Professor Simon McKerrell
Head of Department
Department of Media and JournalismSimon McKerrell works at the intersection of media and music. His research focuses on music in the creative economy in rural areas, and he has published widely on the understanding the agency and mediatization of music and the people who make, consume, distribute, promote and share music. His latest book Beyond the State: Music in the Rural Creative Economy with Scottish Universities Press examines the sustainability of musical careers across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
His teaching broadly encompasses media, regulation and cultural policy, digitalization, music and platformization and he coordinates dissertations for the department of creative industries. He is also Research Culture lead for the school.
He has previously worked at the University of Sheffield, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Newcastle University, where he served as Head of Department, Director of Research in the School of Arts and Cultures, and as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation.
He is also well known internationally as a piper, uilleann piper and composer and has recorded 12 albums. Open to PhD students