With stars like Rihanna and Justin Bieber back in the news recently for late appearances on stage, Adam Behr takes a look at stage times, backstage rituals and the common ground as well as the differences across the spectrum of musical activity in the ‘star system’.
Category Archives: Blog
The History of Live Music in Britain, Volume 1 – published today!
Trying to Stop George From Having a Night Out – Martin Cloonan
This post is part of an occasional series originating from ‘The Musicians’ Union: A Social History’ – an AHRC and ESRC funded research project based in the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow. Here, Martin Cloonan describes the Union’s dispute – up to and including appearances in court – with George Formby’s musical director Bill Main, and how they illustrate the legal and political climate around labour relations of the era.
How To Communicate With Your Monitor Engineer – Mark Hadman
The ecology of live music – Neil McSweeney
Sheffield-based singer-songwriter Neil McSweeney explores the idea that, for a healthy live music ecosystem within a locality, there might be an optimum number – or at the least, a minimum provision – of rehearsal spaces, recording facilities and performance spaces for a given population with a given demographic make-up. In doing do, he paves the way towards further research while highlighting its importance for policy makers and local governments.
Mapping the Maps – Adam Behr
Planning and pulling off a DIY tour – Asher Baker
America’s Got Talent Invite, Must Be The Music, and my Rapid Rise to Superstardom – Thomas Truax
From the Musicians’ Union Archive: Archer Street – John Williamson
Live Music 101 # 5: Promoters and risk – Emma Webster
In this addition to the ‘Live Music 101’ series of blog posts detailing the themes and ideas that developed over the course of our initial live music research project, Emma Webster offers a model of economic risk that includes the promoter, and also defines three broad ticketing (revenue) models the promoter can use in order to recoup their initial investment.