New member of CCI team: welcome Toby

CCI is happy to welcome Toby Bennett as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow working with Andy Pratt and Jenny M’Baye on the EU project H2020 project on cultural production chains in Europe. The project ends in 2023. Toby brings a wealth of experience, his research concerns issues of work, organisation, policy and knowledge in relation to cultural economies, particular from the perspectives of cultural studies, economic sociology and critical/social theory. Empirically, this has primarily (but not exclusively) focused on the music sector, at different scales. His doctoral research looked at employee experiences of digital transition in UK major record labels: including issues of ‘non-creative’ work and coordination in this context, as well as professionalisation through aspects like training and qualifications, commercial and policy research and new expressions of expertise. As postdoctoral researcher at Solent University, he worked on changing urban cultural development strategies, the ‘Music City’ as emerging policy object, and their embeddedness in local social histories. Prior to embarking on an academic career, he trained as a musician and worked in and around music businesses. He has since advised, commented or written reports on various aspects of the music economy for a number of cultural consultancies, trade bodies and journalists. Toby is based in A229 and contacted on Toby.Bennett@city.ac.uk