[rohrpost] How Enthusiasts, Amateurs and Hobbyists Shape the (Music) World

[Krystian Woznicki]

Hallo Rohrpost,

morgen spreche um 15 Uhr im Rahmen des club 
transmediale Diskursprogramms mit 
Medientheoretiker Richard Barbrook. Nachfolgend 
die Info der Veranstaltung. Viele Grüße, Krystian

http://www.clubtransmediale.de/festival-09/day-program/day-schedule.html

Discussion: How Enthusiasts, Amateurs and Hobbyists Shape the (Music) World  	
Richard Barbrook [UK] / Moderation: Krystian Woznicki [DE]
	
TUE 27.01. 15:00 KKB
	
"The 20th Century was shaped by the rise of 
professionals, but now a new breed of amateurs 
has emerged." With this thesis, Paul Miler and 
Charles Leadbeater open their book, "The Pro-Am 
Revolution ­ How enthusiasts are changing our 
economy and society". In recent history, more 
than a few innovations have emerged from amateur 
cultures and social niches, particularly in the 
area of digital culture. As a result of the 
easier approach to knowledge and technology, it 
has become possible for an ever-increasing number 
of individuals to participate in shaping society 
on a high level based on non-monetary motives as 
"professional amateurs". The borders between 
amateurs and professionals are thus becoming 
increasingly permeable. Through social networks, 
blogs and free downloads, an increasing number of 
lateral entrants, specifically in the field of 
music, are currently achieving unexpected 
relevance while many professional musicians, due 
to changing modalities of exploitation, are 
afraid of falling back into an amateur status. 
The discussion traces the societal impact and 
opportunities of this development.

Richard Barbrook: Political scientist, University 
of Westminster, London. He studied at the 
Universities of Cambridge, Essex and Kent. In the 
early 80s he was involved primarily with pirate 
and community radio stations and helped establish 
Spectrum Radio, a multilingual local radio 
station in London. From 1995 to 2005 he was 
coordinator of the Hypermedia Research Centre at 
the University of Westminster, where he now 
lectures in Political Science. Barbrook has 
focused since the 1980s on emancipatory uses of 
media as in pirate radio stations, for example. 
In his book, The Class of the New, he critically 
analyses the notion that a new class of 
immaterial creative workers comprises society’s avant-garde.
 > www.imaginaryfutures.net

Krystian Woznicki was born in 1972 in Glatz, 
Silesia, and now lives in Berlin. A culture 
critic, he worked in the 90s as a columnist for 
the Japan Times and as Tokyo correspondent for 
Spex magazine. In recent years he (co-)edited 
several readers and is presently chief editor of 
the Berliner Gazette. His debut publication as an 
author appeared in 2008: Abschalten. 
Paradiesproduktion, Massentourismus und 
Globalisierung (Kadmos). As initiator/curator of 
various cultural projects (screenings, 
exhibitions, symposia etc.) he worked among other 
places in Japan, Mexico and Belgium.
 > www.berlinergazette.de



[KKB] KUNSTRAUM KREUZBERG BETHANIEN
Mariannenplatz 2
10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Public transport:
U8 > Kottbusser Tor
S3, S4, S8, S9 > S-BHF Ostbahnhof

10 minutes walking distance from MAO.