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Dr Chris Anderton
PhD, MBA, BSc, FHEA

Associate Professor

Department of Film and Media

Chris Anderton

Biography

Dr Chris Anderton is Associate Professor in Cultural Economy, with a particular focus on the music industries, music culture and music history. He was awarded an MBA Music Industries (Distinction) from University of Liverpool and a PhD entitled “(Re) Constructing Festival Places” from University of Wales Swansea. At Solent, he teaches on the Music Business degree, supervises a number of postgraduate students, and is co-lead of the Culture, Media, Space and Place Research Group. His research examines a range of topics including: the live music and festivals industries, the development and representation of music genres, the management and marketing of popular music, and the intersection of fan practices and intellectual property law. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, and a founding member of The Progect Network for the Study of Progressive Rock. He also regularly reviews journal articles and book proposals for a range of publishers and publications.

Chris is author or co-editor of several books including Understanding the Music Industries (2013, with Andrew Dubber and Martin James), Music Festivals in the UK. Beyond the Carnivalesque (2019), Media Narratives in Popular Music (2022, with Martin James), Researching Live Music: Gigs, Tours, Concerts and Festivals (2022, with Sergio Pisfil) and Music Management, Marketing and PR (2022, with James Hannam and Johnny Hopkins). He has guest edited special issues of the academic journals Rock Music Studies and Arts & the Market, and has published in numerous other edited collections and journals.

In addition to his research work, Chris founded and manages the music industry initiative Solent Music (solentmusic.com) with staff and students from Solent University’s music courses. Solent Music arranges or supports music industry guest speakers, seminars, conferences and live events, manages work experience opportunities for students, and promotes the fantastic work of our students and staff across the range of music courses at Solent.

Research interests

  • The cultural economy, history, marketing and geography of music festivals and live music concerts and events.
  • The future of the music industries – including the impacts of digitization, the changing interactions of artists and audiences, and matters pertaining to copyright, bootlegging and piracy.
  • The role of music heritage and local coordination as related to the cultural cities/music cities agenda.
  • The ‘hidden histories’ of popular, underground and niche music genres.

ORCID ID

0000-0003-0835-3989

Keywords

Music; Music Business; Music Industry; Cultural Economy; Cultural Industry; Copyright; Music History; Music Festivals; Music Piracy, Live Music; Creative Cities; Music Cities; Music Heritage

Further information

At Solent University Chris has, in addition to numerous undergraduate degrees and modules, taught at postgraduate level on the MBA Global Master of Business Administration degree.

He is currently supervising the following PhD students:

  • Paul Goodge - An Acquired Taste? The Enduring Legacy of Prog
  • Angela Warner-Young - British Music Festivals in the 21st Century: The Purposes of Participation
  • Kevin O’Donovan - Smash Hits: An examination of the construction of pop stars in Smash Hits through language, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
  • Matt Anniss - Storm From The East: Sound networks, music worlds and the rise of rave culture in East Anglia 1987-95

Chris has also acted as external examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees, and as external examiner at MRes and PhD level.

Taught courses

BA (Hons) Music Business

The music business offers many careers within artist management, record labels, streaming platforms and live event promotion. Our graduates now work at Universal, Spotify, The O2 and Live Nation.