Overview of the project
The Project has both research and network-building aspects. The research comprises deeper analysis of our data on classical and punk musicians, as well as additional, focused research into two additional music scenes: jazz and folk.
Network data on American jazz musicians has been collected by Leon Danon at the University of Warwick. We have a copy of the dataset, but wish to redress flaws at the data gathering stage for more accurate sociological and musicological analysis. Secondly, we wish to build upon the research of ethnomusicologist Fay Hield in her recent doctoral research. We wish to analyse her data in collaboration with her to assess the network structure of the Sheffield folk community as a local music scene. We also wish to develop a longer-term collaboration to map the network structure of professional British folk musicians as a ‘whole network’. Thirdly, emerging findings from the classical network and the folk network suggest that universities and music colleges are unique contexts where relationships and built are music movements are forged: the Manchester School at RNCM in the 1950s, the Scratch Orchestra emerging from Morley College in 1969, the 2000s generation of young folk artists who forged links at summer schools in Durham and undergraduate education at Newcastle. We will build upon Crossley’s findings regarding student activists, McAndrew and Everett regarding music colleges, Comuniam regarding higher education’s role in the creative economy, Widdop on the importance of geography, and Hield on the Newcastle-Sheffield ‘folk corridor’ to analyse higher education as a critical attribute; where possible, we will also look to
georeference our network data. Fourthly, a small and focused piece of research will be conducted by the PI and policy research consultant to evaluate a community music project. Our network-building aims to promote SNA as a theory and method. We will host a workshop and seminar, hosting British and international researchers working in the area of music, social capital and networks. We will invite sociologists, historians, geographers and ethnomusicologists, with interests in a variety of music worlds: punk, classical, folk and rock in particular.
Representation will be sought from leading international researchers alongside UK-based researchers. We will also engage key individuals and organisations from the wider music field: musicians, journalists, museums, Arts Council England (ACE), the Musicians’ Union, Music Tank, The Brit Trust, and the reference source Oxford Music Online.
Network data on American jazz musicians has been collected by Leon Danon at the University of Warwick. We have a copy of the dataset, but wish to redress flaws at the data gathering stage for more accurate sociological and musicological analysis. Secondly, we wish to build upon the research of ethnomusicologist Fay Hield in her recent doctoral research. We wish to analyse her data in collaboration with her to assess the network structure of the Sheffield folk community as a local music scene. We also wish to develop a longer-term collaboration to map the network structure of professional British folk musicians as a ‘whole network’. Thirdly, emerging findings from the classical network and the folk network suggest that universities and music colleges are unique contexts where relationships and built are music movements are forged: the Manchester School at RNCM in the 1950s, the Scratch Orchestra emerging from Morley College in 1969, the 2000s generation of young folk artists who forged links at summer schools in Durham and undergraduate education at Newcastle. We will build upon Crossley’s findings regarding student activists, McAndrew and Everett regarding music colleges, Comuniam regarding higher education’s role in the creative economy, Widdop on the importance of geography, and Hield on the Newcastle-Sheffield ‘folk corridor’ to analyse higher education as a critical attribute; where possible, we will also look to
georeference our network data. Fourthly, a small and focused piece of research will be conducted by the PI and policy research consultant to evaluate a community music project. Our network-building aims to promote SNA as a theory and method. We will host a workshop and seminar, hosting British and international researchers working in the area of music, social capital and networks. We will invite sociologists, historians, geographers and ethnomusicologists, with interests in a variety of music worlds: punk, classical, folk and rock in particular.
Representation will be sought from leading international researchers alongside UK-based researchers. We will also engage key individuals and organisations from the wider music field: musicians, journalists, museums, Arts Council England (ACE), the Musicians’ Union, Music Tank, The Brit Trust, and the reference source Oxford Music Online.
Dr Roberta Comunian
Dr. Roberta Comunian is Lecturer in Cultural and Creative Industries at the Department for Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King's College London. She previously worked at the University of Kent and at the University of Southampton. She holds a European Doctorate title in Network Economy and Knowledge Management. She is interested in: relationship between public and private investments in the arts, art and cultural regeneration projects, cultural and creative industries, creativity and competitiveness. She has been Marie Curie Fellow at University of Newcastle (Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies) investigating the relationship between creative industries, cultural policy and public supported art institutions. She has also undertaken research on knowledge transfer and creative industries within an AHRC Impact Fellowship award at the University of Leeds. She is currently researching the role of higher education in the creative economy and has recently explored in various papers the career opportunities and patterns of creative graduates in UK
