Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 23 minutes 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
Thinking Out Loud: Experiencing Musicians Real Time Career Decisions
Mathew Flynn - University of Liverpool
Email: matf73@liverpool.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
From making music with each other to working with producers, musicians have to constantly negotiate the value of their practice. Likewise, in developing careers, when contracting with agents, managers, digital platforms and record and publishing companies, musicians are usually exchanging the perceived or potential value in the music they write, perform and produce for reputational or economic returns. To build and maintain careers then, musicians have to continually evaluate and make decisions about the potential success of creative collaborations. Whilst insightful, most literature on musicians’ project and career decision making is either biographic or ethnographic and therefore retrospective. By definition, these historical narratives do not fully capture the moments of uncertainty and unpredictability in the decision processes musicians adopt before they knew the outcome of the decision.
In an initial attempt to illuminate how musicians think about risk in relation to their project and career development, this paper will report the results of a test phase of a survey on musicians real time career decisions. Based upon an adaptation of the Experience Sampling Method (Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Larson, R. 1992), the one-off questionnaire asks about various elements of the musician’s most recent decision for which they do not yet know the outcome. The purpose of the research is to better understand how different types of musicians think about their career progress and uncover the processes they utilise to realise their intentions. This test phase is designed to refine the actual survey, which is eventually intended to be conducted across the UK in collaboration with the Musicians Union.
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
Thinking Out Loud: Experiencing Musicians Real Time Career Decisions
Mathew Flynn - University of Liverpool
Email: matf73@liverpool.ac.uk
/// ABSTRACT
From making music with each other to working with producers, musicians have to constantly negotiate the value of their practice. Likewise, in developing careers, when contracting with agents, managers, digital platforms and record and publishing companies, musicians are usually exchanging the perceived or potential value in the music they write, perform and produce for reputational or economic returns. To build and maintain careers then, musicians have to continually evaluate and make decisions about the potential success of creative collaborations. Whilst insightful, most literature on musicians’ project and career decision making is either biographic or ethnographic and therefore retrospective. By definition, these historical narratives do not fully capture the moments of uncertainty and unpredictability in the decision processes musicians adopt before they knew the outcome of the decision.
In an initial attempt to illuminate how musicians think about risk in relation to their project and career development, this paper will report the results of a test phase of a survey on musicians real time career decisions. Based upon an adaptation of the Experience Sampling Method (Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Larson, R. 1992), the one-off questionnaire asks about various elements of the musician’s most recent decision for which they do not yet know the outcome. The purpose of the research is to better understand how different types of musicians think about their career progress and uncover the processes they utilise to realise their intentions. This test phase is designed to refine the actual survey, which is eventually intended to be conducted across the UK in collaboration with the Musicians Union.
