Among the many colourful characters at the London Academy of Music and the Arts are five students - Jill, Malcolm, Alex, Mervyn and Miranda. Studying alongside them is Harold, a smug, objectionable youth whose main interest is Harold.

All are united, however, in a state of perpetual terror of Sir Benjamin Boyd and his fiery tongue, capable of blistering anybody's skin with a single word. An indomitable figure, the world-famous conductor is in stark contrast to the amiable Doctor Morgan Rutherford, not only England's greatest living composer but also her most absent-minded.

When the five students end up sharing a flat together, they are pleased to find that landlady Mrs. Deevens is deaf as a post and cannot hear their discordant practising notes; unfortunately the rent is high and their money low. Struggling to balance their studies with the financial burdens of life away from the family nest, Alex eventually stumbles upon the ideal solution: his aunt is organising a concert and the performers have made a last minute cancellation, leaving an opening for the friends to take to the stage as a quintet, earning real money whilst gaining valuable experience. Alas, upon arrival they find their audience practically stone deaf, and one by one the group lose their nerve, make an excuse and flee the platform.

Back in London, Mervyn is intrigued by the tune a Salvation Army marching band is playing and he follows them into a public house to ask its name. He finds them a sharp lot who're not above tricking their way to a round (or three) of brandies, and Mervyn himself is very quickly far the worse for wear. With the band departed, Mervyn is approached by a pair of fellow drinkers who introduce themselves as music publishers, Sid and Harry. Having overheard mention of his studies, they're intrigued by his compositions and point the student to the quiet establishment's piano, where he trots out a catchy little pop ditty that they immediately snap up for the princely sum of £50.

Back at the flat and coming round the next morning with a rather clouded head, Mervyn is horrified to realise what he has done - he is at L.A.M.A. under a prestigious scholarship, the benefactor of which will not be remotely pleased to be associated with either the commercialisation of his studies or the piece's pop stylings! Heading to Sid and Harry's office, he finds the duo outwardly sympathetic to his plight, but not keen to give up their newly-found tune, and asking a much heftier sum to buy it back than that they originally paid. Mervyn fears his days at the academy are now very short-numbered, but he has not yet reckoned on his friends' - or tutors' - support!