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
European Repertoires and the Urban Showcase Festival: The case of Eurosonic Noorderslag
Rob Ahlers - University of Groningen, The Netherlands
/// ABSTRACT
Each year in January, the Dutch city of Groningen takes central stage in positioning European popular music as a core component of contemporary European culture. In its 32-year existence, the European Music and Showcase Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag has developed into the leading platform for the European music industry. With its emphasis on the circulation of European repertoires and networks, it is unique in the contemporary music festival landscape. Due to its award culture and mediated character, Eurosonic Noorderslag serves as a stepping-stone for upcoming groups and artists internationally. Combined with a music industry conference, the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival successfully presents a European-based cultural event, claiming to provide a counterweight to the dominance of the Anglo-American music industry. The framework that is created by the cultural and economic realities of the industry create an environment where discourse about ‘Europeanness’ is performed and debated. But how does European identity manifest itself? In other words, when is identity performed and when is identity perceived? This paper explores how this festival’s social, ethnographical and cultural processes have facilitated its successful development from 1986 until the present. Consequently, it will be contextualized within urban cultural developments as theorized by Franco Bianchini (1993), David Throsby (2010) and Monica Sassatelli (2011). Finally, I will show how Eurosonic Noorderslag has become the main fulcrum of this transnational industry. This research draws from data gathered through historiographical newspaper analysis, archival research, interviews and ethnographic fieldwork.
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
European Repertoires and the Urban Showcase Festival: The case of Eurosonic Noorderslag
Rob Ahlers - University of Groningen, The Netherlands
/// ABSTRACT
Each year in January, the Dutch city of Groningen takes central stage in positioning European popular music as a core component of contemporary European culture. In its 32-year existence, the European Music and Showcase Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag has developed into the leading platform for the European music industry. With its emphasis on the circulation of European repertoires and networks, it is unique in the contemporary music festival landscape. Due to its award culture and mediated character, Eurosonic Noorderslag serves as a stepping-stone for upcoming groups and artists internationally. Combined with a music industry conference, the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival successfully presents a European-based cultural event, claiming to provide a counterweight to the dominance of the Anglo-American music industry. The framework that is created by the cultural and economic realities of the industry create an environment where discourse about ‘Europeanness’ is performed and debated. But how does European identity manifest itself? In other words, when is identity performed and when is identity perceived? This paper explores how this festival’s social, ethnographical and cultural processes have facilitated its successful development from 1986 until the present. Consequently, it will be contextualized within urban cultural developments as theorized by Franco Bianchini (1993), David Throsby (2010) and Monica Sassatelli (2011). Finally, I will show how Eurosonic Noorderslag has become the main fulcrum of this transnational industry. This research draws from data gathered through historiographical newspaper analysis, archival research, interviews and ethnographic fieldwork.
