This thesis exists to contextualise, document, and evaluate the knowledge contributed by the practice as research PhD project: The Development of Dialogic Music. The area of this project's investigation is expressed by the phrase 'experimental sonic performance', a term used to describe my own practice. This practice is historically positioned in relation to a broad selection of artistic activities, ranging from Luigi Russolo's (1913) The All of Noises to the relatively recent activities of musical groups such as AMM and Einsturzende Neubauten. Within this project I have primarily focused on the possibility of dialogue, as described by Martin Buber, and its actualisation within music making activities. The thesis attempts to clarify misconceptions regarding Buber's study of humanity's 'twofold attitudes' towards relation, whilst also exploring Walter Kaufmann's critique of dualism in an attempt to augment Buber's dialogic ontology. While partially relying on knowledge gained from such philosophizing as a starting point, my own understanding of dialogue has developed through a process of sonic experimentation through performance. The resulting five practical works, and their generative processes, have been recorded and summarised in the form of an audio-visual documentary, made available as part of this thesis. Interlaced with documentation of workshops, rehearsals, instrument construction and performances are extracts from a series of interviews that present the reflections of research participants including codirectors, performers, designers, and audience members. This practical work is presented in two parts. 'Documentation of Early Practical Investigations' presents material that was created during the preliminary stages of the project, prior to the written articulation of my theoretical framework. 'Documentation of Later Practical Investigations' provides a form of access to the work that was developed in parallel to this project's written components. In both parts the documentation is presented in a linear order clearly to illustrate the developmental process that took place during the project's realisation. Knowledge gained through feedback, conversations, and personal reflection on this body of work has been communicated in the form of an ethic of practice. It should be made clear that my use of the term 'ethic' relates more directly to its older relationship with the word 'ethos', rather than to a dogmatic set of rules, or maxims. This ethic has beendesigned to challenge dominant notions regarding how one should go about perceiving and making music. Further, in this section I hope to challenge and/or affirm individual artistic practitioners and active listeners who feel that a certain responsibility exists within their actions. Also included within this ethic is a workshop programme for directors of musical ensembles. This programme attempts to encourage the reader to take the 'idea of dialogue' presented by this thesis, and attempt the more meaningful leaming experience accessible in the actualisation of dialogue. The thesis concludes with an epilogue, which makes explicit the project's multiple contributions to knowledge, the relationships between these contributions, and their significance to the field. The epilogue continues to stress the importance of an approach that does not aim to generate definitive results, but rather emphasises the need for continual development. In light of this notion, the epilogue concludes by pointing to the possibilities for future research.

The impact on the UK recorded music industry of digital music files distributed via the Internet has been studied using Clayton M. Christensen's Disruptive Innovation Theory. The study has identified that the recent innovation of Internet retail and distribution of digital music files was indeed disruptive (rather than sustaining) in nature in its impact on the established UK record manufacturers and retailers. Furthermore, Christensen's theories have been used to investigate the factors (assets, culture and capabilities) that impeded the established UK recorded music manufacturers from adopting and promoting the new technology to create a digital consumer proposition. The reluctance of the established record manufacturers to embrace and therefore control the new technology of digital music files distributed via the Internet allowed new retailers like Apple's iTunes to become the dominant providers to the new digital consumers. The study therefore considers and identifies the organisational assets, culture and capabilities that created the most successful Internet retailing operation for digital music and in so doing reveals how to incorporate and harness disruptive technology for commercial gain within the established recorded music industry. Finally, the study proposes a strategic framework for UK recorded music companies so that they can respond successfully to disruptive technologies that will in future alter their market sector, including consumer attitudes and music usage. This framework will give the record companies the opportunity to manage the impact of disruptive technologies, enabling them to adapt their business strategies and tactics to provide a service that meets consumer needs the next time an innovative technology impacts the established manufacturing and retailing paradigm.

The purpose of the study was to discover the effects of using peer assisted learning in acquiring skills in music composition. The ten criteria used for assessing the effects of peer assisted learning comprised six concerning social qualities and four relating to cognitive aspects of what might be learned from working and learning together. The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods, encompassing interviews with the teacher, questionnaires for the students and observation. The latter included a quantitative element. The research took place in the natural settings of timetabled music lessons in Year Seven at an English comprehensive secondary school. This peer assisted learning research is believed to be the only such project conducted entirely in the unadulterated classroom settings. The lessons followed the teacher’s choice of lesson material and the length of time normally allowed for lessons in that school. No changes in classroom organisation, timing, or for any other reason were requested by, or made for, the researcher. Each class was divided into groups whose size, ability and gender were determined by the teacher. From these groups, the teacher selected the three which were the focus of this research. All three of the sample groups showed some evidence of the beneficial effects of peer assisted learning socially and cognitively although this varied according to the children’s different ability levels. Peer assisted learning was found to be most successful where children were able to work together cohesively and communicate well, either verbally or musically. Most children either acquired new musical skills or enhanced those they already possessed through the use of peer assisted learning.

<p> </p> <p>Throughout the long 1970s, country music actively sought to cultivate a more traditional, “authentic,” and conservative image and sound. By examining the country music industry, during the long 1970s, this dissertation highlights how authenticity, Southern heritage, and traditionalism within country music overlapped with the South’s broader resistance to social change. Past studies of country music have primarily been concerned with how the music and its traditional format represent the working-class culture of its audience. However, very little attention has been paid to how this adherence to authenticity and traditionalism impacted its artists, particularly the female ones. In turn, the scholarship that does pertain solely to female artists is often dismissive of the impact that the country music industry and its restrictive culture had on female artists and instead opts to foster a retroactively feminist portrayal of the them and their music.</p> <p>In examining the careers of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tanya Tucker, and Tammy Wynette, this dissertation argues that country music held its female artists to a far stricter standard than its male artists throughout the long 1970s and actively encouraged them to foster lyrics and personas that were in line with the genre’s conception of traditional femininity. Over time, artists like Lynn and Wynette became so intrinsically connected to these traditional personas that they could not escape it, which negatively impacted not only their careers but personal lives as well. Likewise, when Parton and Tucker attempted to challenge the gendered restriction that they encountered within country music, they were punished and shunned by the broader country music community to the point that they left it altogether. </p> <p>By exploring these highly calculated measures that the industry used to maintain each of these elements and its broader effects on the genre, its artists, and audience base, this dissertation also highlights how the authenticity label evolved into a gatekeeping term, employed at various times throughout the industry’s history to prevent unsatisfactory or controversial ideologies, images, people, and musical elements from gaining access to or the ability to change and diversify the genre. </p>