Jayson is an Associate Professor of Music in the Global Arts Studies Program at the University of California. He received his B.A. in Music and Anthropology from Whitman College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Jayson is ethnomusicologist whose work focuses upon the music industry of India. He has written two books, co-edited the volume Music in Contemporary Indian Film, published in the journals Ethnomusicology, Popular Music, and South Asian Popular Culture, as well as book chapters in several edited volumes.