What makes for a hit song? In this post Christopher Marsh introduces the '100 Ballads' project, a study of the most successful broadside ballads of seventeenth-century England. '100 Ballads' was released online earlier this year. It brings together historians and players of early modern music to research and perform the most popular songs of the time. As well as a history of popular music, performance and publishing, 100 Ballads offers insight into the concerns of everyday life. The songs bring us stories of romance, comedy and tragedy, of value to historians of early modern politics society and culture. Though varied in their subject matter, successful broadside ballads were an amalgam of lyrics, melody and images that made for a hit.

Earlier this month, REF2029 announced a consultation relating to its Open Access Policy. The policy sets out the open access requirements for eligible publications. The 2029 policy extends the scope to include 'longform publications' in the form of monographs, edited collections, book chapters and scholarly editions. The inclusion of longform publications in REF2029 is a major development, of particular importance for humanities disciplines including history. This post provides a summary of the key points of the REF2029 open access policy and initial concerns and questions which the Society will be developing in its response. 

Digital communications are central to how we communicate, debate, teach and assess understanding of the past. In this post, David Geiringer goes back to one of the earliest, and most resilient, of these formats—the blog—to consider its development, use and relevance for historians. Originally championed for taking the communication of historical research beyond mainstream publishing and the academy, blogs are now integral to higher education assessment and practice. With blogs mainstream, it's time to consider how much of their original, disruptive capacity—in terms of content, format and readership—still holds; and reflect on the future of the communication format you’re about to read.