Inequitable Access in the Music Related Industries: Proposed Strategies and Directions

Conference: The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture (KAMC2022)
Title: Inequitable Access in the Music Related Industries: Proposed Strategies and Directions
Stream: Arts Practices
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
Authors:
Niamh Gibbs, University of West London, United Kingdom

Abstract:

There has been a small, but powerful wave rippling within artistic academic discourse of recent years, a wave that has begun to challenge the ideas of equitable access within the arts and its lack of inclusion for disabled people. This wave has been driven by critical analysis of the medical model of disability and an emphasis on the social model by scholars including Linton, Dirth and Branscombe. This paper will cross examine social models of disability with artistic practices and structures connected to music related industries, to highlight current unaddressed issues surrounding inequitable access and consider how we as a collective can radically transform, adapt, and change these. Such issues explored will include those surrounding ableism, architectural inaccessibility, representation, opportunity, identity, performance, touring, promotion, education, research and intersectionality. Writings drawn upon will include those by Jonathan Sterne, Terryl Dobbs, Bess Williams, Jennifer Iverson, Joseph Strauss, Toby Sieber as well as the perspectives of disabled advocates and musicians. This paper will propose strategies to tackle these issues and how these may be employed in future in order to achieve more equitable access. It will also suggest beneficial future directions of musicological and artistic research in this important field.