Music by Numbers: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industries

 

As a Christmas present this year, I received hard copies of Music by Numbers: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industries, a book that I co-edited with the great Dave Laing.

            It has been a long time coming. Dave proposed the idea for the book at the inaugural Working in Music conference, which took place in Glasgow in January 2016. What a five years it has been since then. The Trump presidency has come and nearly gone. The UK has had the Brexit vote and is set to leave the European Union at the end of this week. Covid-19 has transformed the world.

            On a personal and professional note, the saddest event has been Dave’s death. He passed in January 2019, having kept from me how seriously ill he had become. Music by Numbers is the last book project that he worked on. I hope that I have managed to complete it with the care and skill that Dave’s legacy warrants. One of the most satisfying aspects for me is that this edited collection contains chapters by many of his friends.

Music by Numbers provides the first in-depth examination of the use and abuse of statistics in the music industries and addresses five key areas: sales and awards; music industry policy; live music; music piracy; and digital solutions. Its aim is to expose the culture and politics of data. The book has been published by Intellect, with the brilliant help of production editor Aimée Bates. It can be ordered via this link.