Dr. James Rhys Edwards

Dr James Edwards received his PhD in Ethnomusicology with a specialisation in Systematic Musicology from University of California, Los Angeles in 2015. After conducting research as a visiting scholar at Okinawa International University and lecturing at Lewis & Clark College, he joined SINUS-Institute in Berlin, Germany in 2017. At SINUS, he directs the Open Music Europe project (Horizon Europe Grant No. 101095295), which supports European music ecosystems in becoming more competitive, fairer, and more sustainable. He has previously acted as a co-principle investigator in numerous European Commission projects focused on both the cultural and creative sectors and other policy domains, and has directed mixed-methods research projects for governmental and civil society organisations in Germany and abroad. This has given him the opportunity to cooperate with scholars in a range of disciplines, leading to both scientific publications and policy outputs. In 2024 he was appointed as a Research Fellow at the University of Amsterdam Institute for Information Law and as a Member of the European Expert Network on Culture. He spends his free time cycling and studying jazz guitar.