Coughing and Clapping ― Investigating Audience Experience

Coughing and Clapping: Investigating Audience Experience explores the processes and experiences of attending live music events from the initial decision to attend through to audience responses and memories of a performance after it has happened. The book brings together international researchers who consider the experience of being an audience member from a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives. Whether enjoying a drink at a jazz gig, tweeting at a pop concert or suppressing a cough at a classical recital, audience experience is affected by motivation, performance quality, social atmosphere and group and personal identity. Drawing on the implications of these experiences and attitudes, the authors consider the question of what makes an audience, and argue convincingly for the practical and academic value of that question.

Karen Burland is an Associate Professor in Music Psychology at the University of Leeds. Her published research focuses on jazz audiences and their engagement in live performances in different contexts; the environmental conditions leading to childhood musical success and the professional development of musicians during career transitions; professional and amateur musical identities; and music therapistsa€? use of music technology in therapeutic settings. Karen is a member of the SEMPRE committee and Reviews Editor for British Journal of Music Education. Stephanie Pitts is a Professor of Music Education at the University of Sheffield, UK and author of A Century of Change in Music Education (Ashgate, 2000), Valuing Musical Participation (Ashgate, 2005) and Chances and Choices: Exploring the Impact of Music Education (2012).