Fri 29 January 2010 at 9.00 am

Shifting Ground Study Day 2010

Shifting Ground: A study day in Popular Music and Publishing

The Oxford Brookes Popular Music Research Unit in collaboration with The Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies kick-started their new research project ‘Shifting Ground’ with a study day providing a forum for the discussion of issues, both contemporary and historical, in the area of music publishing.

The day had a varied format, comprising papers from academics Dr Dai Griffiths (Oxford Brookes University), Dr Mark Duffett (University of Chester), Dr Jan Butler (Oxford Brookes University), researcher Jennifer Skellington (Oxford Brookes University), and publishing industry professional Marrisa Joseph (Osprey Publishing); as well as a debate with music industry figures Dave Newton (Shifty Disco Records), Bruce McClure (Seed Records) and Laurence Colbert (musician and recording artist); and a question and answer session with journalist and Rock’s Backpages founder Barney Hoskyns.

Topics covered included publications linked to music, such as fan lyric sites and the synergistic marketing of music through book tie-ins; different forms of music distribution available to independent labels and artists in the digital age, and music journalism, past, present and future.