Prof. David Hesmondhalgh

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The changing shape of the Indian recorded music industry in the age of platformisation

Scholars have explored the impact of technological developments on the livelihoods of musicians before digitalisation and in the contemporary age of music streaming platforms. However, a striking gap exists with respect to the Indian music industries which have been conspicuously ignored by scholarship on cultural work. This article contributes [...]

Music creators’ earnings in the digital era

In recent years, hundreds of online sources, in mainstream and independent outlets, blogs and social media have debated issues concerning the earnings of musicians in ‘the digital era’. As we show in this report, a particularly controversial issue has been the level of earnings that musicians can achieve in a [...]

Making sense of metrics in the music industries

This article considers how media workers and organizations make use of the abundance of metrics available in the contemporary online environment. The expansion of audience measurement on digital music platforms, dashboard analytics, and third-party providers raises broad societal concerns about the quantification of culture; however, less attention has been [...]

Streaming’s Effects on Music Culture: Old Anxieties and New Simplifications

This article identifies five key themes, or sets of criticisms, that have emerged in online commentary on the new musical system centred on streaming platforms, and in related academic research: Streaming encourages ‘functional’ rather than meaningful, aesthetic musical experience. Streaming encourages bland, unchallenging music. Streaming makes musical experience passive [...]

Music Creators’ Earnings in the Streaming Era

This related project seeks to provide objective evidence regarding the degree to which music streaming is providing fair payments to music creators of various kinds. Funded by Research England QR Special Projects Fund and the UK Intellectual Property Office.

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