2025 IASPM Book Prize

A public award will be given by IASPM for outstanding first books by a single author on popular music, in the categories of English and any other language, at the 2025 IASPM Conference in Paris, from July 7-11, 2025.

Nominations are invited from IASPM members for books they consider to be possible contenders for the award. Authors nominated should preferably already be members of IASPM or must become members of IASPM after being nominated to be eligible. Send your nominations to both of the Chairs of the Book Prize Jury, Daniel Fredriksson ([email protected]) and Beatriz Goubert ([email protected]), by March 31st at the latest.

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Editorial Board & Book Reviews Editor for Popular Music History

We are currently inviting scholars to join the new editorial board of Popular Music History, and we would be delighted if you would consider applying or sharing this opportunity with colleagues.

We are looking for scholars with expertise in popular music or adjacent fields, demonstrated through quality publications, who are interested in actively contributing to the journal’s development. Scholars from any part of the world are welcome, and given the journal’s focus, an interest in historical perspectives on popular music is particularly desirable. We strongly encourage applications from scholars based in the Global South and from underrepresented groups in academia.
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The Journal of Beatles Studies

The Journal of Beatles Studies invites applications for Editorial Board members. We welcome applications from academics and researchers globally, particularly encouraging those from under-represented groups and those who might aid in reaching beyond the Anglophone world.

The journal
Published twice a year in association with the University of Liverpool, The Journal of Beatles Studies is an Open Access journal, co-edited by Holly Tessler (University of Liverpool) and Paul Long (Monash University).

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A statement of support for the School of Music at Cardiff University

The Executive Committee of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music’s UK & Ireland Branch would like to offer our support to the School of Music at Cardiff University and to register our opposition to its proposed closure.

Cardiff University has announced the start of a consultation whose proposals, if realised, would entail the closure of the School of Music by the end of 2030.  With 234 students Cardiff is the largest university School of Music in Wales and one of the largest in the UK.  Staff and students were given less than 24 hours’ notice of the news, and were offered no opportunity to challenge its evidential basis or put forward counterproposals.

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Black Music Research Unit Petition – Call for Signatures

Dear Popular Music Scholars

On behalf of the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster, we’d like to bring our petition to your attention. The petition is available here: https://bmru.co.uk/a-petition-to-preserve-and-celebrate-black-british-music.

You may be aware that we co-curated the first ever national exhibition of Black-British music at the British Library from April-August 2024. If you missed it, you can catch some highlights here: https://www.bl.uk/press/beyond-the-bassline-500-years-of-black-british-music-opens-at-the-british-library.

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Academic music associations’ joint letter to Oxford Brookes leadership

IASPM UK & Ireland Chair Prof. Simon Zagorski-Thomas co-signs joint letter from academic music associations to Oxford Brookes leadership urging them to rethink proposed closure of their music department and offering support.

23 November 2023

Dear Vice-Chancellor Prof. Fitt, the Vice-Chancellor’s group, and Board of Governors,

We write to you regarding the proposed closure of the music department and ‘teaching out’ of its programmes, which has caused alarm, distress and shock across our communities.

In the recent days, members of our respective committees have made public statements in support of our colleagues and your students, including on social media, online petitions, in radio interview, and in online articles and newsletters. More are to follow in the coming days. Indeed, the wider support for the OBU Music Department amongst colleagues in academia, music education and the wider music profession and creative industries has provided your colleagues at OBU with a profound sense that their research, teaching and wider cultural impact is met with the recognition that its excellence deserves. But perhaps the most emotionally wrought and impactful stories have been those shared by current and past students, whose experiences of being taught in your music department have enriched lives and shaped careers within the music industry and, crucially, far beyond.

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CUMIN Conference, London

On Friday 30th June, AHRC-funded network CUMIN (Contemporary Urban Music for Inclusion Network) will hold a conference at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. The purpose of the network is to encourage discussion, recognition and change in regard to the educational, cultural and social status of contemporary musics such as hip hop, grime, EDM (and house, techno, dubstep, etc. etc.) that tend to get marginalised in many contexts despite actually being some of the most popular musics in the world.

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Eurovisions Conference

On 9th and 10th May the Eurovisions conference will be taking place at the Creative Campus, Liverpool Hope University.

Attendance is free of charge and pre-registration is not required. More information can be found at the conference website: https://www.eurovisions.eu/edition-6

Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century

As part of the AHRC-funded project “Songwriting Camps in the 21^st Century”, Dr Jan Herbst (University of Huddersfield) and Dr Simon Barber (Birmingham City University) are inviting applications for a postdoctoral Research Fellow in Popular Music Songwriting, employed for 3 years at the University of Huddersfield.

The successful candidate will join a cross-national research project between the UK and Germany (the German sub-project is led by Michael Ahlers at Leuphana University, Lüneburg). A summary of the project is available on the funder’s website: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX002276%2F1#

To apply, visit: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CWI271/research-fellow-in-popular-music-songwriting. Please note the deadline is 24^th of January.

PhD Scholarships at University of Huddersfield

The University of Huddersfield is offering a number of PhD scholarships, including some specifically focused on popular music.

The Nitin Sawhney Scholarship is open to any popular music topic, whether focused on text based or practice based research. It will include some tutorial support from British composer, performer, and producer Nitin Sawhney.
https://research.hud.ac.uk/research-degrees/researchscholarships/schoolofartsandhumanitiesscholarships/nitin-sawhney-scholarship/

The Richie Hawtin Scholarship focuses on Electronic music, and may include some tuition from DJ and Producer Richie Hawtin if appropriate.
https://research.hud.ac.uk/research-degrees/researchscholarships/schoolofartsandhumanitiesscholarships/richie-hawtin-scholarship/

The Creative Music Production Scholarship is aimed at projects focused on the art of record production or other relevant subjects.
https://research.hud.ac.uk/research-degrees/researchscholarships/schoolofartsandhumanitiesscholarships/creative-music-production-scholarship/

The John Warhurst PhD scholarship is focused on film music and media composition, named after and supported by Huddersfield University graduate and Oscar winner John Warhurst, as well as the Nitin Sawhney Scholarship supporting any area of popular music scholarship.
https://research.hud.ac.uk/research-degrees/researchscholarships/schoolofartsandhumanitiesscholarships/john-warhurst-scholarship/

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