Analysing Live Music in the UK: Findings One Year into a Three-Year Research Project – Simon Frith (2010)

Author(s): Simon Frith
Organisation/Affiliation: IASPM Journal  1:1, 2010
Date: 2010

This is the first of four related articles in this journal presenting findings from an ongoing research project on the history of live music in the UK since 1950. This introductory article outlines the project’s starting assumption — that popular music culture in this period was organised around the constantly changing relationship of the recorded music and live music sectors — and suggests that this is to challenge the conventional academic assumption that the post-war history of popular music can be written as the history of the record industry. To approach popular music history from the perspective of live musical promotion means a) rethinking periodisation; b) examining a very wide range of musical activities; c) paying attention to the regulatory and the promotional roles of the state; d) understanding the importance of locality and place; e) re-conceiving the power structure of musical institutions.

Click here to read the full article

Also included:-

Constructing a Rough Account of British Concert Promotion History – Matt Brennan (2010)

Live music and music policy: some initial thoughts – Martin Cloonan (2010)

King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut: initial research into a ‘local’ live music venue – Emma Webster (2010)