While the debate seems not to be solvable, three academics look at the question of whether artists should provide entertainment or write for their own pleasure.
After a very drawn out and fraught construction, the Philharmonie de Paris is finally open. The 2,400 seat concert hall was conceived with ambitious plans to democratise classical music, and is situated…
Keeping the neighbours happy is what rock’s all about … kind of.
Maria Nayef/Flickr
As high-density urban living becomes more common in Australia’s larger cities, many live music venues are under increasing pressure to restrict noise levels. In an industry that’s already feeling the pinch…
Few would argue piracy is not changing the industry, but is it really killing it?
r5d
While legal sales of recorded music continue to suffer from widespread music piracy, the popularity of live music appears to be enjoying an unprecedented boom, particularly in the UK where new stadiums…
Music can be used as part of a ‘healthy process of self-regulation’.
Sascha kohlmann
We all know music can move us emotionally. But how does it impact on our behaviour? That relationship’s not immediately clear. A YouTube clip was doing the rounds on social media a while ago – the music…
When it was announced recently that Burt Bacharach would be headlining this year’s Wilderness Festival, The Guardian were quick to point out the age of the veteran composer turned performer: The 85-year-old…
Who’s in charge? Yeah, that’s right – and he knows it.
Tony McDonough/AAP Image
A number of my friends have a fervour for Bruce Springsteen I have never been able to understand. I have always thought of his work as prosaic and literal. His songs teeter on the edge of despair at the…
The Harlem Kiddies in the St. Thomas club, Copenhagen 1941.
Little Beat Records
It seems an impossibility: in Nazi-occupied Denmark in the 1940s, one of the hottest jazz orchestras around was the interracial Harlem Kiddies, with two white and three black band members – and a Jewish…
Thirty years ago, a new name joined popular music’s aristocracy with an album and movie that catapulted him, almost overnight, from cult celebrity to the higher tiers of rock’s pantheon. Since then, the…
Twitpic does all the hard work these days, so A&R men don’t even have to leave the office.
marfis75
Twitter has decided to woo the music industry with a promise to share data on up-and-coming artists in a deal that would whet the appetite of most music lovers. It makes sense for one of the largest social…
The music venue Night and Day in Manchester is threatened following complaints from residents living nearby about noise. They suggested pictures fell from walls because the bass was so loud". The venue…
Mute Synth, a collaboration between Dr John Richards and Mute Records.
MuteSynth creditphoto GeorgeBenson Stereographic
Following the explosion of do-it-yourself music in the 1990s, aspiring DJs and producers have been spoiled rotten. Home studios are increasingly commonplace now that there is such a wealth of affordable…
Fans love live music – but what does it take to keep venues open?
Erik Anderson
The Bendigo Hotel, a live music venue in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, is facing closure after complaints about noise. As an online campaign mounts to stop the Bendigo being closed down, cities…
Where does live music stand in the cultural life of Australia?
-Jeffrey-
Melbourne has long been regarded as a thriving live music city and right now, with Melbourne Music Week in full swing, live music culture is being celebrated. But there are signs of discordance that we…