Dr Chen-Yu Lin

Publication

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Research

My research has a particular focus on transnational consumption of popular music, music censorship, and the ways practices of creative industries influence people's cultural and political experiences, especially in the Sinophone world. I often incorporated filmmaking as a research method, and I am interested in cultural diplomacy and exports, music censorship, local and global music industries as well as creative labour from comparative perspectives.

Through engaging with transnational popular music as a social practice, my PhD examines how Chineseness has been perceived through a style of Mandarin music— China Wind pop music— by young audiences in different locations, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the UK.

I have been involved in research in the Department of Music, the University of Liverpool. Under the direction of Dr Mike Jones and Mr John Ball, a short documentary was produced for the project, George Harrison: The Beatles and Indian Music, which identified the unaccredited Indian musicians who recorded alongside the Beatles. As Research Associate to Dr Haekyung Um, the research project, Liverpool Sound City and Its Future in the Asian and Global Music Markets: Transnational Music Industry Collaborations between the UK, South Korea and China, investigates how policymakers and music industry workers in these countries promoted their respective creative economies through a case study on showcase festivals in each site. Along with filmmaker Charlotte Sawyer, we directed the film, Three Sound Cities: Liverpool, Beijing and Seoul. As an Editor for Taiwan Insight, I also worked with Dr Chun-yi Lee, Associate Professor at school of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, to edit, curate and publish scholarly articles of all disciplines related to Taiwan.

From 2019 to 2020, I have led a pilot project, Mapping Popular Music in Taipei, which was funded by the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) in Taiwan. Memory mapping was employed as a useful academic tool in the project to explore the musicians' relationships to the city and the urban environment. Additionally, I have been contributing to the reviews of online/offline live music performances during the pandemic supported by the NCAF, published on Performing Arts Review.

I engage in academic dialogue with scholars in the field of popular music studies and Asian studies, by publishing at several peer-reviewed journals, including China Perspective, The East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, Asian Journal of Education and Development, as well as reviewing for Journal of Popular Music and the International Journal of Taiwan Studies.

Teaching

I have been teaching in the field of popular music, media, as well as creative and cultural industries.

The modules I have convened are:

* Introduction to Music Industries: Global and Local Perspectives (3rd, 4th year, MA)  [National Taiwan University]

* History of Popular Music (MA) [National Taiwan Normal University]

* Popular Culture Studies (MA) [National Taiwan Normal University]

* Popular Musics of the World (2nd year) [University of Liverpool]

The modules I have contributed to as University Teacher [University of Liverpool] are:

* Music in World Cinema (2nd year)

* Promotion, Identity and Creative Labor (3rd year)

* Music as Sound (1st year)

* Promotion, Identity and Creative Labor. (3rd year)

* Asian Practice and the Global Music Repertoire (3rd year)

* Music, Culture, and Identity (2nd year)

* Music as An Industry: Music and Mediation (2nd year)

Biography

I was born and raised in Taiwan, a young democracy that has complex colonial histories, and is the once center of Mandopop music industry. Starting from forming a band to pursuing the studies of popular music, I have been interested in the Intertwined relationships among music, politics, and identities, as well as how they have an impact on the production and consumption of popular music.

From 2005 to 2006, I was President of the Rock Music Society at Taipei First Girls' High School. Apart from organising events and writing music, we covered songs of Manic Street Preachers, Oasis, Blur, and Muse, and it became an important encounter with the music in the UK. In 2011, I received a BA in Radio and Television Studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan. During my years as an undergraduate student, I had been an exchange student at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I also completed an internship at Public Television Service, Taiwan. After the internship, I was given the opportunity to continue working in a music television show.

I received my MA and PhD degree at the Department of Music, the University of Liverpool, home of the Institute of Popular Music. My PhD thesis, Questions of Chineseness: A Study on China Wind Pop Music and the Post-1990 Generation in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and the UK, examines how Chineseness is constructed in China Wind pop music, and how this practice is perceived. Studying and working as Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer in Liverpool has broadened my horizon of interdisciplinary research of popular music and what it can do. Later, I lectured at both National Taiwan University and National Taiwan Normal University on global music and creative industries. I conducted fieldwork in the UK, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Since 2012, I have also worked in the industries in the UK and Taiwan, as a music journalist, international business development manager, board member, and educational specialist. I posted talks and presentations on YouTube, and articles on Medium (in either English or traditional Chinese).

Honours and awards

* Inspiration Award at the AHRC Research in Film Awards (Shortlisted) 'Go Ahead Remix!' (2021)

* Best Doctoral or Early Research Film of the Year Award at the AHRC Research in Film Awards (Shortlisted) 'Go Ahead Remix!' (2021)

* Research grant for the project 'online/offline indie music performances in Taiwan under COVID-19', National Foundation of Arts and Culture, Taiwan (2020_

* Research grant for the project 'Popular Music and Mapping in Taipei', National Foundation of Arts and Culture, Taiwan (2019). The project website with all research output can be found at: https://taipeimusicmap.com/

* Social Media Short Award at the AHRC Research in Film Awards (Shortlisted) 'George Harrison: The Story of the Beatles and Indian Musicians' Performance Teaser' (2018)

* 1st Prize of Young Scholar Award (YSA), The European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS), Presentation and article, titled 'A Tale of Two Versions: Censorship attitudes of UK-based Chinese students towards Taiwanese Popular Music' (2018)

* Thurston Dart Award, Royal Music Association (2018)

* Utopia Award at the AHRC Research in Film Awards (Shortlisted), Chasing the China Wind: A Musical Journey (2016)

* Internationalisation Fund Award, School of the Arts, University of Liverpool (2015)

* Faculty Award, University of Liverpool (2012)

Academic positions

* 2020 - 2022 Assistant Professor (part-time), Department of Music, National Taiwan Normal University

* 2020 - 2022 2Assistant Professor (part-time), International Business, National Taiwan University

* 2019 0 present: Research Fellow (Honorary), Institute of Popular Music, University of Liverpool

* 2018-2019: Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Music, University of Liverpool

* 2018-2019: Research Associate, Department of Music, University of Liverpool

* Curator, 1021 Creative. Improving user experience of Apple Music (China). Dec 2017-

* 2017- 2019: Research Associate/ Editor, Taiwan Studies Programme (TSP), Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham.

* 2014- 2018: University Teacher, Department of Music, University of Liverpool

* 2014 -2015: Research Assistant, <Leap into Live Music!> Scheme, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. June 2014-

Engagement

* 'Tackling the Challenge of Digitalisation in Music Industries: Taiwan, China and South Korea'. The Unfinished Miracle: Taiwan's Economy and Society in Transition Workshop. 2019. SOAS, London (UK).

* 'A Study on Two Approaches of Musical Export and the Conception of Independence for Taiwanese Musicians' .2019. The 16th annual conference of European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS), Nottingham Trent University (UK).

* 'Hearing the Voice of China: Reality Shows, Soft Power and the Representation of the Nation'.2018. Theorising the Popular Conference, Liverpool Hope University (UK).

* 'Chineseness in China Wind Pop Songs: Two Case Studies' .2018. The 6th Inter-Asia popular Music Studies Conference, Communication University of China (China).

* 'A Tale of Two Versions: Censorship Attitudes of UK-based Chinese Students towards Taiwanese Popular Music' (2018)The 15th Annual Conference of European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS), University of Zurich (Switzerland).

* Film director/ Speaker introducing the screening of Three sound cities: Liverpool, Beijing and Seoul and Q&A (2019)BBC Music Introducing Live at Tobacco Dock, London.

* Film Director/ Speaker introducing the screening of Three sound cities: Liverpool, Beijing and Seoul and Q&A. 2019. Sound City + at British Music Experience.