Dr. Kim-Marie Spence

Kim-Marie Spence is Lecturer in Arts Management and Cultural Policy at Queen’s University Belfast. She also lectures at the Caribbean School of Media & Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica). Her research focuses on popular culture industries and cultural policy of the Non-West with a focus on the music industries of reggae and K-pop.  She focuses on the intersections of race, location, cultural mobility and policy within popular music industries. Additionally, she has written on decolonisation and internationalisation in arts and cultural policy research and pedagogy.  She is currently researching Black Music/ians in Northern Ireland; and streaming in Non-West music industries. Her interest in this area began from her policy experience, as a [former] Jamaica Film Commissioner/Head of Creative Industries within the Jamaican government; and her work with UNESCO. As part of her career and research, she has lived and researched in over 10 countries. Kim-Marie is co-author of the book Global Cultural Economy and sits on the boards of award-winning cultural institutions, the MAC Belfast, a leading Northern Irish contemporary art institution, and Kingston Creative, a Jamaican cultural district initiative; and the Journal of Cultural Economy.