Live Music Exchange Blog

All blog posts are peer-reviewed by the Live Music Exchange team. We welcome guest bloggers so please get in contact if you would like to write about live music. You can see our guidelines for blog posts here.

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Please note that this is a forum for discussion, dialogue, and debate, and posts and comments on this blog represent only the author, not Live Music Exchange as a whole, or any other hosting or associated institutions.

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Suzanne Bull BME, CEO, Attitude is Everything

Live streaming and the emergence of platform musicians – Keith Negus and Qian Zhang

In this blog post Keith Negus (Professor of Musicology at Goldsmiths, University of London) and Qian Zhang (Associate Professor at the School of Music and Recording Art, Communication University of China) present observations and a case-study from their new journal article on the evolution of the live music economy and new patterns of commodification that are emerging in the face of digitalization.  

Lockdown delay: how music venues will be impacted by uncertainty over relaxing restrictions – Patrycja Rozbicka, Adam Behr and Craig Hamilton

In today’s post the team from the Birmingham Live Music Project – Dr Patrycja Rozbick (Aston University), Dr Craig Hamilton (Birmingham City University) and Live Music Exchange’s Dr Adam Behr (Newcastle University) – look at the implications of moving the date for easing lockdown restrictions in the UK and the crisis this could provoke for music venues.  

Looking beyond the pandemic – Brooke Harwood and Jolene Zhu Zhou

This post features two pieces from the LMX student interns – Brooke Harwood and Jolene Zhu Zhou – looking at the effect of social distancing on live music and, with an end to the pandemic hopefully in sight, at some of the emerging possibilities for performers and the live music sector at large.  

What Brexit Means for Touring – Jolene Zhu Zhou

With the UK now outside of the EU, and the ramifications of that decision making themselves felt, live music practitioners and their representative bodies are impressing upon the government the need for action to alleviate the situation amidst grave concern over the scale of the difficulties faced by artists and touring personnel. In this blog post, LMX student intern Jolene Zhu Zhou discusses the damage that Brexit could do to UK artists’ touring prospects, and responses from industry and parliamentary figures.  

There’s No Business For Show Business – Brooke Harwood

The British theatre industry reportedly employs around 290,000 people (as of 2018), making it one of a significant employer within the UK live sector as a whole. With the continuing disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, theatre has undoubtedly taken a substantial financial hit as a result of the virus. LMX research intern, Brooke Harwood, writes here about the efforts made to save a beleaguered theatre industry and the theatre companies’ determination to provide beloved festive shows in 2020.  

Covid and the Welsh Music Industries – Paul Carr

In this post, Professor Paul Carr of the University of South Wales outlines a recent report presented to the Welsh Government’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee on the impact of Covid-19 on the Welsh music industries. Here, he summarises key findings and recommendations, and reflects on the process of conducting the research.  

Safer spaces policies are really useful: Introducing a new Guide on how to write one – Rosemary Lucy Hill

Our latest post is by Rosemary Lucy Hill, Senior Lecturer in Media and Popular Culture, University of Huddersfield. Here she introduces research into sexual violence and harassment at gigs, and the guide that emerged from it about how to write a ‘safer spaces’ policy.  

Home thoughts on festive occasions – Simon Frith

In our latest blog post, Live Music Exchange co-founder Professor Simon Frith OBE reflects on the history of festivals, along with how they have been studied, and considers the implications of Covid-19 for their future.  

‘Virtually Knockengorroch’ The festival season goes virtual: one promoter’s perspective – Katch Holmes

This week’s blog post sees Katch Holmes – organiser of the Knockengorroch Festival – reflect on the process of taking it online in the face of the Covid-19 lockdown.  

The Birmingham Live Music Project Map – Craig Hamilton

Our latest post is by Dr Craig Hamilton (Birmingham City University) and introduces the Birmingham music map – part of the Birmingham Live Music Project that he is working on with Dr Patrycja Rozbicka and Live Music Exchange’s Dr Adam Behr. Craig provides an overview of the map’s functions and a walkthrough of the technical aspects of creating it.  

Journal of a Plague Week – Simon Frith

Our latest post is by Professor Simon Frith OBE, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, former Chair of the Mercury Prize, music critic, and co-founder of Live Music Exchange. Here, he reflects on past gigs and the curtailment of live music activity as a result of Covid-19, from a personal and sociological perspective.  

Looking for silver linings – Abigail Dunn

In this post, Live Music Exchange student intern Abigail Dunn considers the environmental impact of music, and offers some personal reflections on whether the current crisis provides an opportunity to take stock of how to address this.  

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