Popular Music, Participation and the People‏

One-Day Symposium
Popular Music, Participation and the People‏
Popular Music Research Unit, Department of Music,
Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross SE14 6NW
Saturday 27 October 2012, Cinema

11am – 5pm, coffee from 10.30

Free admission, no registration required

Popular music’s past is littered with musicians claiming to speak for the People – and various Peoples claiming to speak through music. From seventeenth century broadside ballads through 1960s protest songs to internet-borne anthems and celebrity endorsements of the twenty first century, music has provided a rallying ground for both radicals and reactionaries. In varied times and places, popular music has been used to carry messages, mobilise or manipulate crowds, to inspire or inhibit social change.

More recently, patterns of participation have been enlivened by the multi-directional dissemination of ideas and events via social networking technology – but deadened by the entertainment industry’s constant invitations to call in and vote. In bringing together musicians, academics and critics, this symposium will interrogate memories and commemorations of the past, examine present tensions, and ponder the future of popular musical participation.

Confirmed speakers include:

John Street – http://www.uea.ac.uk/psi/People/Academic/John+Street
Rupa Huq – http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/faculty/staff/cv.php?staffnum=328
Barby Asante – http://www.barbyasante.co.uk/
Kieran Yates – http://kieranyates.com/aboutme.html
Justin Williams – http://www.bristol.ac.uk/music/staff/jw/
John Baily – http://www.gold.ac.uk/music/staff/baily/
Angela McShane – http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=502980
Deborah Withers – http://www.debi-rah.net/index.htm

For details of the Popular Music Research Unit – http://www.gold.ac.uk/music/research/popularmusicresearchunit/

For details of the MA Popular Music Research – http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-music-popular-music-research/

For directions to Goldsmiths – http://www.gold.ac.uk/find-us/