Live Music Exchange Resources
Having an impact? Academics, the music industries and the problem of knowledge – John Williamson, Martin Cloonan and Simon Frith (2011)
Author(s): John Williamson, Martin Cloonan and Simon Frith
Organisation / Affiliation: International Journal of Cultural Policy 17:5, 2011
Date: 2011
This article reflects upon recent interest in knowledge transfer from higher education to the creative industries, using the UK music industries as a case study. It suggests that traditional academic values of impartiality and concern with research methodology can come in to conflict with instrumentalist agendas that see research as valuable only insofar as it fits with pre‐existing worldviews and policy ends. In this setting, knowledge resistance is often more significant than knowledge transfer and may be expected to frustrate any attempts to have an ‘impact’.