Music Production

I would recommend the free music specialization course track at coursera. Just choose to "audit" to get the entire thing for free. you just won't get graded (by a human) you will get to see how your answers are on all multiple choice stuff.

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production

You only need to pay if you want a certificate and human grading your work.

>This Specialization will give you the knowledge and tools you need to record and produce professional sounding music. You will begin by developing your identity, vision, and intention as an artist and producer. Next, you will learn the technical aspects of music production, including how sound is translated into audio signals, recording techniques, and effects such as reverb, delay, and compression. You will also learn how to use the industry standard Digital Audio Workstation, Pro Tools, to create professional recordings. Finally, you will apply the knowledge and tools you gained in a culminating 4-week Capstone where you will complete a project beginning at the pre-production stage through the recording, mixing, and mastering stages.

Complete a music prod 101 course on coursera.org It's free, and if you understand all of the teachings you are ready to move on. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production

Most unis give internship opportunities. There are even sandwich-year courses - basically, one of the years (in 3 year course, usually after the 2nd year) you MUST do an internship (you still need to find it yourself, but uni gives connections/support/advice)

But that's about the only reason I would go to uni for a music course

I suggest Berklee online courses instead

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production

I’d recommend Berklee’s free stuff on coursera. If you have the money, their official online production courses are really really great and really massively increased my knowledge level.

For gear start here. For an introduction to music production try this Coursera course

For more detailed answers on mics, cables, audio interfaces, speakers & stands try /r/audioengineering

As far as songwriting goes it's a mixture of lyrics and music.

For lyrics you could do worse than buy - and do the exercises in - Pat Pattison's book "Writing Better Lyrics". You'll also need to buy a rhyming dictionary - see the book for details on which one he recommends. I've used it and have zero complaints. If you don't want to spend money on a rhyming dictionary then rhymezone.com works just fine. If you want a course then Coursera have a condensed version of his book where he talks you through what to do here

For the music side of things if you don't play an instrument you're going to struggle. So learn to play piano or guitar because those are the two instruments most songwriters use to write their music on. You'll need some music theory as well - check the sidebar on /r/musictheory for recommendations. I'd also recommend "Chord Progressions for Songwriters" by Richard Scott which is a slightly more practical book than the majority of theory textbooks.

Bear in mind that most people writing songs have been playing some kind of instrument for years & learned how to write by just listening to a lot of music and picking it up as they went along. So hang onto your dream because you've got a long, long road ahead of you.

Are online courses worth looking into as a low cost in-between? What about something like the Music production specialization Certificate form Coursera? I think it costs around £150 ($200?).

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production

Udemy has some good options as well.

This might be it:

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/music-production?action=enroll&aid=true

Maybe this Coursera Specialization can help you with a general understanding of music production. I think if you take the individual courses without a certificate, it´s free (not sure, check the course details).

This course is specifically about electronic music.

Some other online courses at Udemy may be relevant as well.