Musical Institutions after the Internet

• Music research seminar
• Speakers: Lee Marshall (University of Bristol) and Ellis Jones (University of Oslo)
• Organiser: Christopher Haworth

Abstract

This event seeks to analyse the following questions: to what extent do the divisions between record labels, distributors, and stores still obtain after the internet? Do notions of 'major', 'independent', and 'DIY' still carry the same descriptive and analytical meaning in light of self-publishing platforms like Bandcamp and Soundcloud, or do we need new concepts to capture the ways in which popular, unpopular, fringe and underground musicians move between institutions and fields? Are platform-based musical institutions more labile and transitory than their bricks-and-mortar precursors, or is this view now outdated in the age of the 'normal internet'? With the 'gig economy' ascendent--a concept derived from musical labour that is today used to capture the precarity of 21st century work--analysing musical institutions and labour relations seems more important than ever. Does musical work serve as barometer for current labour conditions?