Knowledge Transfer Fellowship in New Strategies for Radio and Music Organisations (Resubmission)

Summary

The Knowledge Transfer Fellowship in New Strategies for Radio and Music Organisations aims to work with a group of commercial and community partner organisations to produce new online strategies, media content and to inform public policy. The partners represent a cross-section of Birmingham's cultural communities and its music and media activity, and a major overseas development organisation. We focus on the creative application of new technologies of sound distribution for the radio and music industries.

The fellowship team utilise work in earlier research and knowledge transfer work supported by SRIF, LSC, AWM, RAE, the BBC World Trust and UNESCO. Projects include Online Music Enterprise, Regional Music Economies, New Broadcast Technologies for Development, and HEFCE-funded work on creative communication, music public policy, broadcast systems, music distribution and internet technology, open source software, the creative commons movement, and consumption cultures.

We will build on existing partnerships, a demonstrated demand for support in developing creative applications of new communication technologies, and models for effective academy-business-community partnerships for knowledge transfer. Many of our partners have improved their business models, developed new insights, or instigated new cultural strategies as a result of their earlier work with us. Fellowship members will make consultation visits to partners to assist them in developing new strategies; demonstrate creative online techniques; work on online prototypes in the partner business premises or the university; attend conferences; and develop dissemination websites and publications.

The team is led by Tim Wall, Professor of Radio and Popular Music Studies in the Department of Media and Communication, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design at UCE. Professor Wall is the primary investigator for new strategies in radio and the music industries, as well as creative commons intellectual property practices. Andrew Dubber, Senior Lecturer in Music Industries, is the co-investigator for music industries and creative commons; Sam Coley, Senior Lecturer in Radio, is the co-investigator for radio and development; and Paul Long, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication is the co-investigator for community culture and music heritage. The team draws upon the extensive scholarly, research and professional skills of its members, and a substantial knowledge base generated by BIAD's Design and Creative Industries Research Centre.

Online technologies of sound distribution offer creative opportunities to small and regionally-based companies and organisations, and along with other cultural strategies they can serve valuable commercial and social aims. While the technologies are often accessible, a full appreciation of their use as creative tools is unevenly distributed. Large corporations can often exploit their potential, but smaller companies and community sector organisations often lag behind.

This work is part of a wider strategy to make research useful in commercial and cultural projects. UCE has a national reputation for their work in relevant industrial partnerships, regional development initiatives, and knowledge transfer in the media and cultural industries. The consortium organisations offer 'in-kind' contributions of staff time and other resources where appropriate to the knowledge transfer fellowship partnership.