Music City Melbourne: Urban Culture, History and Policy

by Shane Homan, Seamus O'Hanlon, Catherine Strong, John Tebbutt

Overview

How did Melbourne earn its place as one of the world's 'music cities'? Beginning with the arrival of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, this book explores the development of different sectors of Melbourne's popular music ecosystem in parallel with broader population, urban planning and media industry changes in the city.

The authors draw on interviews with Melbourne musicians, venue owners and policy-makers, documenting their ambitions and experiences across different periods, with accompanying spotlights on the gendered, multicultural and indigenous contexts of playing and recording in Melbourne. Focusing on pop and rock, this is the first book to provide an extensive historical lens of popular music within an urban cultural economy that in turn investigates the contemporary nature and challenges of urban music activities and policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501365713
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/02/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Shane Homan is Associate Professor of Media Studies at Monash University, Australia. He is the editor of the Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Policy (2022).

Seamus O'Hanlon is Associate Professor of History at Monash University, Australia. He has published five books, including City Life: The New Urban Australia (2018).

Catherine Strong is Associate Professor in the Music Industry program at RMIT in Melbourne, Australia. Among her publications are Towards Gender Equality in the Music Industry: Education, Practice and Strategies for Change (co-editor, Bloomsbury 2019) and Death and the Rock Star (co-editor, 2015).

John Tebbutt is Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Australia.
Shane Homan is Head of the School of Media, Film, and Journalism at Monash University, Australia. He is a leading international researcher on the music industries and music policy, including work with various Australian governments. He is the co-author of Popular Music and the State (2015), the co-editor of Popular Music and Cultural Policy (2015), Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now (2008), and Access All Eras (2006), and editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Policy (2022). His latest co-authored book is Music City Melbourne (Bloomsbury, 2022).
Seamus O'Hanlon is Associate Professor of History at Monash University, Australia.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction

2. The Transformed City

3. The Live Music City

4. The Media City

5. The Recording City

6. The Legendary City

7. The Divided City

8. The Branded City

9. Conclusion
Endnotes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Music City Melbourbane is one of the best books I've read in the growing field of urban music studies. More than just a celebration of Melbourbane's well-known musical effervescence, Music City Melbourbane offers meticulously-researched analyses of the role of public policy, media, social divisions, entrepreneurship and urban planning in the city's rich history of music-making. Written by leading experts in their fields, the book is academically rigorous and a pleasure to read.” —Will Straw, Professor of Urban Media Studies, McGill University, Canada

“Melbourbane has been long touted as Australia's 'live music capital', and one of the world's most creative cities. How did this come to be? In their far-reaching exploration, Homan, O'Hanlon, Strong and Tebbutt dived into the archives, trawled old newspapers, delved into licensing and venue regulations and conducted interviews with musicians, booking agents, managers, fans and policy-makers, to reveal the hidden stories beneath the fabled 'music city'. It's a most welcome addition to the debate about creative cities, and model for how to examine musical histories in place.” —Chris Gibson, Professor of Human Geography, University of Wollongong, Australia, and author of The Guitar: Tracing the Grain Back to the Tree

“If you are interested in the music cities concept and related debates, then this case study of the place of pop and rock in Melbourbane, Australia will be a must-read. Delving into the pleasures and pressures of urban music activities, industries and policies, the authors guide the reader through the city's 'popular music ecosystem' from the 1950s onwards. Though not intended as a definitive account of Melbourbane's music, the analysis - punctuated as it is with the voices of fans, musicians, managers, venue owners, jourbanalists and policy makers - works effectively to bring alive a multitude of historical and contemporary experiences of this important 'live music capital.'” —Sarah Baker, Professor in Cultural Sociology, Griffith University, Australia

From the Publisher