An Overview of 2011

It is so long since I last blogged, so I thought this seemed a good time to set a new year’s resolution to upload a post at least once a week. So – here goes – a brief synopsis of what I have been up to last year (as far as I can remember).

Due to the amount of work I have had to do on the edited collection on Frank Zappa (More later) – I made a decision to not present at as many conferences this year. I did however do a couple. The first was in Liege in March – on ‘Loops in Popular Music’ – a really interesting international discussion at the local university. I presented the paper with my colleague – Dr Ben Challis – and after the proceedings of the conference were processed we were asked to update our work for a book chapter. The book is in the French language, and at the moment is being edited – more of this in a later post.

This was followed by a conference at Edinburgh University, which was organised by Prof. Simon Frith and focused on live music – part of a 3 year project funded by AHRC.. This gave me the chance to discuss the research I had recently completed into the live music industry in Wales, and was a great opportunity to listen to loads of industry professionals and academics discuss their research. An overview of the papers can be found here for those that are interested.  The research into the Live Music Industry in Wales also led to a talk at the Institute of Welsh Affairs (which was really well attended), an interview with the Minature Music Press, a talk at the Hay Festival and a couple of radio interviews.

September of last year also witnessed the launch of the European Social Funded Foundation Degree in Music Industry Entrepreneurship I had been working on for a number of years. The idea for this started a couple of years ago with a paper that was published in the Journal for Applied Research in Higher Education, and I hope this course can act as a sort of template of the ways in which the music industry can work with Higher Education.

The Zappa Book has been progressing nicely and is due to be handed into the publishers at the end of March 2012. Although not conferences, I was lucky enough to do a couple of talks at the University of Valencia and Cardiff University this year on some of the thinking behind the book. Although I am really pleased with how the book is shaping up, one of the book’s key contributors David Sanjek sadly passed away just prior to Christmas. He had handed his chapter in just a couple of weeks before and had worked so hard on it. His death came as such a shock to everyone and I have decided to dedicate the book to Dave – he will be sorely missed.

I have also had a couple of other publications released this year on Zappa, but rather than go into specific details – anyone who is interested can get details here.

Finally, thanks to Spotify, I have managed to listen to so much music this year. In no particular order – the best music of the year includes:

The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

James Blake – Enough Thunder

White Denim – D

Beady Belle – Cewbeagappic

Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Nigel Price Organ Trio – Heads & Tales

Amon Tobin – ISAM

Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

Radiohead – The King Of Limbs

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know

Radiohead – TKOL RMX 1234567

Happy new year.

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Selection of Student Blogs

As  part of the Foundation Degree in Music Industry Entrepreneurship course that I have blogged about many times before, the students have to document a blog which discusses their perspectives on areas of the music industry. I thought it makes sense to feature specific blogs every now and then. So – this week there are blogs on subject areas as broad as tribute bands, Steve Jobs, Music and Dance,  the Future of the Music Industry and DJ Technology.

I am sure I wont remember to do this every week, but I will try and remember some of these posts every now and then. Lot’s of interesting discussion.

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Popular Music Foundation Degrees: Are they Micky Mouse Courses?

The funding I recently obtained from the European Social Fund to develop a Foundation Degree for the Convergence Areas of the Welsh Music Industry is now been put to good use. The structure is now more or less fully developed, enabling practitioners to gain academic credit for up to half of the qualification. This is complemented by enabling the attendees to learn about the various structures of the modern music industry, in addition to the means through which they can exploit their creative talent. Unlike other Foundation Degrees that usually take two years full-time, this qualification will take around 15 months part-time, and is largely delivered by distance learning. There are 75 full bursaries over the next three years, with the first cohort starting in September this year. The pedagogical model for this was developed a couple of years ago in a paper I wrote for the Journal of Research into Higher Education, and is now ready for the testing stage.

The subject of if qualifications such as these are worthy contributions to academia is well covered, and during the time I have been living in Wales have discussed it a number of times on Radio and TV. In fact the BBC recently covered the start-up of the course in a short article, and I was surprised to see the same old approach – are popular music qualifications worthwhile? I would argue that on a number of levels they are.

Firstly – the government are informing us they are. University degree courses are about to become more flexible (in terms of delivery) and will have to have explicit links with industry due to the understandable expectations of students. Thus far I have managed to build a number of important links with industry for this course, and this is something that I hope will continue in the months to follow. The idea is not only to get feedback from these important stakeholders, but also to provide potential experience for the students on the programme. As I now have to consider myself an ‘academic’ as opposed to a professional musician – it is essential that full use is made of colleagues who are currently earning their crust within the profession.

Secondly, why does the word ‘popular music’ or ‘music industry’ signify that it is a ‘Micky Mouse’ course? When I developed the original Popular Music Course at Glamorgan 8 years ago (After moving from Bournemouth) – this was covered in the Daily Telegraph – who actually accompanied the article with a picture of Walt Disney’s favourite character (I kid you not). As I stated at the time, popular music is responsible for generating a huge income for the UK, something which has prompted people such as Tony Blair to recognise the importance of music to the economy. The live music industry alone generates over 1.5 , billion, so why should we not study the means that make this possible? As outlined in a recent report I done for the Welsh Music Foundation into the live music in Wales – Popular Music generates by far the most money for the Welsh economy – so to repeat myself – it makes sence to study it!

As with all of my posts, I limit myself to around 15 mins, and I have now reached this point. If anyone is interested in the Foundation Degree in Music Industry Entrepreneurship – please get in touch. And please – don’t call it a Micky Mouse course!!!!

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Foundation Degree for the Music Industry in Wales

Well, my European Social Fund Foundation Degree for the music industry in Wales is due to be launched officially in a few days. In the first year, the funding will enable 15 people who live or work within the Welsh Music Industry Convergence Areas a potential free place. The first year is aimed at the industry in South Wales, and will be followed by places in the North and West over the next few years. As most of you will know, a Foundation Degree is the same as the first two years of a degree, so when one considers the current price of higher education – this represents an excellent opportunity.  The course is mainly taught through distance learning, and already has a 3rd year top up written – although students have to fund this themselves if they want to do it. The dedicated website for the qualification can be found here, with an online application form here.

The unique aspect of this course, is that in enables practitioners to gain credit for the experience they have gained in the industry thus far – plus the work they do in the work place once the course starts.

By all means drop me a line if you require more details.

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Free Foundation Degree in Music For Wales

I got some good news this week. Over the last couple of years or so I have been working on developing a Foundation Degree that facilitates  anyone working within the music industry to gain credit for the skills they already have, in addition to building on their skill base weaknesses in both the classroom and the workplace.

Well – that qualification is now a reality (subject to validation)! I have recently obtained funding from the European Social Fund that basically provides the finance for a select number of Welsh based musicians to undertake this qualification, providing they comply with the following criteria.

1. They live and work in one of the convergence areas of Wales
2. They have enough experience within any area of the music industry – that would enable them to gain at least 60 university cat points. (See * below) via Accreditation for Prior Learning
3. They are prepared to study part time on the Foundation Degree for around a  year and a half – at the same time as working.

Once your studies are finished, you will have the qualifications to move on to the final year of a degree, or simply use the qualification to improve your current working practices. After a degree is finished, you can also progress onto a post graduate qualification such as a Masters or PhD, or even a teaching qualification!

As stated, these places are free and the course is designed to be undertaken at the same time as working, saving successful candidates a great deal of money. The first 15 places will commence in South Wales in September 2011. Places are very limited and will be offered progressively over a three-year period.

This is just an initial post to inform interested parties of the qualification, but I will post more information over the next few months when it becomes available.

Can I suggest the following

• You ‘like’ this Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FoundationDegree). I will use it to keep interested parties up to date with progress
• If you are interested in a place, or would like to discuss specific details – get in touch with me on pcarr@glam.ac.uk
• Share this information with anyone you think may be interested (please).

* This programme is designed for any occupation in the music industry – including, but not limited to, self-employed musician, instrumental teacher, music retail, small record labels, technicians, promoters, managers, etc, etc, etc.

So in short:

• The qualification will cost the company/employer nothing!
• Up to 50% of te qualification can be gained based on previous experience.
• 25% of the qualification is based in the workplace.
• The taught units focus on music industry knowledge and entrepreneurship.
• Provides the basis to progress onto the final year of a degree, but this aspect has to be paid for.
• You must live and work in a convergence area (see map above)

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