Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
“Female is not a genre”: The Gendering of Vinyl
Karlyn King - University of Birmingham
/// ABSTRACT
This paper uses Williams’ (1961) definition of culture as intrinsically linked to objects and behaviours. That is, we cannot discuss the historical context of musical listening culture without including the corresponding cultural practice of associated artefacts. It is evident that all variations of gender listen to music. However, this paper will examine vinyl record listening culture in the context of gender roles and specifically, the exclusion or lack of visibility of women among such high fidelity practice from 1950-present day. With regards to vinyl records, popular culture has permeated the norm of the “technocratic male preserve” (Greer and Sommerich, 1994, p 37) in the record store. This has been strengthened by social conditioning (Belk and Wallendorf, 1994) and historically rigid gender roles (Keightley, 1996; Doane, 2009). An examination of popular online vinyl retailer forums provides contemporary insight into this systemically embedded pattern which appears to persist even among vinyl’s recent second coming. The novelty of female vinyl fans, outwith the sexualised images used by the marketing industry, is always thoroughly questioned for evidence of the homogenous male traits which make a credible collector. The exclusivity of maintaining such a homogenised practice appears to be linked with an ongoing quest for high expertise, elitist, purist attitudes and subsequent high status, and seemingly, women are not invited. This paper will examine alternative accounts, or as Fraser might call them “subaltern counterpublics” (Fraser, 1990, p 67) from cultural theory, practice and ethnographic research in an attempt to document the slow historical change within gendered listening practice.
crosstowntraffic2018.wordpress.com
This presentation took place as part of the conference Crosstown Traffic: Popular Music Theory and Practice, which was hosted by The University of Huddersfield from September 3 - 5 2018. This event combined the IASPM UK&Ireland Biennial Conference, the 13th Art of Record Production Conference (ARP), an ISMMS conference, and the additional participation of Dancecult.
A recurrent theme within popular music studies has been discussion of how the field can integrate different disciplines and professions, for example exploring both music and its context; involving both practitioners and researchers; and encouraging interdisciplinary and collaborative work. Many different issues make such approaches challenging, and various different popular music focused subject organisations have developed somewhat independently of one another. This conference brought four such groups together, to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and encourage crosstalk.
/// SUPPORT
Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG), University of Huddersfield research.hud.ac.uk/pmsrg/#
Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI), University of Huddersfield
research.hud.ac.uk/institutes-centres/cmci
The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch (IASPM UK & Ireland)
iaspm.org.uk
Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production (ASARP)
artofrecordproduction.com
Dancecult Research Network (DRN) studies into electronic dance music culture
dancecult-research.net
International Society for Metal Music Studies (ISMMS)
metalstudies.org
/// ORGANIZERS
IASPM UK&I: Rupert Till
ARP: Katia Isakoff, Shara Rambarran
ISMMS: Karl Spracklen
Dancecult: Graham St. John
University of Huddersfield: Jan Herbst, Austin Moore, Lisa Colton, Toby Martin, Catherine Haworth, Mark Mynett
/// CREDITS
This online project was edited, collated, and made available online by Chris McConnell, Jack Zissell, and Colin Frank.
/// PRESENTATION DETAILS
“Female is not a genre”: The Gendering of Vinyl
Karlyn King - University of Birmingham
/// ABSTRACT
This paper uses Williams’ (1961) definition of culture as intrinsically linked to objects and behaviours. That is, we cannot discuss the historical context of musical listening culture without including the corresponding cultural practice of associated artefacts. It is evident that all variations of gender listen to music. However, this paper will examine vinyl record listening culture in the context of gender roles and specifically, the exclusion or lack of visibility of women among such high fidelity practice from 1950-present day. With regards to vinyl records, popular culture has permeated the norm of the “technocratic male preserve” (Greer and Sommerich, 1994, p 37) in the record store. This has been strengthened by social conditioning (Belk and Wallendorf, 1994) and historically rigid gender roles (Keightley, 1996; Doane, 2009). An examination of popular online vinyl retailer forums provides contemporary insight into this systemically embedded pattern which appears to persist even among vinyl’s recent second coming. The novelty of female vinyl fans, outwith the sexualised images used by the marketing industry, is always thoroughly questioned for evidence of the homogenous male traits which make a credible collector. The exclusivity of maintaining such a homogenised practice appears to be linked with an ongoing quest for high expertise, elitist, purist attitudes and subsequent high status, and seemingly, women are not invited. This paper will examine alternative accounts, or as Fraser might call them “subaltern counterpublics” (Fraser, 1990, p 67) from cultural theory, practice and ethnographic research in an attempt to document the slow historical change within gendered listening practice.
