MUSIC lovers are being recruited to take part in the UK’s first live music census.

For one night in March, organisers aim to track performances in cities across the country – from lone buskers to massed choirs, from pub gigs to stadium concerts.

They hope the survey will help measure live music’s cultural and economic value, among other issues.

There will be coordinated censuses in Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Leeds, Birmingham, Southampton and Brighton.

The UK Live Music Census – conducted by the universities of Edinburgh, Newcastle and Glasgow – will run for 24 hours from noon on March 9 with volunteers asked to record aspects of the gig including the musical genre, the venue, door charge and audience demographic.

Organiser Dr Matt Brennan from the University of Edinburgh said: "This is like a Springwatch for live music. We want people to let us know everything about the music they see on this one day."

The census is led by academics from the University of Edinburgh’s Reid School of Music – part of Edinburgh College of Art – in collaboration with Newcastle University’s International Centre for Music Studies and the University of Glasgow’s School of Culture and Creative Arts.

uklivemusiccensus.org

A CONFERENCE debating the future of migrants’ rights later this month will be closed with the launch of a poetry project and documentary featuring a reading from Scotland’s Makar, Jackie Kay. The project, "A Story in a Poem”, sees migrants and non-migrants relate their stories in poems.

Their work will be collected into a series of podcasts that will be used both on social media and as an educational resource for schools and colleges.

The setting for the event is a conference on January 21 organised by advocacy charity Migrant Voice in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University.

migrantvoice.org

THE 14TH Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival runs on February 4 and 5 at The George Square Lecture Theatre of Edinburgh University.

The 22 films at the festival include one featuring Finnish freediver Johanna Nordblad. Following a serious injury in a downhill biking accident, Johanna was exposed to cold-water treatment – something that saved her leg. British film-maker Ian Derry captures her taking a plunge under the Arctic ice in Johanna Under The Ice.

As well as the films, the festival features guest lectures from American BASE-jumper Steph Davis, and from Scottish mountaineers and adventurers Jamie Andrew, Greg Boswell and Luke Robertson. Tickets are on sale now.

www.emff.co.uk