Dr John Williamson

  • Lecturer (Music)

telephone: 0141 330 7414
email: John.C.Williamson@glasgow.ac.uk

Room 402, 14 University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QH

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998

Biography

Since 2019 I have been a Lecturer in Music.

Before that, I was Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Research Fellow in Popular Music Studies between 2016-19 and a research associate on an AHRC-funded project examining the history of the British Musicians' Union. 

Before that, I spent twenty years largely self-employed doing various jobs in and around the music industries in Glasgow.

These included working as a journalist (for The Herald newspaper), band manager (for bis, Belle and Sebastian and others) and concert promoter / event organiser, often simultaneously.

Inevitably, this has informed some of my research and teaching interests, and I completed my PhD in 2010 while doing a mixture of the above. 

I was chair of the judging panel for the Scottish Album of the Year award between 2012-2022. 

 

Research interests

My research combines an interest in the political economy and business practices of the contemporary music industries within the wider context of the history and politics of popular music.

More specifically, my PhD looked at the changes in the early C21st music industries from the perspectives of intellectual property, rent-seeking and entrepreneurship; my subsequent work has focused on the nature of musical labour and organisations during the twentieth century and I am currently completing a project on representations of Scottishness and popular music in the early days of television.

 

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2009 | 2007 | 2004 | 2003
Number of items: 34.

2025

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300, Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Sarim, Mohd ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4977-2059 and Androvik, Marisa (2025) Uncovering Sauchiehall Street - a cultural & heritage map. [Website]

2023

Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (Eds.) (2023) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London. ISBN 9781032161983

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Stramash! When pop music television comes to Scotland. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London, pp. 15-23. ISBN 9781032161983

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Performing in Gaelic: A conversation with Joy Dunlop. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London, pp. 71-79. ISBN 9781032161983

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Riverside Festival, Glasgow: An interview with Dave Clarke and Mark McKechnie. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: New York, pp. 59-70. ISBN 9781032161983

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Musicians as workers and the gig economy. Popular Music and Society, 46(4), pp. 354-370. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2023.223126)

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300, Sarim, Mohd ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4977-2059 and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Glasgow Music City Map. [Website]

2022

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300 and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2022) Glasgow Music City. [Website]

2021

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2021) The Kilt Is My Delight: popular music on early television from Scotland. Journal of Popular Television, 9(1), pp. 105-122. (doi: 10.1386/jptv_00044_1)

2019

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2019) The Rearguard of the Revolution: MI5, Communism and British musicians. Cold War, Aesthetics and Popular Culture, Turku, Finland, 13 December 2019. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2019) Ten Years of Tears: Glasgow as a UNESCO City of Music. Solent Festival of Ideas, Southampton, UK, 19 June 2019. (Unpublished)

2017

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2017) The music industries: theory, practice and vocations – a polemical intervention. In: Heile, Björn, Moreda Rodriguez, Eva and Stanley, Jane (eds.) Higher Education in Music in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 112-125. ISBN 9781472467324

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2017) Introduction. Popular Music and Society, 40(5), pp. 493-498. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2017.1351117)

2016

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Protecting Musicians from themselves? Critical reflections on 123 years of the Musicians’ Union. Royal Musical Association 52nd Annual Conference, Guild Hall, London, 02-05 Sep 2016. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, Martin (2016) Players' Work Time: A History of the British Musicians' Union, 1893-2013. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526113948 (doi: 10.7228/manchester/9781784991326.001.0001)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) 'A thankless task' - ATP and independent festival promotion in the UK. Keep It Simple Make It Fast (KISMIF), Porto, Portugal, 17-22 Jul 2016. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Fighting on all Fronts: The Amalgamated Musicians' Union During the First World War. Business as Usual?: Institutional Impact in the First World War, University of Glasgow, UK, 02 Mar 2016. (Unpublished)

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Keeping Music Live: The History of the Musicians' Union. [Exhibitions]

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Workers or Capitalists? Reflections on Musicians as Employers. In: Working in Music: The Musicians’ Union, Musical Labour and Employment, Glasgow, Scotland, 14-15 Jan 2016,

2015

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) Workers as Capitalists? Some Reflections on Musicians as Employers. In: Capitalism, Culture and Media, Leeds, England, 7-8 Sep 2015,

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) Artist managers and entrepreneurship: risk takers of risk averse? In: Dumbreck, Allan and McPherson, Gayle (eds.) Music Entrepreneurship. Bloomsbury: London, pp. 87-112. ISBN 9781472525406

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) For the benefit of all musicians? The musicians' union and performers' rights in the UK. In: Rahmatian, Andreas (ed.) Concepts of Music and Copyright: How Music Perceives Itself and How Copyright Perceives Music. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp. 167-193. ISBN 9781783478187

2014

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2014) Co-operation and conflict: the British musicians' union, musical labour and copyright. MusiCultures, 41(1), pp. 73-92.

2013

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2013) Researching the British Musicians’ Union: Bridging Troubled Waters. In: 17th International conference (IASPM), Gijon, Spain, 24-28 Jun 2013,

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2013) Researching The Musicians Union: Some Initial Findings. In: Musicians’ Union Conference, Manchester, England, Jul 2013,

2012

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, M. (2012) Contextualising the contemporary recording industry. In: Marshall, Lee (ed.) The International Recording Industries. Series: Routledge advances in sociology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 9780415603454

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2012) Researching The Musicians' Union: Some Initial Thoughts On A Musical Community. In: IASPM UK and Ireland Conference, Manchester, England, Sep 2013,

2011

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Cloonan, M. and Frith, S. (2011) Having an impact? Academics, the music industries and the problem of knowledge. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 17(5), pp. 459-474. (doi: 10.1080/10286632.2010.550682)

2009

Frith, S., Cloonan, M. and Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2009) On music as a creative industry. In: Pratt, A.C. and Jeffcutt, P. (eds.) Creativity, Innovation and the Cultural Economy. Series: Routledge studies in global competition (46). Routledge, pp. 74-89. ISBN 9780415419758

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2009) Mapping the music industry in Scotland: building an industry or building an empire. In: Gyde, A. and Stahl, G. (eds.) Practising Popular Music. International Association for the Study of Popular Music: Montreal, pp. 129-138.

2007

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, M. (2007) Rethinking the music industry. Popular Music, 26(2), pp. 305-322. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143007001262)

2004

Cloonan, M., Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Frith, S. (2004) What is music worth? Some reflections on the Scottish experience. Popular Music, 23(2), pp. 205-212.

2003

Cloonan, M. and Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2003) Mapping the music industry in Scotland: building an industry or building an empire? In: 12th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM), Montreal, Canada, 3-7 July 2003, pp. 129-138.

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Cloonan, M. and Frith, S. (2003) Mapping the Music Industry in Scotland: A Report. Project Report. Scottish Enterprise.

This list was generated on Mon Jun 30 11:17:54 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Edited Books | Research Reports or Papers | Conference or Workshop Item | Conference Proceedings | Exhibitions | Website
Number of items: 34.

Articles

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Musicians as workers and the gig economy. Popular Music and Society, 46(4), pp. 354-370. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2023.223126)

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2021) The Kilt Is My Delight: popular music on early television from Scotland. Journal of Popular Television, 9(1), pp. 105-122. (doi: 10.1386/jptv_00044_1)

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2017) Introduction. Popular Music and Society, 40(5), pp. 493-498. (doi: 10.1080/03007766.2017.1351117)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2014) Co-operation and conflict: the British musicians' union, musical labour and copyright. MusiCultures, 41(1), pp. 73-92.

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Cloonan, M. and Frith, S. (2011) Having an impact? Academics, the music industries and the problem of knowledge. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 17(5), pp. 459-474. (doi: 10.1080/10286632.2010.550682)

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, M. (2007) Rethinking the music industry. Popular Music, 26(2), pp. 305-322. (doi: 10.1017/S0261143007001262)

Cloonan, M., Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Frith, S. (2004) What is music worth? Some reflections on the Scottish experience. Popular Music, 23(2), pp. 205-212.

Books

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, Martin (2016) Players' Work Time: A History of the British Musicians' Union, 1893-2013. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526113948 (doi: 10.7228/manchester/9781784991326.001.0001)

Book Sections

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Stramash! When pop music television comes to Scotland. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London, pp. 15-23. ISBN 9781032161983

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Performing in Gaelic: A conversation with Joy Dunlop. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London, pp. 71-79. ISBN 9781032161983

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Riverside Festival, Glasgow: An interview with Dave Clarke and Mark McKechnie. In: Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John (eds.) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: New York, pp. 59-70. ISBN 9781032161983

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2017) The music industries: theory, practice and vocations – a polemical intervention. In: Heile, Björn, Moreda Rodriguez, Eva and Stanley, Jane (eds.) Higher Education in Music in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 112-125. ISBN 9781472467324

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) Artist managers and entrepreneurship: risk takers of risk averse? In: Dumbreck, Allan and McPherson, Gayle (eds.) Music Entrepreneurship. Bloomsbury: London, pp. 87-112. ISBN 9781472525406

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) For the benefit of all musicians? The musicians' union and performers' rights in the UK. In: Rahmatian, Andreas (ed.) Concepts of Music and Copyright: How Music Perceives Itself and How Copyright Perceives Music. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp. 167-193. ISBN 9781783478187

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 and Cloonan, M. (2012) Contextualising the contemporary recording industry. In: Marshall, Lee (ed.) The International Recording Industries. Series: Routledge advances in sociology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 9780415603454

Frith, S., Cloonan, M. and Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2009) On music as a creative industry. In: Pratt, A.C. and Jeffcutt, P. (eds.) Creativity, Innovation and the Cultural Economy. Series: Routledge studies in global competition (46). Routledge, pp. 74-89. ISBN 9780415419758

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2009) Mapping the music industry in Scotland: building an industry or building an empire. In: Gyde, A. and Stahl, G. (eds.) Practising Popular Music. International Association for the Study of Popular Music: Montreal, pp. 129-138.

Edited Books

Frith, Simon, Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (Eds.) (2023) Made in Scotland: Studies in Popular Music. Series: Routledge global popular music series. Routledge: London. ISBN 9781032161983

Research Reports or Papers

Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Cloonan, M. and Frith, S. (2003) Mapping the Music Industry in Scotland: A Report. Project Report. Scottish Enterprise.

Conference or Workshop Item

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2019) The Rearguard of the Revolution: MI5, Communism and British musicians. Cold War, Aesthetics and Popular Culture, Turku, Finland, 13 December 2019. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2019) Ten Years of Tears: Glasgow as a UNESCO City of Music. Solent Festival of Ideas, Southampton, UK, 19 June 2019. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Protecting Musicians from themselves? Critical reflections on 123 years of the Musicians’ Union. Royal Musical Association 52nd Annual Conference, Guild Hall, London, 02-05 Sep 2016. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) 'A thankless task' - ATP and independent festival promotion in the UK. Keep It Simple Make It Fast (KISMIF), Porto, Portugal, 17-22 Jul 2016. (Unpublished)

Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Fighting on all Fronts: The Amalgamated Musicians' Union During the First World War. Business as Usual?: Institutional Impact in the First World War, University of Glasgow, UK, 02 Mar 2016. (Unpublished)

Conference Proceedings

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Workers or Capitalists? Reflections on Musicians as Employers. In: Working in Music: The Musicians’ Union, Musical Labour and Employment, Glasgow, Scotland, 14-15 Jan 2016,

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2015) Workers as Capitalists? Some Reflections on Musicians as Employers. In: Capitalism, Culture and Media, Leeds, England, 7-8 Sep 2015,

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2013) Researching the British Musicians’ Union: Bridging Troubled Waters. In: 17th International conference (IASPM), Gijon, Spain, 24-28 Jun 2013,

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2013) Researching The Musicians Union: Some Initial Findings. In: Musicians’ Union Conference, Manchester, England, Jul 2013,

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2012) Researching The Musicians' Union: Some Initial Thoughts On A Musical Community. In: IASPM UK and Ireland Conference, Manchester, England, Sep 2013,

Cloonan, M. and Williamson, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2003) Mapping the music industry in Scotland: building an industry or building an empire? In: 12th Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM), Montreal, Canada, 3-7 July 2003, pp. 129-138.

Exhibitions

Cloonan, Martin and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2016) Keeping Music Live: The History of the Musicians' Union. [Exhibitions]

Website

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300, Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998, Sarim, Mohd ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4977-2059 and Androvik, Marisa (2025) Uncovering Sauchiehall Street - a cultural & heritage map. [Website]

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300, Sarim, Mohd ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4977-2059 and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2023) Glasgow Music City Map. [Website]

Brennan, Matt ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-7300 and Williamson, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-6998 (2022) Glasgow Music City. [Website]

This list was generated on Mon Jun 30 11:17:54 2025 BST.

Grants

 

Supervision

 

Teaching

Undergraduate

I am the course leader for the undergraduate courses Listening in Culture [MUSIC 1021] and Popular Music Politics [MUSIC 4081]

I also teach on the Writing the Arts and Humanities [EAS 3002] course and supervise undergraduate dissertations. 

Postgraduate

I teach across the MSc Music Industries programme as course leader on:

 

 

Additional information