Music Culture Age Tender

Grant agreement ID 101020615Start date 1 December 2021End date 30 November 2026Overall budget 2 499 379 ObjectiveHundreds of millions of people across the world now experience music via streaming services which offer on-demand access by means of internet or mobile telephony to vast catalogues of music either free advertising-supported or via subscription. A controversial but poorly-understood new system of music production distribution and consumption has developed around such services yet there has been no sustained integrated analysis of this system the considerable international variations within it nor its effects on musical culture. MUSICSTREAM provides such analysis focusing on the UK and China but also bringing together research from across the world via symposia and collaborative publication. The project therefore offers an ambitious empirical and theoretical analysis that will also contribute to understanding how culture political economy and technology interact in the digital era. Undertaking such a project requires an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates analysis of the changing media industries including new conditions for music creators and changes in the way people use music. The PI is especially suited for such a synthesis having made significant contributions across all these areas. The aim of MUSICSTREAM is to understand how the role of music in the lives of producers and audiences a subject the PI has researched extensively - is being reconfigured by developments over which these groups have little or no control. The University of Leeds is an ideal place in which to undertake such research because it has strong specialisms in music media and culture and has a research infrastructure that strongly supports such interdisciplinary enquiry. The very nature of music as a cultural practice is changing across the world and this project examines why and how this is happening and the implications for the role of music in peoples lives.