Sound Reinforcement Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit provides learners with practical skills to set up, operate, troubleshoot, and dismantle a small PA system. You'll understand the components, their functions, and correct procedures for effective sound reinforcement.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate how to set up, use and dismantle a small PA system.
Producing a Music Video Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit provides learners with the skills to plan, organise, film, and edit a music video. You'll develop storyboards, manage resources, coordinate production roles, and evaluate the final product against initial objectives.

What you'll be able to do

  • Plan the production of a music video, including storyboarding and resource allocation.
  • Organise the necessary equipment and personnel for the music video shoot.
  • Film the music video, ensuring appropriate lighting, sound, and camera angles.
  • Edit the footage to create a final music video product.
  • Evaluate the final music video against the initial plan and objectives.
Production for Digital Media Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to create digital audio content for various media products and destinations. You'll identify audio requirements, produce original audio, and edit and mix audio to meet technical specifications for different media contexts.

What you'll be able to do

  • Create digital audio for a range of media products and destinations.
Recording Sound Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll learn to plan and conduct a sound recording session in studio or live settings. The unit covers selecting equipment, optimising recording space, microphone placement, monitoring levels, and evaluating the recording quality.

What you'll be able to do

  • Plan a recording session for a piece of music, considering the desired sound and equipment requirements.
  • Set up the recording equipment in a studio or live environment.
  • Record the piece of music, ensuring optimal sound quality and levels.
  • Monitor and adjust the recording levels and sound quality during the recording process.
  • Review the recorded material and identify any necessary adjustments or re-recordings.
  • Evaluate the final recording against the initial plan and objectives.
Rehearsing Music Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll demonstrate skills and knowledge to rehearse effectively for music performances, including warm-up exercises, communication techniques, time management, and application of musical notation and theory. The unit emphasises enhancing performance quality through rehearsal.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate effective rehearsal techniques in preparation for a specific music performance.
  • Apply musical skills and knowledge during rehearsals to enhance performance quality.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of rehearsal strategies and make necessary adjustments.
Remixing and Production Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll develop the skills to create a remix of a given song using audio production techniques. This includes editing the song structure, integrating new musical elements, applying audio effects, and mixing and mastering the remix to a professional standard.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the skills to create a remix of a given song using audio production processes
Solo Music Composition Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
This unit equips learners with the skills to compose original music for solo instruments or voice. You'll create and develop musical ideas, arrange and orchestrate compositions, and notate or record finished works while reflecting on their creative processes.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the skills to compose a set of finished original music
  • Describe their creative processes
  • Review the success of their compositions
Sound Mixing Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
It teaches you to create a balanced and cohesive mix in a specified style from a multitrack recording. You'll develop skills in balancing track levels, using EQ to shape sound, applying compression to control dynamics, and employing effects to enhance the mix.

What you'll be able to do

  • Demonstrate the ability to create a mix in a specified style from a multitrack recording
Using a Keyboard with a DAW Real unit · RSL Awards Ltd
You'll develop knowledge and skills to operate a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) using a keyboard controller. The unit covers DAW interface components, configuring MIDI input, real-time music input, and reviewing personal strengths and development needs.

What you'll be able to do

  • Describe the key elements in the operation of DAW software
  • Understand how to configure a keyboard controller with a DAW
  • Use a keyboard to input music in real time into a DAW
  • Review strengths in relation to using a keyboard with a DAW
  • Identify areas requiring further development in relation to using a keyboard with a DAW
03The standards

The national standards these units are built against

What the job actually needs, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.

  • Make sound recordings

    Standard
  • Mix recorded sound

    Standard
  • Produce sound mixes of live performance

    Standard
  • Record audio

    Standard
  • Record audio content

    Standard
  • Support public relation, promotional or sponsorship events undertaken by a Collecting Society within a music business context

    Standard
04Where it leads

The jobs these credits are mapped to

A qualification is never a dead end here. Each of these is a job record this qualification is a mapped route into.

Showing 6 roles, drawn from 13 job records mapped to this qualification. Near-identical records are folded together, and each row says how many it stands for.

Where this can lead

Senior Head of Social Media

This work can lead into social media management, a director role covering community and influencer strategy, or a wider digital marketing leadership position.

See the whole journey
05The credits

The credits, and who awards them

Level 2 credits are regulated, and they are awarded by RSL Awards Ltd rather than by Zavmo. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you have covered and what is next.

What you would be collecting

Auditioning for MusicCareers in MusicCollaborative Music CompositionComposing LyricsComposing Music (Styles)Composing Music for Media DestinationsCreating a Social Media StrategyDJ Skills

Each one is a real unit registered against this qualification.

How you’d practise it

You don’t watch this. You do it.

You are not assessed on remembering this. You are assessed on applying it, analysing it, evaluating it and producing something. So that is what the practice is: projects, role play and your own live cases, with a tutor in the room.

The Coach The Coach · your practice partner Illustration
The Coach Make the case from “Managing a Social Media Campaign” to me in thirty seconds. I am the person who signs it off and I am already late.
You It would improve engagement and bring us in line with best practice.
The Coach Neither of those costs me anything to say no to. Open with the number that changes if I do nothing.
The same lesson on the real thing: the conversation in the middle, the thinking ladder on the left, and the criteria each answer is evidencing on the right.
  • Pitch it Evaluate

    “Managing a Social Media Campaign” gets practised as a pitch. You make the case out loud, Zavmo asks the question the room would ask, and you make it again.

  • Draft the real one Create

    You do “Auditioning for Music” on a real document of your own. Zavmo works on the draft you have to send anyway, so the coursework and the job are the same piece of work.

What you leave holding

The standards this credential builds, in the shape the product keeps them

Nothing here is marked learned. There is no learner on a public page, so the map shows what the qualification covers rather than what anybody has done.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
RSL Level 2 Award in the Creative Music Industry
  • Make sound recordings
  • Mix recorded sound
  • Produce sound mixes of live performance
  • Record audio
  • Record audio content
  • Support public relation, promotional or sponsorship events undertaken by a Collecting Society within a music business context
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Auditioning for Music, one of this qualification's own units.

Auditioning for Music Level 2

Applied to your work in any of these jobs

Learners will prepare for and perform in music auditions by selecting suitable repertoire, demonstrating appropriate dress and presentation, and understanding audition requirements. The unit also covers confidence, professionalism, and accurate musical performance.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time. Teaching towards this qualification begins when you subscribe.

Your Plan Illustration

Built for RSL Level 2 Award in the Creative Music Industry

37 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by RSL Awards Ltd.

  1. Auditioning for Music
  2. Careers in Music
  3. Collaborative Music Composition
  4. Composing Lyrics
  5. Composing Music (Styles)
  6. Composing Music for Media Destinations

and 31 more in the full unit list below.

These are the real units of this credential, in its own order. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

Learned on your own work, taught one-to-one.

Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your free first module is Future Fluency, so you can see how the teaching works before you pay for anything.

Build my plan, free

No card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.

The title, level, credits, guided learning hours and unit learning outcomes on this page are taken from the Ofqual Register of Regulated Qualifications. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Where this data comes from.