Conference Themes​

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Across the musical spectrum, from Arvo Pärt to Orange Juice, starting from zero is a common occurrence in the world of music.  

 

Whether we’re starting with a blank slate, writing the rules over again, making it up as we go along, or coming up with a grand plan, the history of music is also a history of innovation. How often do we get the chance to build something exactly the way we want it, to make all those fine grained adjustments that will make a project just right. The perfectly structured track, the perfectly balanced mix, the perfectly designed and executed performance. The new piece of technology that does exactly what we designed it to do.

 

For Innovation In Music 2025, we want to explore what happens when you get the chance to start something new or when you get to start something over, by rebooting or resetting things. Our call this year is broad, here are some perspectives to think about ‘New Beginnings’...

 

• Innovating from the ground up.

• Taking a fresh look in order to improve on what’s gone before. 

• ‘Fail better’. How do we really learn from past projects and past mistakes to take a great idea forward? What happens when the walls come crashing down, but we want the project to keep moving forward? 

• Circuit bending as ‘musical hotwiring’. When we inherit a project that someone else has made, and we want to take it off in a new direction… how can we take the hotwiring approach and apply it to other areas of musical practice - in composition, performance and production? And how can we do this at scale?

• As AI promises / threatens to give the music industry a near-total makeover, what would a new industry look like? What kind of checks and balances might we need to safeguard a new industry?

• As spatial audio continues to open up new perspectives for listening and production, how will this technology create a new beginning in how we approach the composition of music?

 

This conference theme can be broadly interpreted, and we encourage presentations on all kinds of ‘innovation in music’, related to topics such as:

 

• Innovative production, recording, mixing and mastering techniques

• Innovative approaches to composition, songwriting and performance

• Innovative approaches to music business, events, management and enterprise

• Innovations in music technology

• Innovative approaches to music research

• Innovative approaches to promoting diversity, equality and representation in music

• Innovative approaches to sustainability and sustainable practices in music

Presentations are by default in the format of 15-minute talks, followed by 5 minutes Q&A. Abstracts should give a summary of original research and an outline of the presentation to be given, and be 300-500 words. After the conference, presenting authors will be invited to submit a full paper (4,000-6,000 words) for peer review and inclusion in the book of proceedings, published by Routledge.​​​​

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Conference Fees and Registration

 

Register no later than 1st May to get the early-bird rate of £275 per delegate. After 1st May fees will rise to £325.

 

Fees include coffee/tea and snacks throughout the conference, lunch Saturday and Sunday, conference dinner Saturday and pizza at the live music event on Friday evening.

 

A 15% discount is available for currently registered research students. This is equivalent to £235, rising to £255 after the early-bird period. To obtain this discount, research-degree candidates should send an institutional letter that verifies their student status to the info@musicinnovation.co.uk email address.

 

The registration portal for Innovation In Music 2025 is now live and can be accessed at the following link:

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https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/bath-spa-university-events-and-conferencing/t-vvgrkka

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Suggested Hotels

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The following list of hotels are all within Bath City Centre and are a short walk from the conference venue at Bath Spa University's Sion Hill campus:

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Premier Inn Bath City Centre

 

Travelodge Bath Central

 

Travelodge Bath City Centre

 

Travelodge Bath Waterside

 

Apex Bath

 

Z Hotel

 

YMCA Bath Hostel

 

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Dates and Deadlines

 

01 December 2024 – Abstracts submission portal opens

31 January 2025 – Abstracts submission deadline

14 February 2025 – Authors notified of acceptance

01 May 2025 – Earlybird registration discount ends

02 June 2025 – Registration closes

20 June 2025 – Conference opens

31 July 2025 – Deadline for submitting full chapters

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Organisation

 

Dr Matthew Lovett - Bath Spa University, UK
Professor Jan-Olof Gullö – Royal College of Music (KMH), Sweden
Professor Justin Paterson – University of West London, UK
Associate Professor Russ Hepworth-Sawyer – MOTTOsound & York St John University, UK
Professor Rob Toulson – RT60 Ltd, UK

For any other enquiries please email info@innovationinmusic.uk​