Abstract available in hard copy

Product placement, which can also be referred to as “brand integration” or “brand placement”, is perceived as an “alternative” method to traditional advertising among practitioners and scholars due to its significant advantages over traditional advertising e.g., the hidden nature of it. This multifaceted practice of product placement, which can be found in various platforms and forms, is an under-researched phenomenon outside the United States. Although it attracts considerable attention from academics, further research is needed, as the majority of studies in existence tend to focus on the United States and take an audience-centred approach to the practice. Furthermore, the research area of existing research tends to revolve around the practice within movies. In contrast, this cross-cultural research analyses product placement practices from the perspective of form on the screen to gain a more in-depth understanding of brand placement in televised drama / soap operas. It employs a hybrid quantitative and qualitative content analysis and case studies to draw a comparison between contrasting national contexts, Turkish and British, to reveal the international differences in the forms of brand placement and map out all observed forms of product placement. Furthermore, this thesis assesses which forms of product placement are used in well-known successful examples of product placement from the USA. Based on the analysis of product placement practices in the UK, Turkey and the USA, this thesis proposes a conceptual framework that demonstrates successful forms of brand placement, and the differences in practices in the UK, Turkey and the USA. This framework also highlights the forms which are common across all three nations, and thus hypothesises the forms which should be used when developing a placement which can be effective internationally. The data, collected during the content analysis, was from four soap operas: Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Cesur ve Güzel, and İçerde. Twenty-five episodes from each were examined. The findings reveal that there are distinct differences between the placement practices used in the United Kingdom and those used in Turkey. Notably, placements in the Turkish soap operas are much more prominent, appearing more frequently in the foreground of scenes and often feature high levels of plot connection and character interaction, whereas placements in the British soap operas tend to be featured in the background of scenes, typically featuring low levels of plot connection or character interaction. Eight well-known successful examples of product placement within eight different television series from the USA were analysed. All featured high levels of character interaction, plot connection, and prominence. Most also featured verbal cues including characters expressing their opinions about a brand / product. Whilst it could be argued that British culture is more akin to American culture, the practices observed in the Turkish soap operas are closer to those observed in the well-known successful examples, which are all from American television content. Key Words: Advertising, Product Placement, Brand Placement, Turkish Television, British Television, Comparative Content Analysis, Case Studies, and Soap Operas.

This thesis details the conception and design of a new methodology for examining pop songs holistically; considering both music and lyrics and examining the synergies between the two. Central to this methodology is the application of a data extraction framework, which has been designed to mine information about musical and lyrical phenomena. This framework operates as a common source for producing data about two very different media, avoiding individual interpretation where this is possible. The methodology has been designed to address specific questions about the relationship between music and lyrics, but the main purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the usefulness of the endeavour. In order to examine the efficacy of this approach, the framework was used to populate a dataset made up of a sample of 300 songs, which was subsequently explored and analysed through a series of case studies which investigate combinations of metrics concerned with music and lyrics for the whole sample, as well as analysis of specific subsets defined by a range of parameters. These case studies have demonstrated the various ways this approach might be used, as well as working as proof of concept. The conclusion of the thesis reviews the various case studies in the context of presenting potential uses of the framework as a tool and the broader methodology by other scholars. There is also a consideration of how the overall data might be affected by the inclusion of genres and styles that are not included in the initial sample set.

The first part of this thesis provides an autobiographical reflection and three contextualising histories to illustrate the increasing codification of late twentieth century UK contemporary dance into discrete cultures. These are professional contemporary dance and professional performance, dance participation and communitarian intervention, and dance as subject for study and training. The central section of the thesis examines post-millennial reports and papers by which government, executives and public sector arts organisations in both England and Scotland have sought to construct and steer dance policy toward greater collaborative connections on financial and ideological grounds. This is contrasted with a theoretical consideration of collaboration drawing on a range of academic approaches to consider the realities and ideals of creative and artistic collaboration and organisational collaboration. Finally, the thesis draws together these historical, theoretical and policy driven considerationsin a series of six case studies to establish the network of connections. Two professional contemporary artists and companies, two community dance organisations and two education departments (one of each from Edinburgh, Scotland and one of each from the North West of England) are scrutinised to assess the challenges, tensions and opportunities in reconciling policy driven collaboration with artistic integrity.

Exploration of the changes modern digital technology has had on the act of engaging with music in the early 21st century.

This thesis represents the first comprehensive examination in English of the work of the Berlin-based music collective, Einstürzende Neubauten. It intends to offer evidence that the sonic forays of this group have not only defined a particular cultural moment but have also created new musical possibilities (to appropriate words from Brandon LaBelle). It does this by investigating why the work of these musicians is important within contemporary music, what cultural concerns their music reflects and how the music is created, performed and disseminated. These questions are explored through a range of contexts, including post-war Berlin, Germany’s problematic relationship with music, the development of Musique Concrète, Noise/Music and strategies for creative independence. There is a detailed analysis of Neubauten’s performance and textual techniques. This thesis argues that Einstürzende Neubauten are one of the few examples of ‘rock-based’ artists who have been able to sustain a breadth and depth of work over a number of years while remaining experimental and open to development; that their work offers evidence that they are one of the most complete examples of Artaudian practice in contemporary performance and that their Supporter Initiative (2002-2007) provided a unique working strategy for independence of the consumerist model of music. Finally, it argues that their work helps to present the case for the re-evaulation of European, non-English language contemporary music. Note -this version contains German spellings, corrected after final submission at the author's request.