From Access to Belonging: Disability and Inclusion in Urban Live Music
Thiede, Megan (2026)
2026
Master's Programme in Sustainable Societies and Digitalisation
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2026-06-22
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202606187693
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202606187693
Tiivistelmä
Live music is a facet of cultural participation that carries social and collective significance for the communities around it. The conditions that influence attendance span informational, physical, and social dimensions and are not experienced equally. For disabled audience members, these elements can limit or prevent participation altogether, despite the protections established in international and domestic policy.
This study examines how accessibility is experienced by audience members in urban live music contexts, including what barriers and facilitators are encountered during attendance and how these experiences influence feelings of belonging and cultural inclusion. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from Finland and North America, encompassing audience members with and without stated access needs. Using a reflexive thematic analysis, the study’s findings were organised into six themes: information access, physical and navigational access, ticketing and financial access, organisational culture, safety and independence, and belonging.
Findings confirm that barriers across the first four themes reflect environments and systems not designed with diverse audiences in mind, consistent with the social model argument that barriers are produced by design rather than individual limitation. The fifth and sixth themes reveal that even when practical conditions are met, the social and atmospheric conditions that determine whether participants feel welcome are not guaranteed by existing accessibility accommodations.
This study examines how accessibility is experienced by audience members in urban live music contexts, including what barriers and facilitators are encountered during attendance and how these experiences influence feelings of belonging and cultural inclusion. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from Finland and North America, encompassing audience members with and without stated access needs. Using a reflexive thematic analysis, the study’s findings were organised into six themes: information access, physical and navigational access, ticketing and financial access, organisational culture, safety and independence, and belonging.
Findings confirm that barriers across the first four themes reflect environments and systems not designed with diverse audiences in mind, consistent with the social model argument that barriers are produced by design rather than individual limitation. The fifth and sixth themes reveal that even when practical conditions are met, the social and atmospheric conditions that determine whether participants feel welcome are not guaranteed by existing accessibility accommodations.