Project description
A closer look at short-form platforms and music culture
In recent decades, music culture has undergone a significant transformation due to the rise and fall of various media platforms. For instance, MTV boosted global music visibility during its peak. Today, however, short-form platforms are reshaping how music is produced, circulated, and experienced. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MuSiC project investigates these short-form music videos. It develops a new theoretical framework to analyse the mutual agency of artists, audiences, and platforms, examining how independent musicians adapt to platform logics, how audiences experience short-form music videos, and how platforms act as powerful gatekeepers of music culture.
Objective
This two-year postdoctoral project will investigate how short-form music videos are transforming music culture. Once MTV shaped global music visibility; today, a few seconds of sound can generate cultural moments, launch careers, and position platforms as powerful gatekeepers. This is not merely a trend but a systemic shift in how music is produced, circulated, and experienced, deeply mediated by digital platforms.The project will analyse the mutual agency of three central actors—artists, audiences, and platforms. It pursues three objectives: (1) to examine how independent musicians adapt to platform logics of virality, metrics, and visibility, and how this reshapes their creative strategies and professional identities; (2) to explore how audiences experience short-form videos (3) to develop a new theoretical framework linking user practices, artist labour, and evolving aesthetics of the music video. Methodologically, this study will apply a triangulated design: mapping platform affordances and trends; conducting in-depth interviews with artists and young audiences; and performing content analysis of music video aesthetics. This interdisciplinary approach integrates Media and Communication Studies, Popular Music Studies, Music Technologies, Cultural Studies, and Sociology, ensuring a holistic account of how creativity, participation, and cultural value are reconfigured in the digital environment. The expected impact is threefold. Scientifically, it will generate the first integrated, user-centred framework for understanding short-form music video cultures. Societally, it will examine how platforms shape content diversity, participation, and cultural consumption (and are shaped by them), providing artists and audiences with critical tools. Economically, it will deliver actionable insights to cultural industries and policymakers, supporting sustainable careers and inclusive cultural policies within the rapidly expanding global music ecosystem.
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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HD1 3DH HUDDERSFIELD
United Kingdom
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