Doctoral Student in Musicology Secures Distinguished Thesis Grant
Matthew Blackmar, a doctoral student in the Department of Musicology at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, has been awarded the prestigious Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Dissertation Fellowship. His dissertation, titled "Just Pattern Recognition: Fair-Use Copyright, Hip Hop, and Digital Music Practice from The Era of Algorithms to The Era of AI," has been highly praised by the award committee for its urgency, importance, and timeliness.
The dissertation examines the intersection of copyright and technological advances, with a focus on hip-hop and the mechanics of social media channels. It delves into the ways in which legal and political-economic forces in the areas of fair-use jurisprudence, copyright, and generative AI affect hip-hop artists' musical choices.
The committee commended Blackmar's main intervention in the dissertation, which shows how hip-hop artists' musical choices are influenced by these factors. His research draws from a variety of scholarly fields, including popular music studies, copyright law, computer science, and hip-hop studies.
Fellows receive a 12-month stipend to support dissertation research and writing. The fellowship was awarded from a pool of applicants across all of North America. The committee was impressed by Blackmar's ability to make sophisticated ideas from multiple technical fields understandable and intelligible for audiences.
The committee's praise for Blackmar's dissertation underscores its significance and potential impact in the fields of musicology, copyright law, and hip-hop studies. The dissertation's working title, "Just Pattern Recognition," suggests an exploration of the role of patterns in music, copyright law, and digital music practice, from algorithms to artificial intelligence.
While specific details about the dissertation's focus and the reasons it was awarded the fellowship are not widely available, it is generally understood that such a dissertation would typically focus on how copyright law interacts with evolving technologies in platforms like social media and music production, specifically within the hip-hop genre. The significance would often lie in exploring how artists navigate intellectual property in a digital age marked by sampling, remixing, and viral content creation, and how legal frameworks adapt to these cultural innovations.
For detailed and accurate insights into Matthew Blackmar's dissertation, including its focus and the reasons it was awarded the Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Dissertation Fellowship, it would be best to consult the fellowship's official announcements, academic publications, or Matthew Blackmar's own statements.
The dissertation delves into the impact of technology on education-and-self-development, particularly in the domain of music, by examining the intersection of copyright and technological advances, focusing on the hip-hop genre and the mechanics of social media channels. Upon receiving the fellowship, Matthew Blackmar plans to use the 12-month stipend for research and writing, intending to entertain the audience with his findings through clear and accessible explanations drawn from scholarly fields like popular music studies, copyright law, computer science, and hip-hop studies.
