Michael Ahlers is professor of music education with a focus on popular music at the Leuphana University. Recent research projects focus on digital media, songwriting camps in the 21st century, resilience in the context of postdigital music industries, interpolation in popular music, and empirical research on music.
Benjamin Burkhart is a research associate at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. His research and teaching focus on popular music studies and jazz studies. In 2024, he served as an interim professor for the history and theory of popular music at the University of Gießen.
David Hesmondhalgh is Professor of Media, Music and Culture in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. His books include The Cultural Industries (5th edition, 2025) and Why Music Matters (2013), and an edited collection, Music Streaming Around the World (2025).
Christofer Jost is a senior researcher and associate professor (Privatdozent) at the University of Freiburg, working in the fields of popular music studies and media and cultural studies. Since 2024 he has been chair of the German-speaking branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM D-A-CH).
D. Bondy Valdovinos Kaye is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. Kaye’s research focuses on copyright, digital platforms, cultural policy, and the music industries. Kaye is author of TikTok: Creativity and Culture in Short Video (2022).
Gabrielle Kielich is a Senior Research Fellow in Music at the University of Huddersfield. Her research interests include live music and touring, women and the electric guitar, the history and culture of British punk and rock music, and qualitative interviewing. She is the author of The Road Crew: Live Music and Touring (Routledge 2024).
Riccardo Pronzato is a critical algorithm researcher, currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bologna. He holds a Ph.D. with honours from IULM University (Milan, Italy) and was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge and at RMIT University. His research critically analyses algorithmic production and people’s relationships with digital platforms.
Massimiliano Raffa is a cultural sociologist and musician, currently a Research Fellow at the University of Insubria. He has lectured at IULM University Milan, the University of Salento, the Conservatory of Lecce and SAE Institute, and spent visiting research periods at Utrecht University and the University of Liverpool. His research explores cultural production, social theory, and popular music.
Carsten Wernicke is a research assistant in the German part of the research project Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century at Leuphana University Lüneburg and teaches at the Popakademie Mannheim. His work focuses on qualitative research methodology in music-related context, media and interface theory, music and luxury.
Qian Zhang is Professor at the Communication University of China (CUC), Beijing, and was Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2018-19). She has published extensively in Chinese, notably the monograph Producing Popularity: The Formation and Transformation of China’s Recorded Music Industry (2024). Her English publications include articles about data fandom, songs during the Cold War, contemporary soundscapes, and traditional music making in Guizhou.
