Four Fascinating Presentations from our Undergraduate Showcase

Our BCMCR event on 14 May welcomed four talented BCU undergraduates. Each gave presentations of their degree research, covering the timely and relevant themes of mental health in the music industry, the implications of corporate Pride campaigns, Afrobeats’ impact on the UK’s music genres and music authorship in the age of AI.

First up was Lily Harris, studying BA (Hons) Music Industries, with an overview of her research on how the music industry impacts the mental health of its artists. Over recent years there has been a much-needed focus on better mental health support for music artists, and Lily’s presentation succinctly described the stresses and stressors that working in the industry can bring about. Through her interviews with music industry insiders, Lily was able to clearly outline the often-interrelated issues that impact on mental health, such as precarious income, lack of routine, busy touring schedules and lack of free time.

This is a very important topic, which companies in the music industry are starting to address. Lily wrapped up her presentation with recommendations to enable better mental health in the sector. With a guidebook for the sector planned as a further output from her research, Lily is certainly well placed to make further positive progress on the issue.

Following on from Lily, Cara Pover – a BA (Hons) Media and Communications student – presented her project examining the impacts and implications of corporate Pride campaigns. It is a subject that resonates strongly with her own lesbian identity. She sought to dig deeper into the question of whether corporatised campaigns attaching themselves to Pride month and its events are beneficial to the LGBTQ+ community. She collected existing research on rainbow capitalism and pink-washing and carryied out two focus groups. With the prevalence of trans issues in the news currently, it was of interest that her focus groups also focused on this, noting the rise in right wing viewpoints the media.

In summation, Cara was able to clearly draw parallels between media-fed moral panics and how the corporate Pride campaigns don’t include the full and true representations of the LGBTQ+ community. In these worrying times for the trans community, research like this is vital to better understand the breeding grounds and instigators of discrimination, and how authentic corporate Pride allies can help bring about positive change.

Next up was Malaika Mwande from the BA (Hons) Media Production course. Using her knowledge of and passion for the Afrobeats genre, and the music and artists within it, she presented her research showing how the genre has influenced and shaped UK popular music. As has been the case with music innovated by Black artists for many, many years, Afrobeats has moved from the west of the African continent to become interpolated into UK mainstream pop. With her research presented in the form of a zine, Maliaka skilfully brought together evidence of Afrobeats’ impact on social media as well as the UK charts through interviews with current advocates of the genre. Of note was Malaika’s discovery of a lack of existing research covering Afrobeats, therefore this project is not just timely but crucial in understanding the genre’s important impact on popular culture.

Finally, we heard from Tommy Lee, a student on the BA (Hons) Music Industries course. He had put together an enjoyable and thoughtful video exploring AI and music authorship. Through interviews and practice-led research, Tommy pieced together a compelling and balanced presentation which articulated the current arguments and discourse surrounding AI and music creation. New tech will always come along and disrupt business models, replacing old tech. Furthermore, new tech – in this instance AI – offers the music creator incredible tools for sound mastering and improving audio quality. However, Tommy’s practice-led research demonstrated clearly the more contentious nature of the technology: AI music creation, and the implications for fair use of copyrighted material. This entertaining presentation raised serious questions around authorship which will have very real implications for musicians and music creators seeking to build careers in the music industry.