Ethnomusicology Today

In this episode we talk with Anna Morcom, whose article “Terrains of Bollywood: (Neoliberal) Capitalism and the Transformation of Cultural Economies” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Morcom explores changes in post-1990’s Indian dance culture. She contrasts the Bollywood dance craze in the middle classes with the rise of less culturally-accepted dance bars, bars in which dancers were showered with money to perform seductively. As a consequence of neoliberal capitalist ideals and the class disparity between those who worked in and frequented dance bars with those who opposed them, these bars have faced numerous legal challenges despite their significant contribution to the Indian dance economy. Anna Morcom is a Senior Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London.

In this episode we talk with Gregory Booth, whose article “Copyright Law and the Changing Economic Value of Popular Music in India” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. In his investigation of intellectual property rights within the context of the Indian popular music industry, Gregory traces the influence of copyright laws and new technologies on the social and economic value of popular music. Gregory Booth is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

In this episode, we discuss intellectual property rights within the context of the Indian popular music industry with Gregory Booth, whose article "Copyright Law and the Changing Economic Value of Popular Music in India" was published in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.

In this episode we talk with David Kaminsky, whose article “Just Exotic Enough,” was recently published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. David interrogates the discourse of two Swedish, non-Jewish chamber klezmer bands, drawing out the complexities of heritage, identity, and cultural ownership. As a musical tradition cultivated by Jews in the east European diaspora, but now widely played by both Jewish and non-Jewish musicians throughout America, Europe, and elsewhere, klezmer has specific interest for David, who self-identifies as an American Jewish scholar. David Kaminsky is an assistant professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Merced.

In this episode, we discuss Swedish chamber klezmer bands with David Kaminsky, whose article “Just Exotic Enough: Swedish Chamber Klezmer as Postnational World Music and Mid-East Proxy” was published in the Spring/Summer 2014 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.

In this episode, we discuss the rock-and-roll tribute band phenomenon with John Paul Meyers, whose article “Still Like That Old Time Rock and Roll: Tribute Bands and Historical Consciousness in Popular Music” was published in the Winter 2015 issue of the journal Ethnomusicology.

In this episode, we discuss the rock-and-roll tribute band phenomenon with John Paul Meyers, whose article “Still Like That Old Time Rock and Roll,” was published in the Winter 2015 issue of the journal, Ethnomusicology. Meyers explains tribute bands as a case study for exploring the active role historical consciousness plays in shaping listeners’ engagement with popular music. By reviving the sounds—and sights—of a previous generation, tribute band concerts serve to establish historical narratives within popular music culture. John Paul Meyers is a visiting assistant professor of African-American Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.