Music As Culture online
October 12th, 2009 |
by Andrew Dubber
Published in
Music as Culture | 10 Comments
We’ve been increasingly interested in the idea of ‘Music As Culture’ in the past few months. I’ve presented under that banner at a couple of conferences and events in London and Berlin recently, and Jez has been hard at work developing some projects on that topic.
The central idea is very simple: that most of the discussions and many of the important decisions being made today around popular music, copyright and online participation are from the perspective of music as a primarily commercial enterprise.
In fact, to read the newspapers and blogs, and to attend the music industry conferences, you would be forgiven for thinking that music itself has failed, because it is no longer as profitable as it once was.
But music is not just commerce. It is an important part of our culture, and we’re interested in the ways in which that is manifest – and in particular, the consequences of overlooking that very important point.
So we’ve launched MusicAsCulture.org. It’s a place to bring together projects that highlight this very important point. It’s not an organisation as such, and nor is it a body with a specific political agenda. It’s an umbrella under which we can explore and discuss ideas and issues around popular music, archives, cities, scenes and creativity.
Live, Loud and Local
We’re launching MusicAsCulture.org with a very special project. Here in Birmingham, as with many places elsewhere, heritage music venues are in danger of closure or losing their live music licence because of issues of noise. Areas that were once not residential now have tenants, and the clash between apartment dwellers and local music venues has demanded a response at a policy level.
From the Birmingham Post:
Digbeth Pub The Rainbow Facing Closure After Noise Complaints
And Pete Ashton predicts a riot.
UB40 step in
Brian Travers from the band UB40 approached us to discuss ways in which we might collaborate around this issue – and on November 3rd, the band will play a one-off gig at the Rainbow pub in Digbeth to raise money for a new roof on the building, in an attempt to reduce outside noise.
Brian and the band believe that live, local music is vital to the city and its cultural life. Their performance at the Rainbow serves to draw attention to this issue.
Under the Music As Culture banner, we’re bringing together a group of interested people to help document and communicate this effort, using all of the tools of the digital age, and some old-school ones as well. We believe these conversations and debates are important ones, and it’s gratifying that such an incredibly successful international act such as UB40 are so involved and interested in their local community and the ongoing creative lifeblood of their hometown.
Follow the UB40 Campaign Live, Loud and Local at Music As Culture here – and look for more projects coming soon.
October 12th, 2009 at 6:51 pm (#)
Lecturer’s blog: Music As Culture online – http://bit.ly/39Firt / CC BY 2.0 Weve been increas… http://ow.ly/15UluD
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
October 13th, 2009 at 12:57 am (#)
Thanks for starting this debate here!
From my viewpoint at the moment: Birmingham music seems very strong – there seems to be tonnes of stuff going on. We’re home to a lot of very interesting and inventive bands.
One problem I see is that currently there don’t seem to be many things which tie all the strands together – labels, zines, blogs, that type of thing.
I sometimes think that a blog linking it all together (without being critical) would help as an initial pointer – similar to what CiB does for non-musician artists. I suppose you always need loads of smaller stuff going on too, acting as a filter – basically helping people in Birmingham find the gigs they’re likely to enjoy.
Do we know of anything that other city councils do to support local music? I’d be interested to know.
Ultimately though, I see local and DIY music as kind of mainly operating on a “bring what you expect to find” basis.
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 12th, 2009 at 5:33 pm (#)
Agreed with Dunc that thers loads of good music around – but the scene still feels very disparate and in a way, kinda weak.
Is it lack of pride, or identity?
Have we put up with being the butt of the nations jokes so long that we have an inferiority complex?
A MiB blog would be ace certainly.
Brum Notes is the latest addition to the print media – much welcomed.
Does the city need a Music Czar type figure?
In the immortal words of Brian Wilson … God Only Knows!
Rich
Xx
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 12th, 2009 at 5:35 pm (#)
Thats a good point Dunc.
Compared to ten or so years ago I think the cites scene has come on leaps and bounds. There is a lot of stuff going on out there but one issue is knowing about it, and the other is getting to it.
Living just outside the centro area my last public transport out of the city is 11pm. This means I often see support bands and a couple of songs from the main set. It would be nice to see public transport improved rather than reduced – ten years back when there was nothing to do there was a half midnight train.
I think blogs and listing sites are now springing up, as the post a few days ago illustrated, I think its just gradually growing. It would be nice if there were hard copies of zines or listing papers more easily available.
It would be good to see the council acknowledge the growth in the music scene of Birmingham and be seen as much to support it as to regulate it.
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 12th, 2009 at 5:46 pm (#)
I agree that the information can be quite dispersed. It is difficult to always find out what is going on even with all the newsletters/websites/blogs/tweeting. I still manage to miss events that I would go to even though I’m signed up to and/or following anything and everything that might tell me about it. Not sure I have any answers but I love unique venues and it would be a real shame if they die out due to lack of local support for them.
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 13th, 2009 at 3:33 am (#)
I keep pondering the CiB-style thing for music. Hmm.
In the meantime, I’m planning to do a round-up of places that are putting out local music info – probably later this week. I’ve got a list in my head but I’d be grateful for any suggestions.
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 14th, 2009 at 12:02 am (#)
CiB (and Yumm) are 2 of the best things that have happened in Birmingham of late. However..it is easy to miss things unless you make it a full time job to hook up/log in/tweet/blog etc…which I just don’t have the time for if I am working. The music thing in Birmingham kills me..I am in a BIRMINGHAM band, The Undercocks..just checked our gig list for this year; 29 gigs..3 of which are in Birmingham!!! http://www.theundercocks.com/wherewhen.html
That tells a great big story. We have all but given up on Birmingham..even though we have a studio here..yet already
have 5 gigs booked for next year in Ironbridge! A definitive list of venues, what they offer/want etc would be great. Also bands could talk to each other more and share info on venues and promoters..I hate the phrase but a bit of “joined up thinking” Same across the arts etc etc. I based myself in Birmingham 20 years ago..ARE WE THERE YET??
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 13th, 2009 at 5:09 pm (#)
There is a danger in creating a separate music site in that it ‘ ghettoises’ music – making it seem less important or not seen as part of creative culture, surely there is room for all manner of exciting stuff happening in Birmingham to feature on this site whether it be a gig, concert, performance or exhibition?
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 13th, 2009 at 8:27 pm (#)
I’m in the planning stages of launching a web operation to promote local music in Birmingham as part of my MA, so I’ve found this post very interesting.
As far as I’m aware, there’s currently nowhere online that focuses solely on new local music which lacks the full recognition it deserves as a result..
Like Helen, I struggle to keep up with endless Facebook invites, Twitter tweets and emails that send me to YouTube, Myspace and other websites. Hence why I’ve decided to base my project on creating a one stop for info on new local bands with tracks, videos, interviews, events listings etc.
Thanks for highlighting the issue Chris. Look forward to your next post on this!
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham
October 13th, 2009 at 9:38 pm (#)
Well, as much as I sometimes worry about opening the floodgates too wide, CiB’s not about to start ignoring music, so I don’t think ghettoising it is that much of an prob. Especially as it crosses over with other stuff so much.
As far as sites focussing solely on local music, I had hopes for http://www.culdesaconline.com/ but that died pretty quickly – I think the guy behind it was trying to make money on it from the off. Which I imagine is tricky.
Natalie – it’ll be really interesting to see what you come up with. My only initial thought is I’m not so sure about the idea of another listings site, but you never know, so I’ll reserve judgment.
This comment was originally posted on Created in Birmingham