Live performance, touring and music in the digital age

Corser, C

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to understand the importance and necessity of live performance to the music industry and the state of the music industry in the current digital revolution/era. What is still quite a “manual” aspect of the music industry, live performance and in particular touring, still figures quite heavily in the working life of musicians both major label and grass roots alike. The music industry has benefitted significantly from constant advancements in digital technology as well as suffering greatly with technology facilitating the piracy of music as a product.
The work comprises a history of live performance and touring with a discourse of some of the key topics surrounding live performance such as authenticity, experience and cultural capital. Alongside this there is an exploration into alternatives to touring and live performance and their successes and failures. There is also a discourse of how and where music has developed with technology and who was responsible for it. The research draws from a number of sources including my own experiences websites, magazine publications and books. The work of Simon Frith and Philip Auslander has featured significantly in this work, with Auslander’s Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture being a key source in this area.

Citation

Corser, C. (in press). Live performance, touring and music in the digital age. (Dissertation). The University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Dissertation
• Acceptance Date: Oct 25, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2016