ANU Press Music
A music label and academic publisher to support excellent Australian music and research.
We hope this can become a repository for great music that would otherwise be buried and forgotten
– Kim Cunio, Head of ANU School of Music, Chair of ANU Press Music
ANU Press Music is Australia’s first open-access university music press and record label, providing a platform for artists and researchers working in musicology, performance, improvisation, intercultural and popular music. Our artists produce scholastic books, recordings and multimedia projects, all of which can be downloaded for free. All musical works are released with accompanying contextual research.
It is sponsored by ANU Press and the ANU School of Music and works with the ABC, the Australian Music Centre and the National Library of Australia to support music making, fostering a combination of excellence in music and critical discourse. It has three roles: to encourage excellence in music practice and research; to document the changing landscape of music in Australia; and to help Australian artists and music researchers find a sustainable career path that enables their best music to emerge.
This imprint supports academic musicians, enabling peer review of their work, and showing that music making within the university system is research. ANU Press Music allows musicians to make new and innovative works, with the support of the ANU, using this relationship to better advocate for external funding for their projects. ANU Press Music also supports artists in numerous genres, offering them the opportunity to be part of a larger curated narrative of Australian music and culture.
ANU Press Music prides itself on its innovation in the area of open-access scholarship and mirrors the model of ANU Press. Established in 2003, ANU Press has published over 800 publications, all of which are freely available on this website. ANU Press Music will be a dynamic part of an open-access revolution that allows artists to engage more directly with audiences. At the same time it will help artists to monetise their work, sending new traffic to external bodies that support Australian music and the artists themselves.
The imprint simultaneously fosters music and scholarship. This allows artists to make their music available, free from the constraints of the market place, as well as allowing significant works to be curated by the editorial board. Releases on ANU Press Music are open source and freely available, and where possible will be linked to a donation portal where listeners are able to directly support the work of artists and researchers.
Formats
- Books
- Edited collections
- Recordings
- Live performances
- Hybrid works
Focus areas
1. Artistic practice as (is) research
Responding to recent developments that see holistic research in the form of both scholarly text and music. Artistic practice releases will include short, article-length essays of 1,000–2,000 words, allowing the musician to investigate the conceptual framework, methodology and findings of the music in some detail, alongside the musical work itself.
2. Music and acoustic ecology
Music and our natural and built landscapes. Projects that respond to the living environment of Australia, taking into account field recording and the documentation of both natural and built habitats. There are significant possibilities for collaboration in this focus area, including environmental science, urban development, design and space itself.
3. Traditional, sacred and living musicology
These releases are part of the evolution and preservation of traditional music practice. Within this focus area there will be a special consideration of Aboriginal musical and interactive forms. Working in a cross-disciplinary manner, musicologists can combine with researchers and practitioners.
4. New music
A documentation through the recording of Australian composers and artists. This exploration is post-genre, allowing musicians to innovate as they create. Releases will include scholarly discussions on the music. There is a strong connection with the ABC, the Australian Music Centre and the National Library of Australia.
5. Boundary crossing
Music with technology, music with science, music with visual art, music with film, music with multimedia. Expanded notions of opera, film, radio as well as expanded music/literary works. Experimentalism is encouraged. Examples include collaborations with scientists, medical researchers, supporting the evolution of STEM to STEAM.
6. Reimagining popular music.
Fostering new talent in Australia and allowing emerging artists to make significant new works. A national showcase platform linked a discovery series.
