Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book elaborates at a more general level upon the significance of networks and network analysis for music worlds and understanding of them. Roberta Comunian, Alessandra Faggian and Sarah Jewell explore the connections and dynamics linking higher education and music careers. The understanding of networks derives from the tradition of formal social network analysis (SNA) and most of the contributors to the book draw upon the concepts, techniques and measures of this tradition. Siobhan McAndrew and Martin Everett explore gender inequality within the classical music world, combining social network analysis with both qualitative analysis and a more straightforward statistical approach. The processes of taste formation and diffusion may be overlaid by the structuring effect of wider social divisions. Nick Crossley compares the network structures of the post-punk worlds of Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield as of 1980.