ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book draws on recent work by scholars engaged with social, institutional and economic history of music in Britain to consider case studies through which the status and identity of members and sectors of the music profession are investigated. It focuses on one element of music-related employment or practice; whether a sector of workers, a snapshot of the profession in certain time or place or a particular aspect of work. The book highlights difficulties inherent in trying to associate musicians with social strata familiar from historical texts and it is the alternative approaches to status, negotiation of identity and networking. It aims to help elucidate the patterns and structures of the music profession, and the ways in which social status and personal identity of musicians and members of the profession related to their cultural context and creative endeavours.
