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I’m Andrew Mall, an author, teacher, researcher, and Associate Professor of Music at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. More about me and my work >>

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God Rock, Inc.
The Business of Niche Music

Popular music in the twenty-first century is increasingly divided into niche markets. How do fans, musicians, and music industry executives define their markets’ boundaries? What happens when musicians cross those boundaries? What can Christian music teach us about commercial popular music? In God Rock, Inc., Andrew Mall considers the aesthetic, commercial, ethical, and social boundaries of Christian popular music, from the late 1960s, when it emerged, through the 2010s.

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Andrew Mall, Ph.D. | Extras and Highlights

Hardcore Community at Furnace Fest: Nostalgia, Belongingness, and Vulnerability

Punk Scholars Network conference presentation (2025). In this paper I reflect on the meaningfulness of the Furnace Fest community to individual participants. My findings are based on four sequential years of fieldwork at Furnace Fest (2021–24) with ever-growing research teams, hundreds of survey responses, and dozens of hours of semi-structured interviews with organizers, community members, and random attendees (around 50 conducted at the 2024 event alone). I argue that nostalgia at Furnace Fest is generative as much as it is reflective, affirming participants’ identities while also empowering them to take risks and be vulnerably transparent in relative safety.

The State of DIY Music: A Roundtable Discussion

The State of DIY: A Roundtable Discussion was a public event held August 4, 2024, at the Lilypad in Cambridge, Mass.

Will Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show push NFL’s buttons or play it safe?

Northeastern Global News (2025). One of the biggest rappers of his generation, Kendrick Lamar is a logical choice for the NFL’s biggest stage. But the politically conscious rapper also stands in stark contrast to the league’s image.

Seminar in Music Industry

In this capstone course for music industry students, we explore contemporary analyses and issues with an eye toward critically assessing and engaging the music industries. Each student brings to the classroom a unique set of skills and experiences, including those grounded in coursework and experiential learning (such as co-ops, internships, research, service learning, study abroad, and other activities). During seminar, we learn together as a class from these individualized experiences and sets of expertise—the sum of our knowledge, in essence, is greater than its individual parts.

What Is the Legacy of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour”? Cultural Impact Goes Beyond Music, Expert Says

Northeastern Global News (2024). Taylor Swift ended her nearly two-year-long tour on Dec. 8. The Eras Tour broke records as one of the highest-grossing tours in history.

Taylor Swift Closed Her Eras Tour on Top of the World. Now What?

Reporting by Agency France-Presse, published by ABS-CBN and other global media outlets (2024). The nearly two-year-long, $2-billion Eras Tour shattered records, made history and quite literally triggered earthquakes -- so what could Taylor Swift, the planet's biggest star, possibly do next?

Gamelan Laras Tentrem Concert

Gamelan Laras Tentrem concert, December 7, 2024

“Dynamic Pricing” Was a Top Contender for Word of the Year. Here’s Why It Got Consumers So Worked Up in 2024

CNBC (2024). “Dynamic pricing” made Oxford University Press’ shortlist for the word of the year in 2024. Although the practice has been around for years, a recent surge in demand for sought-after concert tickets, such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, brought dynamic pricing back into the spotlight.

Why Are the Best New Artists Nominees at the Grammys Not that New?

Northeastern Global News (2024). Northeastern music expert Andrew Mall sounds off on this year’s Grammy nominations, including Beyonce’s nominations for her first country album.

Review of Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop, by Erika D. Gault

Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture (2024). In this review of Erika D. Gault's Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop (NYU Press, 2022), I discuss Gault’s digital ethnographic approach to learning more about “digital Black Christians” (her chosen signifier for what others might call Black Millennials) and her findings about how those digital Black Christians — primarily “creatives” and “thought leaders” (or, to others, “influences”) — impact theological discourses and Christian communities outside of defined religious hierarchies and churches.

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God Rock, Inc.The Business of Niche Music

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Andrew Mall, ph.d

God Rock, Inc.
The Business of Niche Music