Why the music industry won’t be “Uberized”

Dr Charles Umney and Dr Dario Azzellini discuss the limits to the platform economy, and why many occupations are unlikely to be ‘Uberized’, using the live music industry as an example. 

Dr Umney and Dr Azzellini, along with other CERIC members, presented at the 40th International Labour Process Conference held on 21-23 April 2022 in Padua, Italy. This podcast episode focuses on the presentation they gave at the conference, with Dr Ian Greer - “Why most occupations won’t be ‘Uberized’”.  

This episode was recorded in May 2022. If you would like to get in touch regarding this research, contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this recording is available.  

Read the journal article: “Why isn’t there an Uber for live music? The digitalisation of intermediaries and the limits of the platform economy.” Dario Azzellini, Ian Greer, Charles Umney. New Technology, Work and Employment. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12213 

About the speakers: 

Dr Charles Umney is an Associate Professor in the Work and Employment Relations Division at Leeds University Business School. He has various research interests including platform worker protest; the social effects of market-centric policy in public services; and working life in arts and culture. 

Dr Dario Azzellini is an Assistant Professor and researcher at the Unidad Académica de Estudios del Desarrollo (PhD program in Development Studies) at the Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (Autonomous University of Zacatecas), Zacatecas, México. His research interests are: Labor studies, unions and new forms of worker organisation, workers’ and local self-management, sustainable work, social movements and collective action, Latin American studies.