11th April 2011
Oxford Brookes University
Call For Papers

The Oxford Brookes Popular Music Research Unit, in association with The Royal Musical Association and The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, is holding a one-day symposium exploring links between music and publishing in its broadest sense on April 11th, 2011. This event is intended to bring together academics, journalists and publishers to explore this previously neglected area which offers exciting opportunities to tap into current concerns about the effects of the internet on the dissemination of music, to explore how our experience of music is shaped by publications relating to it, and to explore more broadly the important issue of the relationship between music and commerce, both in a historical context and in the present.

The day will feature themed paper sessions, a keynote presentation from the Music Publishing Association, a discussion panel of journalists including Fiona Maddocks and Alyn Shipton focusing on writing about classical, jazz and popular music and will end with a round table discussion featuring Dr Dai Griffiths (Brookes), Dr Lee Marshall (Bristol) and Dr Simon Warner (Leeds) to consider future directions of research in this area.

We invite contributions from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds to explore links between music and publishing, both current and historical. The focus of the day will roughly fall into two main themes: an exploration of the publishing of music in all its forms, and an exploration of publishing about music. Please indicate which theme you feel your paper would best fall into. Topics for papers may include (but are not limited to):

• Music criticism and journalism
• Online lyric and tablature sites
• The sales, marketing and distribution of music
• Fan sites and music blogs
• Synergies between music and other forms of publishing
• Reception studies
• Printed Music Publishing
• Case studies and histories

How to submit:

Please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words and a short biography outlining your research or professional experience in this field. Please also include your contact details, including email address, and your institution or company affiliation, if you have one.

Submissions should be emailed, with a subject heading of ‘Brookes symposium’ to: jan.butler@brookes.ac.uk

The closing date for submissions is the 1st March 2011, 5pm. The chosen participants with successful submissions will be notified by the end of 11th March 2011.

To express an interest in attending the event, please contact Jan Butler as above.  Further details of the day will be advertised closer to the date and can be found here: http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/research/project/shifting_ground