Dan Elphick
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danelphick.bsky.social
Dan Elphick
@danelphick.bsky.social
Music Lecturer at RHUL, working on music history and analysis, and Slavic studies. Also a runner and TU organiser (@rhucu.bsky.social). Listen to Shostakovich. I wrote a book on Weinberg: https://tinyurl.com/5xs2h82h

https://danielelphick.co.uk
It's about as real as his FIFA peace prize.
It’s even more embarrassing than I imagined.
January 16, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Streaming did not save the music industry from illegal downloads. If anything, it's far worse, as artists still don't get paid but consumers have paid for something (even if only a small amount). What's your monthly spend on buying+listening to music now compared to 15 or 20 years ago?
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.

The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.

Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 16, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.
January 14, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Genuinely very excited to receive my copy of this in the post today!

During my PhD (2012-2016) I would have been so nerdily thrilled to have another book on Weinberg (and in English, to boot!) and I still have that twinge of excitement now. I'm honoured to be included among so many great authors.
January 14, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
Ukip have submitted a new logo and slogan to the Electoral Commission, swapping the £ pound sterling symbol for a cross, that looks very much like it is modelled on the Iron Cross used by Prussia & Germany 1871-1918 and Hitler's Nazi regime from 1933-45
January 13, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
Congratulations to @owencoggins.bsky.social for a great BFE keynote talk, 'Distortion, Ambiguity and Ideology in Underground Black Metal', at the 2026 BFE/RMA Research Students Conference at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. @royalmusical.bsky.social @royalbirmcons.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
Kamala Harris at her closing campaign rally:

"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
August 24, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Battersea Park Half Marathon done, very pleased with time of 1:48:47! First race of the year, and a significant milestone of recovery from injury last year.
January 11, 2026 at 3:04 PM
I'm very sorry to hear news of Jonathan Powell's passing at the age of 56. He was a titan of piano performance and a fierce intellect. Powell made many excellent recordings of music by Russian modernists, and his Sorabji performances (and recordings) were legendary. He will be missed.
January 7, 2026 at 3:31 PM
It's not every night that you open a gig for Nick Cave! A truly wonderful concert, intimate and moving. And the beautiful surroundings of St. Bart's made it even more special. One to remember for a long time to come.
December 20, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
The joint conference of the RMA, SMI, and EADH (Queen's University Belfast, 29 Aug-1 Sept 2026) is extending its proposals deadline to noon (BST) on Friday 2 January 2026, as it has come to our attention that one key adjacent support network has not had a chance to disseminate news of the call.
RMA-SMI-EADH Conference 2026 | SARC | Queen's University Belfast
www.qub.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
🚨 NEWS!🚨 For everyone attending the Research Students’ Conference next month, due to an extended Christmas shutdown at BCU (our associated university), the last day of booking is Thursday 18th December.
BFE and RMA Research Students’ Conference 2026
BFE and RMA Research Students’ Conference 2026 The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) and Royal Musical Association (RMA) Research Students’ Conference will take place at Royal Birmingham Conser...
www.bcu.ac.uk
December 16, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
Priceless
December 16, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
we can kill them all if we just work together and ✨believe💫
December 15, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I have my last lecture of term today! It feels like it's been an especially long Autumn term.
December 12, 2025 at 8:13 AM
(blowing the dust off my youtube channel to re-share a video)

Here's my 7-minute video on the 'Word' chord in 'O Come, All Ye Faithful'
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpG...
The Best Christmas Chord of all
YouTube video by Cult of Musicology
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
My next book has a presence on the Boydell & Brewer website. 'Constructing Polish Musical Identities outside Poland since 1880: Sounding "Polish"'. Available Spring 2026!

boydellandbrewer.com/book/constru...
Constructing Polish Musical Identities outside Poland since 1880
Examines music's role in political and cultural images of Poland during a period in which Poland regained independence, suffered cruelly in warfare, was a member of the Soviet bloc, then overthrew com...
boydellandbrewer.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:48 AM
For the first time ever in my career, I have just clicked 'send' on an application for promotion. Time to have a cup of tea and de-stress, just a bit...

(before then heading into work to run a concert this evening)
December 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
The Brexit project - via a very obviously empirical reality - is losing any economic, socially and political narrative that held up, to leave naked it's pure nationalistic, racist, England-centric rotten core.
December 5, 2025 at 10:33 AM
'Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments'
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments
Exclusive: Group’s open letter says Reform UK leader must take responsibility for behaviour as a schoolboy
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:00 AM
From a friend: a cinema near me was offering 'Baby Club' tickets to see the 'Nuremberg' film. It's certified '15' and bears the warning that it features "images of real dead bodies".

It somehow doesn't scream 'child-friendly' to me?
November 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I am referencing my own writing and other media appearances in a lecture tomorrow morning. I always show this image in lectures any time I have to reference my own writing.
November 26, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Dan Elphick
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM