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Music reflects and frequently empowers its listeners. Freedom of artistic expression is a right enshrined in international conventions which is under threat in many countries across the world. Research undertaken at the University of Glasgow (UoG) by Martin Cloonan in the censorship, regulation and legislation of music has informed and had a direct impact on a number of different anti-censorship campaigns at both national and international levels. In the UK his work has informed policy changes, specifically in relation to the licensing of smaller live venues; and, internationally his expertise has supported the establishment of key bodies such as Freemuse, the World Forum on Music and Censorship, which lobbies against the imprisonment and censorship of musicians.
Research conducted 2008-11 by the university's Music and Entertainment Industries Research Group on the online music consumption habits of British 14-24 year olds has influenced national and international music industry stakeholders and legislative bodies. First, the findings helped industry body UK Music to inform its influential music industry membership's knowledge and understanding of copyright issues and changing music spending patterns. They also inspired a `Proposal', written by the Songwriters Association of Canada and widely read in north America, urging industry-wide adaptation to changing music listening preferences. Further, the work has contributed to pre-legislative copyright debate and policy making in Britain and overseas.
Stephen Rose's research on the sources and contexts of German music 1500-1750 has benefited amateur musicians, professional musicians and commercial concert-life. Building on his research in early music-printing, his digitisation project Early Music Online has provided musicians worldwide with digitised copies of over 10,000 pieces of early printed music previously available only to researchers visiting the British Library. His research on the contexts of German music has influenced concert programming at the highest international level, enhancing public awareness of the cultural meanings of the music they hear, and introducing them to unfamiliar repertory that puts one of the giants of western music—J. S. Bach—in historical context.
We have worked with over 100 music and radio organisations to help them meet the challenges which have arisen due to innovations in distribution consumption and interaction technologies. Our impact has concentrated on responding to transformations in music consumption culture and has contributed to the enhancement of economic prosperity, public service and cultural life. Our work has been central to fundamental changes in the activities of several radio and music organisations, either significantly improving their economic position or changing the way they interact with their audiences. We have had further non-economic impacts through a contribution to grassroots music organisations worldwide.
Since 2008, Baily has reached out to Afghanistan's shattered communities, using music to recuperate their musical culture and rebuild their sense of identity. Baily's work falls into three categories: education about Afghan music, in and outside Afghan communities; preservation of Afghan musical culture; and deploying musical practice to restore community identity and dignity. His post-2008 work builds on his pioneering research and the Afghanistan Music Unit, founded in 2002. His scholarship is rooted in research, practice, networks, and decades of experience, giving him unique insight into Afghanistan's music and its citizens at home and abroad. Through his interactions with musicians, educators and policy-makers, as well as his own public performances, films and educational work, his research has had a major and direct influence in sustaining Afghan culture, both in Afghanistan and in its worldwide diaspora in Pakistan, Iran, Australia, Germany and the USA, as well as the UK.
Research by Professor Ian Cross and his co-workers in the Centre for Music and Science (CMS) investigates the evolutionary foundations of human musicality especially in respect of relationships between music and language. It has had impact in the domain of public engagement with science through frequent media representation and active outreach. It has also helped to shape public discourse concerning the nature of music and its role in contemporary society, as reflected in the assimilation of ideas deriving from CMS research into the treatment of music from scientific perspectives in print, broadcast and digital media.
Scott's research impacts upon the portrayal and representation of a broad range of popular musics in the media, TV, and radio programmes, as well as at international music festivals and concerts. Placing popular music in the context of modernism and nationalism, Scott has contributed to the resurrection and reinvigoration of genres such as nineteenth-century parlour ballads, light opera, and operetta—as well as their recognition as popular music, predating the term's association with twentieth-century jazz or rock'n'roll—highlighting the socio-cultural and historical context of these musics, alongside their historical significance and continuing importance.
Music at City University London has long demonstrated a commitment to ethnomusicological outreach. This is particularly manifested in the extensive research of Dr Laudan Nooshin which has facilitated access to and understanding of Iranian music and culture in Britain and internationally. The primary channels through which impact has arisen from this research comprise: educational work with schools; a wide range of print and broadcast media; consultancy work for a range of organisations and festivals; and performance work in a variety of different contexts. Overall, the impact of Nooshin's research has enhanced knowledge of a rich, historically-rooted culture and acted as a counterbalance to the often negative representation of Iranian culture in the British and international media. In particular it has influenced attitudes and perceptions of musicians, scholars, readers and listeners; enriched the cultural lives and aesthetic experiences of children and adults in a range of performance and multimedia contexts; enhanced knowledge and understanding in different educational environments; and contributed significantly to the preservation, renewal and interpretation of Iranian musical heritage.
This case study describes how collaboration with museums enabled research conducted and directed by Sara Cohen and Marion Leonard of the Institute of Popular Music (IPM) to:
This project achieved impact on cultural life through improved public understanding of domestic music making c. 1800; conserving, interpreting and presenting neglected musical sources in heritage properties and private collections; creating new public art works; influencing the practice of heritage curators, conservators, and volunteers at local and national levels; and enhancing heritage visitor experience. It achieved economic impact through concert, recording and film production and sales and by developing stimuli to national and international tourism. Beneficiaries include new national and international audiences such as heritage tourists and Austen fans, who do not generally listen to classical music or have knowledge of early music performance practice.