Working in Music and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Second Call for Blog Posts

Following the excellent response to our first call for think pieces about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on musical work and research, we encourage scholars studying musical work to continue submitting short pieces for the Working in Music Blog. The goal is to continue the conversation about these topics and pool our resources together. Although eight months have passed since the Covid-19 outbreak was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, data is still scarce.

“Don’t switch off !” a slogan addressed to political decision-makers before the second lockdown in Belgium. Launched by No Culture No Future, it is supported by Facir, the Belgian Federation of French-speaking musicians.

Being an international network, we are particularly interested in gathering insights into different national contexts. Topics are open, but we encourage submissions about the following:

  1. The ongoing impact of the pandemic on musical workers

The pandemic has impacted all types of musical workers. Lockdown policies, closure of venues, and cancellation of live music events are creating unprecedented challenges for musical workers, including harming their jobs, mental health and economic situations, among other issues. How are musical workers adapting to these new circumstances? How are they coping with these new challenges? What projections do they have for their future? How are different countries and governments dealing with the crisis in the cultural sector?

We call for pieces that reflect on some of these issues, including all types of musical workers, such as music teachers, tech crews, performers, composers, singer-songwriters, managers, and even music scholars. Considering the worldwide scale of the current crisis, we encourage insights from different geographical contexts.

2. Researching musical work while in lockdown

How does research continue while in confinement? How can fieldwork and observations be replaced? Can all interviews be conducted online and with what effect? Are all archives and libraries accessible online? How do/can researchers adapt to the new working conditions? Is scholarship adapting to these new circumstances? Are new methodologies developing?

We call for pieces that critically reflect on some of these issues, considering different geographical contexts and academic status. Share your tips, experiences and digital resources on researching musical work during the lockdown.

3. Women in Music

We encourage pieces focused on gender inequality issues during the health emergency. We invite relevant pieces related to the above topics and also short interviews for our series Women in Music during Covid-19 (for guidance see this post and this other one). Feel free to use similar questions to those in the published posts or develop new ones. The aim is to hear the voices of women whose jobs and everyday lives have been seriously impacted by the pandemic and have not always had the time and space to make their voices heard.

* * *

Pieces must be between 250-750 words and can be written in either English, French or Spanish. Please include a brief bio or institutional description. Feel free to send a picture or video to include in your post, but be sure you are authorised to use it (all photos must be credited).

You can send your piece (in Word format) to  Gabrielle Kielich (gabrielle.kielich[at]mail.mcgill.ca).

We will collect and review the entries, communicate with authors about edits when necessary, and publish them on our website every two weeks until early March 2021.

We publicise all published posts on our Twitter account (@working_music) and our mailing list (subscribe here).

For a rough guide regarding entries, you can refer to our blog entry guidelines



Cite this blog post
ldebraba (2020, November 23). Working in Music and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Second Call for Blog Posts. Working in Music. Retrieved April 18, 2024, from https://doi.org/10.58079/vart

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