[ecrea] Call for Papers: Music in (Quality) Television Series (2015)

Call for papers
MUSIC IN TELEVISION SERIES
International Conference at Kiel University, Germany
February 27–28, 2015

Quality TV, the third golden age of television – these are the terms 
that define the recent
developments of television series in the age of the internet. Television 
takes more risks, is
no longer dependent on the biggest audience possible, but on specific 
target groups within a
highly diversified market. These circumstances together with new modes 
of reception
(binge viewing, streams etc.) made the age of quality televison 
possible. From the aesthetic
freedoms of pay TV to series produced by online distributors – TV series 
are the new big
thing (again).

Even more than in the past, the music of these series plays an important 
part on many levels:
from the production to the narration to the marketing. TV series have 
turned songs into hits,
music supervisors have become important people for the TV and music 
industry. Music is
identified with the show, from the jingles and title themes to the 
musical choices of preexisting
music.

But the new level of televison series is not restricted to the US. 
British and Scandinavian
series have become popular and spawned several adaptions in the process. 
The musical
differences in these 'remade' shows (compared to the originals) are in 
many cases worth
investigating.

The music of this new quality TV is as diverse as the shows themselves. 
The depiction and
use of music in TV series has become far more important and complex than 
in the past, and,
due to its new multifunctionality, approaching (and possibly even 
surpassing) the qualities
of film music. The higher production values and importance of coherence 
have led to filmic
compositional techniques and a unique mixture of onscreen and offscreen 
music that has yet
to be described in scientific terms.

The field to be investigated is wide: from the narrative functions of 
music, to the TV presence
of musicians, the commercial aspects, extra- and intra-diegetic use of 
music, the play with
connotations of music, with star images both on the screen and on the 
stage. The global
exchange of music in US- and non-US series, the differences in US 
adaptions of non-US
series and the specific demands of seriality in narration and music are 
only some of the
topics we are interested in discussing.

The conference sets out to shed light on the theory and practice of 
music in contemporary
television series. We welcome submissions that deal with the narrativity 
of music, the filmmusical
roots of television music, performances in television series and close 
readings of
particularly striking examples. Although the main focus will be on more 
recent television
series, papers about online formats such as music in digital media 
series or online series will
also be considered.

Please submit a short abstract (5-10 lines) and a curriculum vitae (3-5 
lines) to Willem
Strank: (filmmusik /at/ email.uni-kiel.de) The deadline for submissions is May 
29, 2014. The best
and most significant papers will be published either in our journal 
Kieler Beiträge zur
Filmmusikforschung or in an edited volume.

Please don't hesitate to distribute our call for papers to others who 
may be interested!

The language of the conference will be English.

Possible issues (among others) include:

· Comic functions of music in contemporary sitcoms or animated series
· Narrativity of music in television series
· Structural elements that combine narration and music
· The question of seriality in narration and music
· Structural principles of onscreen and offscreen music in television series
· Case studies about the role of music in one particular television series
· Musical contexts and traditions in television series
· Songs in television series
· Theme/title music for television series
· Music in online/digital media series
· Economic aspects of music in television series
· Non-US series, remakes across cultural boundaries
· The historicity of recent series




Matt Stahl, PhD

Associate Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
University of Western Ontario

New Book: Unfree Masters: Recording Artists and the Politics of Work, 
Duke University Press, 2013

“of all tools used in the shadow of the moon, men are the most apt to 
get out of order.”  (Herman Melville, Moby Dick)




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