Andreas Rauh is an Assistant Professor and Programme Chair of the MSc in Emerging Media at the School of Communications. His research explores key questions around cultural production and digital technologies, with a particular focus on audio and music production, media and the cultural industries, and generative AI. He teaches across a range of modules in media studies, audio production, and multimedia.

His recent work focuses on the use of generative AI tools for visual production by artists from indigenous communities in Abya Yala (South America). The project examines how these artists and their communities engage with digital technologies in their creative practices and how such tools are adapted in line with the principles of buen vivir — a worldview grounded in community, sustainability, respect for all living beings, and the natural cycles of life, offering a critical lens on colonialism and capitalism. This research has been supported by the ESRC (via the Digital Good Network at the University of Sheffield) and the ERC (via the University of Leeds). Findings have been shared at the Society for Latin American Studies conference (Amsterdam, 2024) and presented to the public in the exhibition Artificial Intelligence, Art and Indigeneity at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin (2024).

Andreas completed his PhD with a project that looked at how grassroots electronic musicians navigate a rapidly changing musical landscape. His research examined musicians’ motivations, working conditions, learning processes, and the pressures of achieving success, particularly in light of the growing role of online platforms in music distribution, consumption, and promotion. To explore these dynamics, he combined close analysis of musicians’ day-to-day practices with broader views of the music industry and platform economies. His work draws on approaches from cultural studies, sociology of culture, political economy, production studies, and platform analysis. He has published in Popular Music and Society, Social Media + Society, and Dancecult.

In addition to his academic work, Andreas is an active musician, sound designer, and live performer, working mainly within electronic and dance music scenes. His most recent practice-based project, Sincronia Sonora, involved the co-creation of audio-visual recordings of soundscapes with the Emboré indigenous community in Cachimbo, Bahia, Brazil. The project was supported by the British Council and the Oi Futuro Foundation.