With this year’s Convergence Sessions (Convergence 2016) fast approaching, here is the third of the three films shot at last year’s event, focusing on what people value in collaborators – and how collaboration is changing. The film features Ashley Paul (musician), Bill Brewster (DJ and music writer), Barnaby Steel (visual artist), Cecilia Stalin (vocalist, composer and educator), Will Gulseven (Cypher PR), and Christopher Haworth (researcher). Many thanks to the interviewees!
With Convergence 2016 approaching, it seemed like a good moment to post the second of the three films shot at last year’s Convergence Sessions, focusing on how people acknowledge the value of music – and how this is changing. The film features interviews with Bill Brewster (DJ and music writer), Cecilia Stalin (vocalist, composer and educator), Ashley Paul (musician), Barnaby Steel (visual artist), Chris Cooke (journalist), Michelle You (cofounder, Songkick), Eric Karsenty (partnership marketing, EMEA, Sonos), and David Stubbs (music journalist and author). Many thanks to the interviewees!
This is the first of the three films shot at Convergence 2015, focusing on changing roles and relationships in the music industry. It features interviews with Chris Cooke (journalist), Christopher Haworth (researcher), Eric Karsenty (partnership marketing, EMEA, Sonos), David Stubbs (music journalist and author), Will Gulseven (Cypher PR), Michelle You (cofounder, Songkick), Ben Gomori (DJ and music writer), and Cecilia Stalin (vocalist, composer and educator). As the speakers observe, the internet has created a direct link between stars and their fans, as well as helping grassroots artists to connect to each other. But while this has made it easier for musicians to get their names (and tracks) out there, it may have made it harder for them to get them heard. Watch the full video for thoughts on topics from home recording to artist management.
On Thursday, 19 March, a film crew from the Open University – Matt Compton, Jim Hoyland, Holly Tighe, Siobhan Parkinson – and I interviewed speakers and attendees at the Convergence Sessions, three days of discussions and workshops held as part of Convergence 2015 in London.
The crew worked wonders with the images and sound on the day of the shoot and during the editing process. Thanks to everyone who was involved, including Owen Coggins and Daniel Gouly, who observed the discussions in the main room while the film crew was interviewing.
We’ll shortly be posting the three films that emerged from the interview material. I may not be able to comment extensively on them immediately when they go up, but I’ll be putting together a longer post in the near future to give them a little more context.
On Saturday 29 November, we’ll be presenting our research at the British Forum for Ethnomusicology’s annual one-day conference. This year’s meeting is entitled ‘Ethnomusicology and the City’ and hosted by City University London. A pdf of the conference schedule is available here. The event will take place from 10:00 to 18:00 in the performance space on the lower ground floor of the College Building, St John’s Street, London EC1V 4PB. The nearest tube station is Angel on the Northern Line.
I’m happy to announce that qualitative research is now underway on the project! I conducted our first interview last Friday with a London-based producer of electronic music. It was a thought-provoking discussion, suggesting a number of avenues for the research ahead: on the one hand for the ethnographic components of our work and on the other for the kinds of data we might examine from SoundCloud. The members of the research team had some time to discuss the implications at this week’s meeting in Camden.
Valuing Electronic Music 