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Last updated 4th June 2026

Professor Dr. Dr. phil. habil. Jan Herbst is a popular music scholar, musicologist, music producer, and guitar player who joined the University of Huddersfield in 2017 as a Lecturer. He is now Professor of Music (Research and Leadership pathway) and Research Coordinator for Performing Arts, overseeing various research centres and activities of approximately 40 research-active staff. Having previously led the Popular Music Studies Research Group (PMSRG) and the Centre for Research in Music and its Technologies (CRMT), he is now co-director of the university-wide Institute for Applied Artificial Intellignce (IAAI). Prof Herbst's research is frequently supported by major funding bodies; he is currently Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded projects’ Heaviness in Metal Music Production’ (HiMMP) (www.himmp.net) and ‘Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century’ (SC21) (www.songwritingcamps.net), as well as of several externally funded post-doctoral fellowships.

Prof Herbst has published extensively on popular music studies, the music business, the art of record production, and music technology. His portfolio includes over 10 books, more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 20+ book chapters. He regularly presents his research at international conferences.

He is an appointed member of the Peer Review Colleges for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Prof Herbst serves on several international editorial boards, including the IASPM Journal and Metal Music Studies, and is an editor for the Companion series at Cambridge University Press. He is a regular peer-reviewer for leading journals such as Music Perception, Psychology of Music, and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, and for publishers including Routledge and Cambridge University Press. From 2018 to 2024, he served as Treasurer for the UK & Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM).

Prof Herbst has taught popular music studies, music production, music analysis, empirical musicology, music history, and music theory as Guest Lecturer, Lecturer, and Interim Professor at the Universities of Paderborn, Bielefeld, Detmold, Muenster, and Lueneburg (all in Germany) and Berne (Switzerland). Besides his substantial post at the University of Huddersfield, Herbst is "Privatdozent" at Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany.

Professor Herbst's research programme is characterised by an empirical approach that draws on methods from the social sciences and psychology to analyse creative practice and industry structures. His work is organised around three core themes:

1. The Art and Technology of Music Production: This research examines the intersection of technology, creativity, and aesthetics in the recording studio. Key projects focus on:

• Heaviness in Metal: An AHRC-funded project analysing the sonic, structural, and affective components of 'heaviness' in metal music production.
• Guitar Technology and Sound: Investigating the history of the distorted electric guitar, the creative potential of digital amplification, and the cultural meaning of guitar tone.
• Production Aesthetics: Analysing the concept of 'Teutonic Metal' and how cultural identity is expressed through specific production choices and sonic signifiers.

2. Creative Labour and the Music Industries: This area explores the professional lives of music creators and the changing structures of the music business. Current research includes:

• Collaborative Songwriting: An AHRC/DFG-funded study of songwriting camps as sites of collaborative creativity and commercial production.
• Music as Labour: Examining the work realities, career paths, and economic conditions of studio musicians and record producers.
• Music and Web 3: Exploring the potential of blockchain technology and NFTs to reshape music monetisation and fandom.

3. Musical Practice, Performance, and Culture: This theme analyses the practices of musicians and fans, linking performance techniques to cultural consumption. Topics include:

• Guitar Virtuosity: Analysing the evolution of advanced guitar techniques ('shredding') and the culture of virtuosity in rock music.
• Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS): A study of musicians' consumption patterns and the motivations behind collecting instruments and audio equipment.
• Music and Identity: Researching how musical practices and production aesthetics contribute to the formation of genre and scene identities.

Books

(2027): Songwriting Camps in the 21st Century (with Michael Ahlers et al.). Routledge (contracted).

(2025): Heaviness in Metal Music Production: A Practical Guide (with Mark Mynett; Zenodo). Link to book

(2025): Heaviness in Metal Music Production: Learn From the Masters (with Mark Mynett; Routledge). Link to publisher/book information

(2025): Heaviness in Metal Music Production: How and Why It Works (with Mark Mynett; Routledge). Link to publisher/book information

(2025): Popular Music Songwriting as Cultural, Creative, and Economic Practice (with Michael Ahlers and Knut Holtstraeter; Waxmann. Link to publisher/book information

(2024): The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar (with Steve Waksman). Link to publisher/book information

(2023): The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music. Link to publisher/book information

(2023): Rock Guitar Virtuosos: Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology and Culture (with Alexander Vallejo; forthcoming). Link to publisher/book information

(2022): Rammstein's 'Deutschland'. Pop, Politics, Provocation [translation]. Link to publisher/book information

(2021): Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Consumption of Instruments and Technology in Popular Music. Link to publisher/book information

(2016): The Guitar Distortion in Rock Music. A Study on Playability and Aesthetics [translation]. Link to publisher/book information

(2014): Network Sound. An Educational Challenge of Popular Music [translation]. Link to publisher/book information