Sound on Screen V and Re/sounding Visions: Music, Sound, and the Moving Image at 20 is an international conference and symposium at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, from 15–17 July 2026, bringing together delegates from across the world. This event convenes researchers and practitioners, scholars associated with Music, Sound, and the Moving Image and the RMA’s Sound on Screen Study Group, for three days of discussion, exchange and critical reflection on current and emerging directions in audiovisual studies. Marking the twentieth anniversary of MSMI, the conference offers a timely opportunity to assess developments in the field, revisit foundational concerns, and consider new methodological, theoretical, and interdisciplinary trajectories. The programme includes a keynote address by Professor Kathryn Kalinak and a roundtable of leading figures in the field exploring the development and future of sound on screen studies.
Across more than seventy presentations, position statements, and video essays, the conference encompasses a wide range of topics and media contexts. These include new work on music video, sound and embodiment, and production and post production practices, alongside studies of streaming aesthetics, archival research, and videographic criticism. Themed panels address subjects such as the music of Battlestar Galactica, the soundtrack album as a cultural object, and Nordic audiovisual traditions, while other contributions explore areas including sonic branding, electronic music and sport, AI and functional music, the politics of TikTok soundtracks, and the circulation of popular music across screen media.
The event is characterised by disciplinary and geographical breadth, with research engaging South Asian, African, East Asian, European, and North American screen cultures. Topics range from children’s media and opera on film to historical and contemporary biopics, representations of gender and identity, and queer approaches to audiovisual theory. Practice based work and video essays add further methodological diversity.
Further information on the conference