The Prison Music Collective

The Prison Music Collective (PMC) aims to see music in every prison across England and Wales by helping to improve comunication and cooperation between prison-music providers. As prisons can be isolated and obstructive places to work, this site aims to be an information and support network for those involved in prison-music.

On this site you will find information on:

• The different prison-music organisations and their aims.
• A map showing what is available where.
• The latest music being writen, recorded, performed and produced in prisons and by former prison residence
• The latest research on music, prisons and evidence that supports and crtiques our work

The hope is that by collectivising our efforts, arming ourselves with the latest research, and working together, we can better serve our beneficiaries.

About

The PMC was started by David Lindsay as part of his PhD research. Having worked for a different organisations teaching and facilitating music sessions in prisons since 2008, he started a PhD in Human Geography/Sociology investigating the role of musicking in carceral environments. The first challenge as part of his emperical work was to create a cartography of what was available where, and as a part of this work he created the PMC website in order to disseminate his findings. He discovered not only that this cartographic information wasn't known but also, the processes and outcomes that justify this work are not fully understood. He decided to create a central hub to share this information as well as (ex)prison residence's music and the latest research supporting the purpose and process of prison-music work.