Dr Rachael Finney

Biography

Rachael Finney is a composer, artist, and cultural theorist whose work examines the histories and cultures of popular music, recording technologies, and the organisation of sonic and musical space. Her research focuses on the hidden and often overlooked forms of labour within popular music histories, particularly as they relate to the female voice, the pop vocal, and the broader histories of recorded music and its associated media.


She completed her PhD in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where her thesis explored the phonic space of the background, investigating modes of listening that operate at the edges of attention and the sounds, particularly voices, that inhabit this often-overlooked aural territory. Focusing on the phonographic occlusion of the sonic space commonly understood as the backing or background vocal, her work considers the aesthetic, cultural, and political implications of voices sounding within, from, and through this space.

As a composer, her practice makes extensive use of reel-to-reel tape and other analogue technologies. Her work explores the cut as a compositional method, while also examining how processes of distribution and playback shape the experience and circulation of recorded music. She has released work through labels including Where To Now? and Night School Records, and her music has been featured in publications and platforms including The Wire, Electronic Sound, The Quietus, The Vinyl Factory, and Boiler Room.

Rachael is co-founder of Subversive Fidelities: Music Futures Research Hub, a research group dedicated to exploring alternative approaches to the production, dissemination, and preservation of recorded music. Through a range of creative and research-led projects, the group develops experimental methodologies for engaging with sound and welcomes both internal and external collaborations.

She is also a member of UAL research centre, Creative Research ito Sound Art Practice (CRiSAP).

Prior to her current role, Rachael was Senior Lecturer in Computational Arts at UAL. She also taught across the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art, where she led the Scratch Ensemble elective.

In addition to her role as Course Leader for MA Music Production, Rachael currently serves as Research and Knowledge Exchange Coordinator for the Screen School, supporting and developing research and knowledge exchange activity across the School.

Forthcoming Publications:
Finney, R. (2027), 'Listening for the Record: The Sounding of the Backing.ground at Motown and Beyond,' Liquid Blackness, Duke University Press

Research Areas: Popular Music Studies • Music Cultures • Sound Studies • Experimental Music • Recording and Media Histories • Gender and Labour in Popular Music • Music and Technology • Sonic Arts