Japan and sound: modernity, social constructs and power relations

14-15 November 2024, Bordeaux Montaigne University
Organised by MSH Bordeaux, D2iA (Bordeaux Montaigne University, La Rochelle University), IETT (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University)

Recent ethnographic and historical research has shown that sound and musical production and listening practices are linked to social constructs, in particular to questions of identity and power relations (Mitsui, Hosokawa 2005; Wajima 2010; Hankins, Stevens 2014; Kheshti 2015; Manabe 2015; Novak, Sakakeeny 2015; Radano, Olaniyan 2016; Plourde 2019; Chenhall, Kohn, Stevens 2021; Haukamp, Hoene, Smith 2022; Skelchy, Taylor 2022). These studies suggest that the relationship between sound and everyday life must be understood within specific cultural contexts, i.e. within specific temporal, spatial and social frameworks. The global dissemination of technologies and the standardisation of techniques for producing and mediating sound since the modern era have let to acts of reappropriation and reinterpretation of sound, whether determined as natural or artificial, and of the ways in which it is heard. Examining the ways in which sound is made, mediated and received reveals a fundamental political tension between what can be reduced to the pairing of hearing and being heard; it provides insight into the processes of exploring relationships with others and of psychic and social affirmation of an individual or collective selves, spaces and ‘ears’; it also reconsiders power structures through the imprints, and the ecology on which they depend, of a transitory form.

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Commercial Electronic Musical Instruments in 21st Century Music Practice

The 21st Century Music Practice Research Network’s 2024 Two Day Conference is on Mon & Tue, 9th & 10th September 2024 at the University of West London, St. Mary’s Road, Ealing, London W5 5RF.

2024’s C21MP network event is themed around Pete Townshend’s long-term loan to UWL of his extraordinary collection of commercially produced electronic musical instruments. Presenters who wish to use one or more of the instruments from UWL’s Townshend Studio in their video or in the session should contact the organisers to discuss the possibilities (see list below).

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Building Collective Futures: Communities Thriving Through Music

IASPM Canada Annual Conference 2024: Call for Papers
University of Regina: Regina, Saskatchewan
September 27-29, 2024
Submission deadline: 1 April, 2024

Submit proposals through: https://forms.gle/qVgRUoGyF1frMcX98

We live in a time of uncertainty: multiple theatres of war and conflict, refugee movements across the globe, rampant technological change, political polarization, cultural upheaval, and a global climate crisis threaten individual and collective futures at every turn. At this unprecedented point in time, how can we envision and build thriving, alternative futures? And for whom? Does Canada have a special place in all of this: how do we transition from the inequities of our past relationships (to Indigenous populations and to the earth) to building respectful, inclusive, and sustainable futures? What role(s) does popular music play in such projects? Is it sometimes, also, a part of the problem? How does digitality help or hinder efforts to elevate humanity through musicking? How do new methodologies provide insight in changing times? How are musicians working collectively to build thriving futures?

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Popular Brass Music in the 21st Century

Special Issue, Journal of World Popular Music

Guest Editors: Dr. Bernhard Steinbrecher (University of Innsbruck, Department of Music); Bernhard Achhorner (Stella Vorarlberg Privathochschule für Musik)

This special issue aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of contemporary popular brass music, with an emphasis on its global manifestations. Against the backdrop of the increasing popularity of brass music in German-speaking regions, particularly in youthful demographics, the special issue discusses from an international perspective the contemporary aesthetic, stylistic, sociocultural, economic, and political facets of music that gravitates around brass instruments. The objective is to shed light on recent developments since the 1990s, elucidating whether there are parallels, resonances, and distinctions in diverse glocal contexts. Hereby, the special issue also strives to initiate the transnational scholarly conceptualization of a newly emerging and adapting musical field.

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EDM and its Discontents: The Contested Meaning of “Electronic Dance Music”

CFP: Dancecult issue edited by Anita Jóri

The phrase electronic dance music and its acronym EDM have acquired contested meanings, particularly among scholars, journalists and actors involved in the field, such as musicians, fans and industry members. Researchers (e.g., Holmes 2020; Jóri 2021) and journalists (e.g., Glazer 2014) have attempted to trace the evolution of this nomenclature, but consensus regarding their definition remains elusive and debated among practitioners, journalists and academics. In research, both terms are generally used interchangeably as overarching terms encompassing diverse electronic musical styles and genres.

However, it has become evident that “electronic dance music” and “EDM” can carry distinct connotations. Specifically, EDM has become a contentious term within underground electronic music scenes and is often linked to mainstream, profit-oriented genres and musicians. This tendency began in the early 2000s, when electronic music and dance cultures underwent a process of mainstreamisation. This association is also reinforced and amplified by the music industry (especially in the US), not only by releasing music for an extended market but also by organising megafestivals, such as the Electric Daisy Carnival or Ultra Music Festival, and awards such as the American Music Award for Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist (Jóri 2021). In an effort to differentiate between these meanings, Holt (2017), for example, introduced the category of “EDM pop”, which provides a useful distinction from EDM as a simple acronym for electronic dance music.

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Chicago Music: Histories, People, and Scenes

We invite scholars, musicians, and arts programmers from diverse disciplinary perspectives to submit proposals for “Chicago Music: Histories, People, and Scenes,” a symposium to be held at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago, IL on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, prior to the American Musicological Society meeting, and sponsored by the AMS Popular Music Study Group and DePaul University. The symposium focuses on four themes that invite consideration of how music has impacted and been shaped by Chicago’s unique culture, economy, geography, history, and people: Chicago music histories; festivals; public arts programming; and identities, neighborhoods, and communities. The goal of the symposium is to foster conversations among participants from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and establish a groundwork for documenting and understanding Chicago’s musical life in its full richness.

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British Pop Archive

Call for Authors, First Round

The British Pop Archive (BPA) is a dynamic series of short books published by Manchester University Press. Drawing on a rich variety of sources including interviews, memoirs, recordings, images, press cuttings and other archival materials, the books will reflect and expand the Manchester-based British Pop Archive, which recently launched to much acclaim.

We are seeking manuscripts of 50,000 – 70,000 words geared toward general readers as well as popular music specialists.  We are keen to hear from both new and experienced authors who wish to share untold stories from music, popular (and unpopular) culture and counterculture, whilst entertaining and informing the reader.  We seek authors willing to bring the archivist’s joy of uncovering long-hidden secrets and delving into dusty corners to an audience of retro culture vultures, music buffs and curious souls.

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Music4Change: Sustainable Cities and Cultures of Music

Date: 6-8 November, 2024
Location: University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Music4Change invites papers, panels, and workshops for the 2024 International Research School on the theme of Sustainable Cities and Cultures of Music to be held on November 6-8 at the University of Groningen. During these three days we will explore new ways of researching cities in relation to sustainability within the realm of music in a variety of formats, including through workshops, sound walks, interactive performances, and papers.

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Special issue of Cultural Trends

Do Give Up Your Day Job: Basic Income for artists, and other stories.

Drawing on the growing popularity of Universal Basic Income (UBI), a basic income for artists (BIA) has been posited as a solution to the crisis of declining income and increased precarity amongst artists. As with UBI, the experience of quasi-unconditional cash transfers during the pandemic gave impetus to those who saw BIA as a viable way to provide income directly to precarious artists, minimising the onerous and costly bureaucratic tasks of grant bidding and acquittal. A large-scale BIA trial in Ireland, including 2,000 artists receiving €325 a week for 3 years, offers a potential model whose evaluation is in progress.

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Preface, Prelude, Prologue

5th June 2024
Venue: Screen 2, Depot Cinema, Lewes
Next to Lewes railway station at Pinwell Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2JS
Please see this link for further information: https://lewesdepot.org/visit/travel

Submission deadline: 3rd March 2024

Can you think of an opening moment in a narrative work that engages you, sparks your curiosity, and establishes the themes and politics of the whole piece? In Cinematic Overtures: How To Read Opening Scenes, Annette Insdorf tells us “a great movie tends to provide in the first few minutes the keys by which to unlock the rest of the film” thus enabling our “sophisticated appreciation”. It might “mislead” us in some way or act as “a stylized prologue that is not really part of the action but sets a tone or introduces a theme” (2017: ix-5).

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