Unconvention 2020 – video highlights
The BLMP Birmingham Music Venue Map (v1.0) was launched on Monday 1st June 2020. You can view the map by visiting this link: https://birmingham.livemusicresearch.org/map
BLMP Musician & Audience Surveys
Following the recent release of various COVID protocols by the UK Government, and the most recent support package for the live music industry, we are now moving to the next stage of the Birmingham Live Music Project with the release of two surveys of the Birmingham live music sector – one is for Audiences, and…
Meet the BLMP student assistant team
In a collaborative blog post for the Aston University website, the BLMP Student Assistant team discussed their work on the project. Our Researching within BLMP Three of us have been part of The Birmingham Live Music Project (BLMP), where we have been responsible for data collection, social media campaign and general support of the core…
BLMP figures feature in local media campaign
In a recent post, the BLMP discussed the potential implications on live music venue capacities in Birmingham as the UK Government moves towards Stage 5 easing of COVID-19 restrictions. In particular, the post highlighted the difficulties around reduced venue capacities, which would see Birmingham’s total potential capacity of 98,000 reduced to around 29,000. A locally-focussed…
IASPM – ‘London Calling’ conference panel
The BLMP team recently presented papers on a dedicated panel at the IASPM UK & Ireland annual conference. The conference was originally due to take place at the University of West London this summer, but was moved to an online format due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Papers were pre-recorded as video presentations, and the…
Arts rescue package: don’t forget small venues – they’re where big stars learned their trade
This post was originally published on The Conversation website. Icons – and gigs – come in all shapes and sizes. July 6 marks the anniversary of the day that Paul McCartney and John Lennon first met at Woolton Fête in 1957. Sixty-three years later McCartney has played at massive and historic events: Olympic ceremonies, Royal…
Birmingham’s Roadmap to live music
In this blog post, BLMP researchers Patrycja Rozbicka, Craig Hamilton and Adam Behr explore what a return to live music in the city of Birmingham may look like, and consider the implications of venue capacity reductions that will be required by the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. At the end of the post, we provide an…
An interactive Birmingham music venue map
As part of the Birmingham Live Music Project, we are looking at live music in our home city of Birmingham, UK. As part of that work, I’ve been exploring the API of Songkick in an attempt to generate an initial map of the music venues in the city. Songkick is a service that provides discovery…
Five ways musicians are responding to the coronavirus crisis
I recently published another piece on The Conversation UK – part of their series on “five things…”. This one is a brief overview of some of the different musical responses to Covid-19, from rush-released singles to Twitter listening parties, Randy Newman’s croaky (but fantastic) public service announcement, and a live streaming campaign to #saveourvenues. You…
It is not all about the toilet paper, culture matters: Creative live music responses to the Covid-19 lockdown
As social distancing and self-isolation become a 2020 lifestyle mainstream in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, an emphasis on our physical needs is often apparent in our surroundings. Finding toilet paper, long-lasting food products, and antibacterial products in supermarkets, is a particularly difficult task. And, as we witness a shift in popular demands, are the…
