Simon's work focuses primarily on songwriting with an emphasis on creative labour, strategy and routine. He convenes the Songwriting Studies Research Group at BCU and is a practicing songwriter/composer. Beyond his primary area of interest, his work with partners and organisations like the BBC, Pearson Education, Arrow Film & Video, Edition Records and The Scarborough Jazz Festival has enabled him to pursue a wide range of research related to the practices of vinyl record collectors, the origins of digital audio production, cult film fans and jazz collectives. Current supervisions include work on Audio Mastering in the 21st Century and Agency and Immersion in New Media.
Book Chapters
‘Professional Songwriting Techniques: A Range of Views Summarised from the Sodajerker Interviews (2011-2015)’, The Singer-Songwriter Handbook, Bloomsbury (forthcoming 2017).
‘‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’: The Brill Building and the Creative Labor of the Professional Songwriter’, The Cambridge Companion to the Singer-Songwriter, Cambridge University Press, 25 Feb, 2016.
‘Collective Cultures and Live Jazz in Birmingham’, The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This is Our Music, Routledge, 9 Mar, 2015.
Journal Articles
Wall, T. and Barber, S. (2015) Collective cultures and live jazz in Birmingham. In: The Cultural Politics of Jazz Collectives: This Is Our Music. Taylor and Francis Inc., pp. 117-131. ISBN 9781317672715 (ISBN); 9781138780620 (ISBN)
Voicing Passion: The Emotional Economy of Songwriting [with Paul Long], European Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 18 no. 2, April 2015, pp: 142-157.
‘The Collective Organisation of Contemporary Jazz Musicians in the UK’ [with Tim Wall], Jazz Research Journal, Vol 5.1/5.2, November 2012, Equinox, ISSN: 17538645.
‘Soundstream: The Introduction of Commercial Digital Recording Technologies in the United States’, Journal on the Art of Record Production, Issue 7, November 2012, ISSN: 1754-9892 (online).
‘Smooth jazz : A case study in the relationships between commercial radio formats, audience research and music production’, The Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, 8/1, 57-70, 2010.
Conference Papers
'My Jazz World: The Rise and Fall of a Digital Utopia', Rhythm Changes Conference, Birmingham City University, April 15, 2016.
'Track Writing, Toplining and Lyricing: Songwriting Strategies in the Work of Pop's Professionals', Working in Music: The Musicians’ Union, Musical Labour and Employment Conference, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, January 14, 2016.
‘The Clones of Bruce Lee: The Political Economy of ‘Bruceploitation’’, Martial Arts Studies Conference, Cardiff University, Wales, June 12, 2015.
‘The Brill Building: Professional Songwriters and Creativity Under Industrial Conditions’, Words of Popular Music IASPM UK and Ireland Biennial Conference, University College Cork, Ireland, September 12, 2014.
‘Better Records: Hot Stampers, Sonic Shootouts and the Art of Looking in the Dead Wax, PopLife: The Value of Popular Music in the Twenty First Century, The University of Northampton, June 7, 2014.
‘Jazz in the Digital Age’, New Jazz Conceptions: History, Theory, Practice, Warwick University, May 31, 2014.
‘Edition Records: Re-imagining Jazz Culture in the Digital Age’, Rhythm Changes II: Rethinking Jazz Cultures, MediaCityUK/University of Salford, April 12, 2013.
‘Live Jazz in Birmingham’, Live Music Exchange, Leeds College of Music, May 5, 2012.
‘CineTorrent: The Remediation of Cult Film in Online Filesharing Communities’, Online Mainline, Birmingham City University, September 15, 2011.
‘The Agency of the Amateur Archivist in Online Communities’, Transforming Audiences 3: Online & Mobile Media, Everyday Creativity and DIY Culture, University of Westminster, London, September 1, 2011.
‘CineTorrent: Remediating Cult Images in Online Communities’, Cine-Excess V: The Politics and Aesthetics of Excess, Odeon Covent Garden, London, May 26, 2011.
‘Soundstream: The Introduction of Commercial Digital Recording in the United States’, The Art of Record Production Conference, Leeds Metropolitan University, December 3, 2010.
‘Creating British Jazz Archives: Experimenting With Online Media’, MeCCSA, London School of Economics, January 7, 2010.
‘Industrial Practices in Jazz Production: A Case Study of GRP Records’, Mediating Jazz, Popular Music Research Centre, University of Salford, November 27, 2009.