Biography
Tom joined King's as a Teaching Fellow in Ethnomusicology in January 2018. His previous posts include a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at KCL (2013-2016) and a Stipendiary Lectureship in Music at Magdalen College, Oxford (2012-2013). Prior to that, he completed his doctorate at Oxford under the supervision of Martin Stokes.
His research among Mirpuris in Pakistan and the UK explores questions of money, value, and exchange among musicians in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and its diaspora in Britain. Between 2009-2014 he spent time conducting fieldwork in Pakistan, travelling with musicians throughout Kashmir to perform at the functions of British-Mirpuris. His monograph in preparation explores the question of how musicians create value in economic environments that are being rapidly and radically transformed by migration, changing flows of money, and new technologies.
Drawing on his experience as founder of a music-tech platform, his latest project, on the ethnomusicology of algorithms and artificial intelligence, expands this theme to consider how proprietary algorithms – like those of Spotify and YouTube – are shaping musical practices and creativity in the Global South.
Tom has toured and recorded extensively around the world with UK indie folk band Stornoway, performing on the main stages at Glastonbury, Green Man and Latitude. He also co-founded the music startup, Tigmus, which uses technology and analytics to match artists with venues and promoters.
Research Interests and PhD Supervision
- Ethnomusicology
- Algorithms & Artificial Intelligence
- Music and Pakistan
- Migration
- Music and Globalisation
Expertise and Public Engagement
Tom has written various articles on multiculturalism and university admissions for The New Statesman and The Times. He was also Assistant Producer for the six-part series ‘Made in Britain’ for BBC Radio 2, which looked at music in Britain since the 1950s.
Selected Publications
- (2016) ‘Music Festivals in Pakistan and England’ in Karin van Nieuwkerk, Mark LeVine, Martin Stokes (eds.), Islam and Popular Culture, Austin, Uni. Texas Press.
- (2014) ‘Le mela de Bradford’, Special Issue on Festivals, Les cahiers d'ethnomusicologie.
- (2012) ‘Multicultural Harmony? Pakistani Muslims and Music in Bradford’, in, Kamal Salhi (ed.), Music, Culture and Identity in the Muslim World: Performance, Politics and Piety, London: Routledge, in press.