TMX: Dance Music Matters - How Can Research Support the Future of Nightlife

In recent years, within the fields of musicology and music psychology, there has been increasing research suggesting the multifaceted benefits of engaging in dance music culture.

However, this has been taking place in the context of public and political opposition to the nightlife sector, in addition to gentrification and escalating business rates, resulting in the industry suffering financially. Clubs are being forced out of business at an alarming rate and since 2005 the number of UK nightclubs has fallen from just over 3000 to just 960. The NTIA has warned that if this trend continues that December 31st, 2029, would mark the date of the ‘last night out.’ As a response to these worrying statistics, this event seeks to showcase the benefits of dance music as evidenced in academic research and ask the question of how such research can best support the future of nightlife.

The event will feature researchers from the University of Leeds who will provide accessible overviews into the benefits of engagement in electronic dance music culture:

    Professor Alice O'Grady (School of Performance and Cultural Industries) will present their research on older women’s motivations for and experiences of participating in electronic dance music culture, exploring how this group sustains and maintains and their involvement (with Alinka Greasley).
    James Cannon (School of Music) will present an overview of their real-world club research measuring movement, emotion and social connection on the dancefloor and its implications for well-being.

There will subsequently be an opportunity for audience Q&A and discussion of the research with a panel comprising our academic speakers, nightlife stakeholders, DJs and industry strategists. This will be followed by a roundtable discussion framed around the question: How can research best support the nightlife industry? The discussion will focus on how the industry can be supported through the use of existing research, the co-creation of empirical projects with industry partners, and other collaborative approaches that may benefit nightlife in the future. We welcome and encourage the contributions of audience members to our discussion.

    How do we effectively get research and data 'into the hands' of both (a) industry stakeholders and (b) nightlife policymakers?
    What collaborative research projects could we be doing that would have most impact for the industry?
    Could venues be used as sites for research co-creation with audience members, scientific experimentation or even public health interventions?
    How can we shift public and policymaker perceptions of nightlife from being seen as disruptive to being recognised as culturally and socially valuable
    How can we adapt venues to suit the needs of the younger, health-conscious demographic, and how may research support this?

Our panel members:

Alice O'Grady (Professor of Applied Performance, University of Leeds)

Alice is a Professor in Applied Performance and served as Head of the School of Performance and Cultural Industries between 2015 and 2020. Much of her research is situated within the field of electronic dance music culture and transformational festivals, where play, performance, and participation are encouraged to flourish as primary modes of embodied experience. Alice was a senior member of the editorial team of Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture for 15 years and has written extensively on festival performance, event cultures, and psytrance communities. Her most recent publication explores the experiences of older women within club culture and was co-authored with music psychologist Professor Alinka Greasley, also of the University of Leeds.

James Cannon (Postgraduate Researcher, University of Leeds)

James is a current Postgraduate Researcher in Music Psychology in the School of Music. He is currently undertaking research into the ways in which dance music promotes social connectedness through shared emotional experiences and embodiment as part of his PhD project. James has previously published research into the relationship between participation in dance music events and well-being (published in Music & Science with Alinka Greasley) and led the publication of a influential report produced in conjunction with the Night Time Industries Associated (NTIA) on dance music’s impact on communities and culture. James has presented his research at academic conferences and music industry events across UK and Europe. James has been obsessed with dance music since his formative teenage years and is especially a fan of UK bass music and festival culture. He is also an occasional DJ (when asked!).

Kikelomo Oludemi (DJ, Oroko Radio Co-Founder)

Kikelomo is a British-Nigerian DJ, presenter, curator, Boiler Room host, Rinse FM resident, and co-founder of Oroko Radio. Since starting out in 2017, she has played across multiple continents alongside leading artists. She has launched merchandise collaborations with Adidas and Keep Hush, performed and hosted for Boiler Room, and showcased her sound at events and venues such as Germany’s Melt Festival, the Netherlands’ Dekmantel Selektors, New York’s Nowadays, Kenya’s Beneath The Baobabs Festival, and Brazil’s Batekoo. Kikelomo regularly performs at Berlin’s Berghain/Panorama Bar and has played to a crowd of over 100,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate, broadcast nationally to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Alongside her artistic career, she works as a Senior Consultant in the music technology industry, with a decade of product development and marketing experience.

Rufy Ghazi (Music Tech & Research Executive and DJ)

Rufy Ghazi is a music business professional with experience in product management, digital transformation, and research. She works as a product consultant for music tech companies, drawing on experience at ByteDance (TikTok), Amra (Kobalt Music Group), and various early-stage startups. She is also the Music Research Lead at Audience Strategies, where she leads data-driven research projects for the wider music ecosystem. Her notable reports include The Third UK Electronic Music Industry Report (for NTIA), Sound Investments (mapping the UK music tech ecosystem for Music Technology UK), and A Slice of Fairness (for Aslice). Rufy is co-author of PROMPT for Musicians, a practical guide to AI language models for artists and music professionals. She has contributed to publications such as Billboard and Attack Magazine, writing on AI’s impact on the music industry and the economic realities facing DJs. A Tech Nation alumna, Abbey Road REDD and BPI GROW mentor, Rufy is a regular speaker at conferences including Slush, Eurosonic, IMS, and Reeperbahn Festival. She continues to advocate for ethical innovation and a more sustainable music industry. As Lady Ruffelin, her DJ sets explore drum & bass, dubstep, breakbeat, UKG, and other leftfield sounds. Her recent performances include opening for Gorillaz at the Copper Box Arena, London.

Tony Rigg (Music Industry / Cultural & Creative Industries Advisor)

Tony Rigg is a music industry advisor, practitioner, researcher, and academic affiliated with the University of Central Lancashire, where he established the MA Programme in Music Industry Management. He connects industry and academia as Founder of the Lancashire Music Association, Lancashire’s Ambassador for the Night Time Economy (NTIA), and Chair of the Lancashire Music Hub. He has held senior management roles in market-leading organisations, including Operations Director for Ministry of Sound, overseeing more than one hundred venues and thousands of music events. As an artist and electronic music producer, he has chart credentials and is co-editor/co-author of several books, including Popular Music in the Post-Digital Age: Politics, Economy, Culture and Technology (Bloomsbury, 2018), The Future of Live Music (Bloomsbury, 2020), The Evolution of Electronic Dance Music (2021), and The Present and Future of Music Law (Bloomsbury, 2021). He has also contributed to other publications examining electronic music and related culture.

TMX is a hybrid in person and online event that gives the public direct access to the research we do at the School of Music, University of Leeds. Bringing in partners, experts and collaborators from across music, industry and academia we aim not only to make music research accessible to all, but to forge new collaborations, connections and audiences.

Register:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tmx-dance-music-matters-how-can-research-support-the-future-of-nightlife-tickets-1835175592599