Meeting number 14, dedicated to introducing Kathodik readers to those involved in promoting a discourse of music criticism in Italian and international publishing. 1° Antonio Bacciocchi, Cometa Rossa Edizioni (here); 2° Marco Refe, Edizioni Crac (here); 3° Luca Cerchiari, editor of the ‘Musica Contemporanea’ series of Mimesis Edizioni (here); 4° Karl Ludwig, at that time Communication Manager of the German wolke verlag (here); 5° Domenico Ferraro, Editorial Director of Squilibri Editore (here); 6° Fabio Ferretti, creator and editor of the series ‘Chorus’, by Edizioni Quodlibet (here); 7° Massimo Roccaforte, editorial curator of Goodfellas Edizioni (here); 8° Christina Ward, co-curator of the US publishing house Feral House (here); 9° Ken Wissoker, Senior Executive Director of US publishing house Duke University Press (here); 10° Jamie Sutcliffe and Mark Pilkington, creators and publishing directors of Strange Attractor Press (here); 11° Roberto Gagliardi Aka Robertò, of the Hellnation Libri/Red Star Press (here); 12° Eugenio Monti of the Tsunami Edizioni (here); 13° Maria Maddalena Novati, President of the Associazione NoMus (here).
Today, I am traveling “virtually” to Bristol, UK, to interview Tim Mitchell, Head of Editorial, Subject Area: Music, at Intellect Books. I first came across this interesting and multifaceted publishing house through a review of Barry Phillips book ‘In Search of Tito’s Punk’ (here), then through an interview with Mike Dines and Russ Bestley from the Punk Scholars Network (here). It seemed natural to ask for more information about Intellect Books. Thanks to Tim Mitchell’s willingness to talk, I was able to learn about the various areas of study and the various initiatives put in place to raise awareness and appreciation of the sound in which we are pleasantly and fortunately immersed every day. Enjoy reading!
Here you can find the Italian Translation
How did the idea of the Subject Area: Music come about?
While Intellect has a long history of publishing in the creative arts, our music list only officially became its own subject area in 2019. Before that, music-related titles were part of our broader performing arts list, which also includes dance and theatre studies. Establishing music as a standalone category allowed us to better reflect the growing number of journals and books focused specifically on this field, and give the list greater visibility, something that’s helped us strengthen our presence and expand more confidently within music and related disciplines. It also allows us to create a specific music journals collection for libraries.
About the books: how do you select the titles for publication?
We attend a wide range of conferences and symposiums in popular music, cultural and media studies, performing arts, and many related fields which helps us stay connected to emerging conversations and researchers. We consider proposals that align with one or more of our core subject areas. If the central theme, methodology, and intended audience primarily relate to music studies, we’ll add it to the music list. That said, many of our books are deeply interdisciplinary. It’s not unusual for a project to bridge subcultural studies and visual arts, or to connect musical composition with video game studies, for example. Every proposal goes through an internal editorial review to assess its fit with Intellect’s publishing focus, and often we’ll invite external experts in the field(s) to evaluate its academic rigour. As a scholarly publisher first and foremost, all our titles must successfully pass a double-blind peer review before publication.
As far as the selection of foreign authors is concerned, which school of music criticism is the most referred to? Just to give you an example: are you more interested in English-speaking authors? Or in French-speaking authors? Or other languages?
We are a UK-based, English-language publisher. While all our titles are published in English for an English-speaking audience, this is the only restriction on content. Our authors come from around the world and write on a wide variety of international topics for diverse audiences. A key focus of our music titles is the intersection of music and culture, exploring music scenes globally through multiple international perspectives. Many international scholars write in English, and we provide copy-editing support. Additionally, we sometimes acquire foreign rights projects that have been translated into English prior to submission. For example, we recently published Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial Music by Nicolas Ballet, originally published in French. Currently, I am working on two German rights agreements that examine music scenes within the specific context of post-war Germany. This approach is an increasingly important branch of our publishing.
What genres do you prefer to deal with for your publications and why?
In terms of musical genres, we have found our niche within certain areas, largely thanks to the enthusiastic scholarly communities that have developed around them. As a journal publisher, establishing a journal in a particular ‘genre’ helps to build and nurture a community of scholars working within that subfield. Notable examples from the Intellect list include punk and post-punk, metal studies, and hip-hop studies, among others. However, we are by no means restricted by genre, and we welcome original proposals that focus on any genre or musical tradition including electronic music, jazz, rock or contemporary classical.
What is the most interesting title that has been published to date and why?
I’m not sure I can single out a specific example, as our list is full of interesting, often highly specialized books and journals that intersect music with multiple subject areas, producing highly original and engaging results.
Tell me about your series of magazines dedicated to music: browsing your website, I see that in addition to popular music, you also cover punk and post-punk (as Mike Dines and Russ Bentley told me in the interview about Punk Scholars Network here), as well as soundtracks, musical theater, and many other topics. How did you select the topics to cover?
Our ethos as a publisher has always been to support emerging subject areas. For example, punk studies and metal studies are now well-established fields, but when we first launched journals in these areas, it involved a degree of risk. The quality of the proposal, along with the commitment and vision of the editors in defining the field and demonstrating the need for the journal, plays a key role in helping us decide which topics are worth championing. These areas must always reflect our values as a publisher. Studies in Musical Theatre for example is a very successful journal, marrying as it does our core areas within performing arts of dance, theatre and music. Once a journal community is established, with engaged editors, authors, reviewers, and readers, book series and individual titles often follow, allowing us to build a cohesive and focused list within that subject area.
Do you think co-production between publishers for selected releases is possible, as it happens between microlabels in music?
Yes absolutely, sometimes it makes sense to work in partnership with another institution or publisher, and this can take a variety of forms. The burden of risk is shared allowing for a more expensive production of a more visual titles, or another co-publisher might help pay for the production costs but takes the publishing rights in their region, an area where it is difficult for Intellect to reach for example. We have previously had successful copublications with university presses in South Africa and the Philippines for example.
Does the UK state help publishers with publishing?
Yes, it does, but usually indirectly, through funding from bodies such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which supports key research councils in our core areas, including the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This funding helps cover research costs and publishing outcomes, typically by paying book and article processing fees to make books and journal articles Open Access.
In addition to books, and journals, are you thinking of other forms of publication? For example documentaries, movies, podcasts?
We have a regular ‘In Conversation’ podcast series with our authors and editors hosted by Intellect’s James Campbell.
We are developing an audiobook programme to complement our text-based print and digital titles.
Our books and articles are increasingly incorporating multimedia elements such as video, music, and animation, reflecting the evolving needs of our core subject areas. We have recently launched our own platform, Intellect Discover, which allows book and journal authors to host supplementary multimedia content. The platform also provides access to all of our Open Access titles. A recent example of an Open Access music publication with integrated multimedia content is Sonic Signatures: Music, Migration and the City at Night.
Are there any forthcoming titles worth mentioning?
Yes, we have recently contracted two exciting new journals for our 2027 catalogue, the Journal of Live Music Studies, and the Journal of Caribbean Music and Sound Cultures. We just published the first issue of the Journal of Music Production Research in late 2025, and the content is freely available on our platform for any interested readers.
In terms of books, we are just about to launch our Contemporary Music Making and Learning series – which focusses heavily on music education – with two titles Djing in New York: Learning Processes of Underground Club DJs and If Colours Could be Heard: Narratives about Racial Identity in Music Education. Our Advances in Metal Music and Culture series will publish an Open Access title, Medievalism, Popular Culture and Politics in Metal Music in Spring 2026 and we have two new titles just entering production for our Global Punk series, Punk and the Animal: Ethos, Ethics and Aesthetics, and an edited volume examining the seminal American punk group Bad Religion, both due out in Fall 26. Finally, we will have another book coming out in our Urban Music Studies series next year, examining the music scene in Minneapolis, famously Prince’s home and creative base.
Link: Intellect Books Music Page
Link: Intellect Books Music Journal Page
Link: Intellect Books Facebook Page
Link: Intellect Books Twitter/X Profile
Link: Intellect Books Instagram Profile
