Ragnhild Nordset, Business & Management, University of Liverpool (2020 Cohort)

With a few academic conferences under my belt, including presenting my PhD research at EGOS, I felt ready to face the music. Or to be more precise; face the music industry. My research focuses on the wellbeing experiences of the working artist and the Popular Music and Wellbeing Conference would be my first industry conference presenting my own work. I have enjoyed and learned from all the academic conferences I have had the privilege of attending, but it is the kind of experience that can be just as alienating as fulfilling. Perhaps it is the many different disciplines crammed together for a short period of time, or the pressure for many academics to be seen and heard in a meaningful way at these influential happenings? Whatever the cause, by the end of them I have always been happy and ready to reconnect with the ‘normal’ world. I must admit, the industry experience was a different kettle of fish.  

So, there I was, at my first industry conference, opening day two of the event with my current findings and key discussion points. It belongs to the story that the person behind the very research that initially inspired and grounded my whole PhD was one of the keynote speakers, Dr George Musgrave. No pressure, right? However, before we even got to the opening keynote, the curators Mark Donnelly and Richard Mills had set the tone with a warm and rather unorthodox event welcome. The same tone carried on through all the presentations and in the Q&As to follow. This was simply quite different to my academic conference experience – this was more compassionate and perhaps more human. Through the speakers we were introduced to the ethical and moral responsibility of music educators, the political awareness created by Radiohead on blue spaces, the undeniable relevance of music in education, as well as the lasting feminist impression of the living legend that is Joni Mitchell. By the time day two came around with my turn in the limelight, I could feel the significance of me presenting my work within this context.

After so many discussions, it was as if I was speaking in front of friends. Any need to impress or convince had evaporated and I was left feeling only that I was there to share something that was important to us all: The state of the many artists we all relate to and rely on. It felt empowering to speak in front of peers. The conference speakers and attendees all shared and displayed ambition on behalf of the field, rather than on behalf of their career. Don’t get me wrong, climbing the career ladder matters but the support for the progression of our field was a clear priority as it is an environment we have all been influenced by and care deeply for.