IASPM UK/Ireland Conference 2016

Dear all, In recent years, we have organised the location of the next IASPM UK/Ireland biennial conference electronically, with proposals and voting all taking place via the email list. This time, I’d like to try and increase participation by conducting the voting at Cork for the location of the 2016 conference. (This is the model used for the IASPM International conferences.) In advance of the Cork conference, then, I would like to receive proposals for the 2016 conference. I will then circulate these for perusal at members’ leisure, and an informed vote can take place in September. Read the rest of this entry »

PopLife: The Value of Popular Music in the Twenty First Century

The University of Northampton, UK
6th and 7th June 2014

Registration Open

It has increasingly become a truism to suggest that contemporary popular music practice is in a state of flux. Established patterns of consumption, distribution and production have at the very least been revolutionised by the opportunities afforded by digitalisation and the internet. While subcultural identities may have become increasingly adopted by mainstream media, the proliferation of media outlets has contributed to an increasingly varied and cosmopolitan listening experience both in terms of stylistic breadth but also in terms of historical depth. While some commentators have sounded the death-knell of the music industry, others see an opening-up of opportunity for musicians and audiences around the world that may be far more liberating than at any time since the dawn of recorded music.

Read the rest of this entry »