Laura Ahonen studied ethnomusicology as her major and philosophy as her minor subject at the University of Helsinki. Her master's thesis (2003) dealt with the problem of authorship in popular music. After the completion of her thesis, Ahonen did some office work and has now joined in the project as a researcher.

Her Ph.D. project is entitled "Authorial voices, faces and media images in popular music", and it will deal with a similar topic as her master's thesis. As the master's thesis was more theoretical and based on extensive reading of the relevant literature, the current project is an empirical one.

In her study, she examines what kinds of authorial roles there exist in the production and creation of popular music. The starting point for the study is that in the past few decades the music technology has greatly affected the nature of music-making and the notion of authorship as well. The study also focuses on how the media is involved in the construction of authorship and in what ways authorship is identified by the public. Other central themes are the notions of authenticity, originality and creativity. The study will include a number of case studies through which she will approach the topic.

laura.ahonen@helsinki.fi