Professor Matt Brennan

Professor of Popular Music (Music)

telephone: 01413306021
email: Matt.Brennan@glasgow.ac.uk

Music, 14 University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QH

Biography

Matt Brennan is an author, musician, and researcher. His creative practice as a musician informs his teaching and research process, which also draws from historical, sociological, business, and ethical approaches to understanding music in society.

He has served as Chair of the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM), and at the University of Glasgow he is Director of the Interdisciplinary Music Industries Research Group (IMIRGe) and Convenor of the MSc Music Industries degree.

Matt has authored, co-authored, and edited several books in the field of popular music studies. His most recent book, Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit (Oxford University Press 2020) was named one of the "best books of 2020" by the Financial Times and awarded the 2022 Nicholas Bessaraboff Prize by the American Musical Instrument Society. His previous monograph, When Genres Collide (Bloomsbury 2017), also received international recognition (named as one of Pitchfork’s “Favourite Music Books of 2017”; winner of the 2019 IASPM Canada Book Prize).

He has also co-authored the three-volume History of Live Music in Britain (Ashgate 2013; Routledge 2019; Routledge 2021), co-edited The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit (Cambridge University Press 2021) and The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education (Routledge 2017), and serves as co-editor of the Bloomsbury book series Alternate Takes - Critical Responses to Popular Music.

Research interests

Matt’s current research focuses on three areas: music sustainability and climate crisis, popular music history, and the music industries.

Music sustainability and climate crisis: “Sustainability” is an incredibly slippery concept which has migrated from the field of sustainable development and infiltrated the discourse of arts and culture. As a result, the term is now much used (and sometimes abused) by academics, industry lobbying groups, and policymakers to make sense of the creative sector. Matt’s work investigates the relationship between music and sustainability in all its various connotations (e.g. economic, social, environmental), as well as how related concepts (challenges facing musical “ecosystems" in cities, strategies for "resilient" music scenes, etc.) are used in music research. Visit the project website for “New Directions in Music and Sustainability Research.”

Popular music history: Matt's current research interest is the social history of the drum kit. His book Kick It uses the drum kit and drummers - and their fluctuating status in spheres ranging from copyright law to music education - as a lens to rethink how the meanings of everyday concepts such as “musician,” “technique,” “literacy,” “talent,” “collaboration,” and “authorship” have changed over history and up to the present.

Music industries and live music: A dramatic shift has taken place in the music industries away from the record sales-based paradigm that dominated the last half of the twentieth century, and towards a twenty-first century paradigm that places increased value on live performance. Matt's work responds to this shift through an ongoing collaborative project investigating the social, aesthetic, and business dynamics of live music. He led the UK Live Music Census, the first nationwide census of its kind in the world.

Publications

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Number of items: 63.

2023

Brennan, M. (2023) Towards a Just and Green Music City. [Website]

Brennan, M. , Sarim, M. and Williamson, J. (2023) Glasgow Music City Map. [Website]

Brennan, M. (2023) Concepts of Sustainability in Music. European Forum on Music 2023, Budapest, Hungary, 8-10 June 2023.

2022

Shaw, D., Brennan, M. , McKeever, D. and Wong, M. (2022) 'Turn Up the Volume' Survey: Music Fan Attitudes towards Climate Change and Music Sustainability - Initial Report. Project Report. University of Glasgow.

2021

Brennan, M. , Pignato, J. M. and Stadnicki, D. A. (Eds.) (2021) The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit. Series: Cambridge companions to music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY. ISBN 9781108489836

Brennan, M. (2021) The drum kit in theory. In: Brennan, M., Pignato, J. M. and Stadnicki, D. A. (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit. Series: Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press, pp. 7-20. ISBN 9781108779517 (doi: 10.1017/9781108779517.003)

Frith, S., Brennan, M., Cloonan, M. and Webster, E. (2021) The History of Live Music in Britain, Volume III: From Live Aid to Live Nation. Series: Ashgate popular and folk music series. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY. ISBN 9781409425915 (doi: 10.4324/9781315557168)

Behr, A., Brennan, M. , Cloonan, M. and Webster, E. (2021) Stop making census! Some experiential reflections on conducting a live music census. In: Osbourne, R. and Laing, D. (eds.) Music by Numbers: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industry. Intellect Books: Bristol, UK ; Chicago, USA, pp. 104-120. ISBN 9781789382532

Brennan, M. (2021) The infrastructure and environmental consequences of live music. In: Devine, K. and Boudreault-Fournier, A. (eds.) Audible Infrastructures: Music, Sound, Media. Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 117-134. ISBN 9780190932633 (doi: 10.1093/oso/9780190932633.003.0006)

2020

Brennan, M. (2020) The environmental sustainability of the music industries. In: Oakley, K. and Banks, M. (eds.) Cultural Industries and the Environmental Crisis: New Approaches for Policy. Springer International Publishing, pp. 37-49. ISBN 9783030493837 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-49384-4_4)

Behr, A., Brennan, M. and Cloonan, M. (2020) The UK Live Music Census: the value of researching live music in Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, and beyond. In: Ballico, C. and Watson, A. (eds.) Music Cities. Series: New directions in cultural policy research. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, pp. 167-188. ISBN 9783030358716 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-35872-3_9)

Brennan, M. (2020) Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit. Oxford University Press: New York. ISBN 9780190683863 (doi: 10.1093/oso/9780190683863.001.0001)

Brennan, M. and Devine, K. (2020) The cost of music. Popular Music, 39(1), pp. 43-65. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143019000552)

Webster, E., Brennan, M. , Behr, A., Cloonan, M. and Ansell, J. (2020) Making live music count: The UK Live Music Census. Popular Music and Society, 43(5), pp. 501-522. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2019.1627658)

2019

Brennan, M. , Collinson-Scott, J., Connelly, A. and Lawrence, G. (2019) Do music festival communities address environmental sustainability and how? A Scottish case study. Popular Music, 38(2), pp. 252-275. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143019000035)

Frith, S., Brennan, M., Cloonan, M. and Webster, E. (2019) The History of Live Music in Britain, Volume II: 1968-1984. From Hyde Park to the Hacienda. Series: Ashgate popular and folk music series. Routledge: London. ISBN 9781409425892

Brennan, M. (2019) The Terrifying Miracle of Recorded Sound. [Artefact]

2018

Connelly, A., Scott, J. C. and Brennan, M. (2018) ‘Dead niche’ green festivals need to move mainstream. Conversation (Online),

Webster, E., Brennan, M. , Behr, A., Cloonan, M. and Ansell, J. (2018) Valuing Live Music: the UK Live Music Census 2018 Report: Executive Summary. Documentation. University of Edinburgh.

2017

Brennan, M. (2017) The Political Ecology of the Contemporary Musical Instrument Industry. 62nd Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 26-29 Oct 2017.

Brennan, M. (2017) Pop History and its Others. 53rd Royal Musical Association Annual Conference, Liverpool, UK, 7-9 Sept 2017.

Brennan, M. (2017) Jazz at 100: the musical force that arguably shaped popular culture. Big Issue,

Brennan, M. (2017) Towards a New Understanding of Musical Instruments. 6th Conference of the Royal Musical Association Music and Philosophy Study Group, London, UK, 13-14 July 2017.

Brennan, M. , Bhachu, D., Collinson Scott, J. and Smillie, G. (2017) A Manifesto for Music Education in Scotland. Documentation. University of Edinburgh.

Brennan, M. (2017) Researching the Relationship between Music and Environmental Sustainability. Connecting with a Low-Carbon Future: Challenges for the Arts and Humanities Conference, Stirling, UK, 19 April 2017.

Brennan, M. (2017) When Genres Collide: Down Beat, Rolling Stone, and the Struggle Between Jazz and Rock. Bloomsbury Academic: New York, NY. ISBN 9781501326141

Smith, G. D., Moir, Z., Brennan, M. , Rambarran, S. and Kirkman, P. (Eds.) (2017) The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music Education. Routledge: London. ISBN 9781472464989

2016

Behr, A., Brennan, M. and Cloonan, M. (2016) Cultural value and cultural policy: some evidence from the world of live music. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 22(3), pp. 403-418. (doi: 10.1080/10286632.2014.987668)

Behr, A., Brennan, M., Cloonan, M., Frith, S. and Webster, E. (2016) Live concert performance: an ecological approach. Rock Music Studies, 3(1), pp. 5-23. (doi: 10.1080/19401159.2015.1125633)

Brennan, M. , Lawrence, G. and Connelly, A. (2016) Fields of Green: Towards Sustainable Scottish Music Festivals. Other. Creative Carbon Scotland.

2015

Brennan, M. (2015) Fields of Green: Addressing Sustainability and Climate Change through Music Festival Communities. Music and Ecology International Multidisciplinary Symposium 2015, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 28-29 August 2015.

Brennan, M. (2015) So Many Drummers, So Little Time. 18th Biennial IASPM Conference, Campinas, Brazil, 29 Jun - 03 Jul 2015.

Brennan, M. (2015) The History of Mundane Drumming and Keeping the Beat. Joint Conference of IASPM-bfE and IASPM-Benelux, Liege, Belgium, 04-06 June 2015.

Behr, A., Webster, E. and Brennan, M. (2015) Edinburgh Live Music Census 2015: Pilot Study. Other. University of Edinburgh.

Brennan, M. (2015) Live music history. In: Bennett, A. and Waksman, S. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music. SAGE: London, pp. 207-222. ISBN 9781446210857 hbk 9781473910997 ebk (doi: 10.4135/9781473910362.n12)

Brennan, M. (2015) One is the loneliest number: “one-man bands” and doing-it-yourselves versus doing-it-alone. In: Guerra, P. and Moreira, T. (eds.) Keep it Simple, Make it Fast! An Approach to Underground Music Scenes. University of Porto: Porto, Portugal, pp. 253-264. ISBN 9789898648495

2014

Brennan, M. (2014) The Disposable Drummer: The Marginalisation of the Live Acoustic Drum Kit and Drummers in Contemporary Record Production. 9th Art of Record Production Conference: Record Production in the Internet Age, Oslo, Norway, 04-06 Dec 2014.

Brennan, M. (2014) The Cultural Value of Live Music. IASPM UK and Ireland Biennial Conference, Cork, Ireland, 12-14 Sept 2014.

Brennan, M. (2014) One is the Loneliest Number: “One-Man Bands” and Doing-it-Yourselves versus Doing-it-Alone. KISMIF Conference 2014, Porto, Portugal, 8-11 July 2014.

Brennan, M. (2014) The One Man Band Resurgence: Innovation, Modernisation, or Continuum? International Festival of Artistic Innovation 2014, Leeds, UK, 10 March 2014.

Behr, A. and Brennan, M. (2014) The place of popular music in Scotland's cultural policy. Cultural Trends, 23(3), pp. 169-177. (doi: 10.1080/09548963.2014.925282)

Behr, A., Brennan, M. and Cloonan, M. (2014) The Cultural Value of Live Music from the Pub to the Stadium: Getting Beyond the Numbers. Other. University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow.

2013

Brennan, M. (2013) The Tyranny of the Snare: The Changing Status of the Drum Kit in Record Production. 8th Art of Record Production Conference, Laval, Québec, 12-14 July 2013.

Brennan, M. (2013) Instruments of a Lower Order: Historicizing the Double Status of the Drum Kit and Drummers. IASPM 17th Biennial Conference, Gijón, Spain, 24-28 June 2013.

Cloonan, M. and Brennan, M. (2013) Alien invasions: the British musicians’ union and foreign musicians. Popular Music, 32(2), pp. 277-295. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143013000093)

Behr, A. and Brennan, M. (2013) Scotland on Tour: Strategies for Promoting the Scottish Music Industry Within and Outwith Scotland. Other. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.

Brennan, M. (2013) “Nobody likes rock and roll but the public”: Down Beat, genre boundaries and the dismissal of rock and roll by jazz critics. Popular Music and Society, 36(5), pp. 559-577. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2012.718486)

Frith, S., Brennan, M., Cloonan, M. and Webster, E. (2013) The History of Live Music in Britain Volume 1: 1950-1967. From Dance Hall to the 100 Club. Series: Ashgate popular and folk music series. Ashgate: Farnham. ISBN 9781409422808

2012

Brennan, M. (2012) The Migration of Musical Instruments: A Case Study of the Drum Kit. Biennial IASPM-UK/Ireland Conference 2012, Salford, UK, 5-7 Sept 2012.

Brennan, M. (2012) The Diaspora and the Drum Kit: Rethinking the Multicultural Roots of a Musical Instrument. IASPM Canada Branch Conference 2012, Nova Scotia, Canada, 14 June 2012.

2011

Brennan, M. (2011) Understanding Live Nation and its Impact on Live Music in the UK. IASPM 16th Biennial Global Conference 2011, Grahamstown, South Africa, 27 June 2011.

Brennan, M. (2011) The Ecology of Live Music in Britain. IASPM Canada Branch Conference 2011, Montreal, Quebec, 17 June 2011.

Brennan, M. (2011) Researching Live Music Promotion: Methodological Problems, Conceptual Questions, Empirical Findings. The Business of Live Music International Conference 2011, Edinburgh, UK, 02 April 2011.

Brennan, M. and Webster, E. (2011) Why concert promoters matter. Scottish Music Review, 1(2), pp. 1-25.

2010

Frith, S., Brennan, M. , Cloonan, M. and Webster, E. (2010) Analysing live music in the UK: findings one year into a three-year research project. IASPM, 1(1),

2009

Brennan, M. (2009) Analysing Live Music in the UK: Findings One Year Into a Three Year Research Project. IASPM 15th Biennial Global Conference, Liverpool, UK, 15 July 2009.

2008

Brennan, M. and Webster, E. (2008) Researching Live Music: Some Initial Thoughts. IASPM-UK Biennial Conference 2008, Glasgow, UK, 13 Sept 2008.

Brennan, M. (2008) When the horn fits, blow it: Music in erotic poetry. In: Byron, G. and Sneddon, A. (eds.) The Body and the Book: Writings on Poetry and Sexuality. Rodopi: Amsterdam, pp. 27-40. ISBN 9789042024229

2007

Brennan, M. (2007) Failure to fuse: The jazz-rock culture war at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival. Jazz Research Journal, 1(1), pp. 73-98. (doi: 10.1558/jazz.v1i1.73)

2006

Brennan, M. (2006) Was Newport 1969 the Altamont of Jazz? The Role of Music Festivals in Shaping the Jazz-Rock Fusion Debate. Jazz, Politics and the Popular: Leeds International Jazz Conference 2006, Leeds, UK, 25 March 2006.

Brennan, M. (2006) Down beats and rolling stones: The American jazz press decides to cover rock in 1967. Popular Music History, 1(3), pp. 263-283. (doi: 10.1558/pomh.2006.1.3.263)

Brennan, M. (2006) The rough guide to critics: musicians discuss the role of the music press. Popular Music, 25(02), pp. 221-234. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143006000870)

2005

Brennan, M. (2005) The Battle for Authority in the American Music Press, 1967-1970. IASPM 13th Biennial Global Conference, Rome, Italy, 27 July 2005.

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