What is the value and impact of pop music and how can music policy futher improve the sector? At the Eurosonic 2024 conference, POPLIVE presented the answers to these questions during the meeting Meet the Music Sector, an invite-only panel with the culture spokespersons of the Dutch parliament and culture policy makers (Ministerie van OCW, Cultuurfondsen).
The Live Coaches is a podcast series in The Netherlands hosted by Vincent de Raad en Melanie Esther. They interview people from the pop music sector with the goal to help (emerging) artists to learn more about performing live. In the first episode of the second season, POPLIVE-researcher Martijn Mulder explores live performance in pop music from a scientific context. Based on his research on venues and festivals and on how the audience members construct their experience of the concert, he explorer how academic research can benefit the daily practice of doing gigs. The podcast can be found here and on Spotify.
To see a Bruce Springsteen concert in the Netherlands in 2023, the cheapest tickets cost €115. Nevertheless, when the ticket sell started there were more than 200,000 people queuing online. At the same time, however, many small and midsize venues are struggling to get their tickets sold in the post-Covid era. In their contribution to the 13th International Music Business Research Days in Vienna, POPLIVE researchers Erik Hitters and Martijn Mulder presented their study on the phenomenon described here: the superstar economy.
Continue reading “Pop music as a superstar economy – IMBRD conference”
[for English see below]
Vrouwelijke en Nederlandse artiesten zijn aan een sterke opmars bezig in het Nederlandse festivallandschap. Bij meer dan een derde (34%) van alle muziekoptredens op de festivals stond een vrouwelijke artiest op het podium en dat aandeel was nog nooit zo hoog; in 2016 was het nog 18%. Nooit eerder stond er bij een groot Nederlandse festival bij meer dan de helft van de programmering een vrouwelijke artiest op het podium, in 2022 was dat wel het geval bij drie festivals: Best Kept Secret, Motel Mozaique en Welcome to the Village. Deze en andere resultaten over de line-ups van onze grootste festivals is te vinden in dit rapport.
Continue reading “Vrouwen en Nederlandse artiesten grijpen de macht op de festivalpodia”
After two years without live music in the Netherlands, most COVID restrictions were lifted in spring 2022 and live concerts returned with a record number of concerts planned during the year. However, as live music is audience-centered, it is important to consider how the pandemic has affected demand for the live music industry. Commissioned by POPLIVE, Master student Kevin Belzer gained insights into how the pandemic has affected visitor motivations of popular live music attendees by answering the question: What is the effect of the COVID pandemic on the visitor motivations of pop concert attendees?
Continue reading “The effect of COVID on visitor motivations of pop concerts”
During the 12th International Music Business Research Days that took place in Rotterdam on 3-5 November 2021, all keynotes and industry panels have been livestreamed to the online participants. These video’s are now publicly available.
Continue reading “Recordings of IMBRD21 conference now available!”
How does COVID-19 affect the live music sector in different European countries? What similarities and differences can be identified between these countries, concerning government support, live music regulations, performance opportunities and the resilience of the sector in general? On March 17th, POPLIVE participated in an IASPM_UK hosted seminar that outlined a sample of some of the academic work that has been taking place both regionally and nationally across Europe since the pandemic emerged. Martijn Mulder presented his paper ‘Music Missionaries: The Dutch live music sector’s responses to the pandemic’. Other contributions came from the UK (Wales, Liverpool, Birmingham), Germany and Norway. The seminar has been recorded and can be viewed here.
During the COVID-pandemic, the lack of nightclubbing, dancing and drinking has a huge impact on both the social and mental aspects of nightlife visitors. Research by POPLIVE member Martijn Mulder affirms this social and mental relevance of the nightlife economy. ‘Going out’ is not just fun, it’s a basic need in the lives of many. In an additional report (in Dutch) Martijn advises the municipality of Rotterdam to adopt new strategies that better justify the value of urban nightlife.
[for English see below]
POPLIVE heeft bijgedragen aan een positieve noot tijdens Eurosonic 2021, dat vanzelfsprekend geheel in het teken stond van de gevolgen van Covid-19 voor de muziekindustrie. Op zaterdag 16 januari was het panel ‘Het Mooie van de Crisis’, waarin POPLIVE-onderzoeker Martijn Mulder een presentatie gaf over de veerkracht van de Nederlandse liveindustrie tijdens het eerste jaar van de pandemie.
POPLIVE project leader Erik Hitters co-edited a special issue on the festivalisation of live music for the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR). The issue was published in October 2020, including a contribution from Hitters and his fellow POPLIVE researcher Martijn Mulder.
Continue reading “Special issue: Festivalisation of live music”