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Pop–Power–Positions: Engaging with the (Post)Colonial in Popular Music Studies. An Introduction

Popular music is embedded in and connected to our globalized world. A world that is, however, not an equal and fair one. Issues of power, place, and positions play a fundamental role in all aspects of life: It matters in which context, world region, class, or ethnic belonging a person, an institution, a music is situated. The first volume of the IASPM D-A-CH series ~Vibes looks at (global) power relations and representations of differences in popular music (studies). In the introduction the editors argue for the inclusion of postcolonial thought and questions of decolonizing academia into popular music studies. Based on papers held at the IASPM D-A-CH conference in Bern 2018, this volume presents seven articles from various disciplines, discussing education, economics, globalization, and politics.

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„Pop–Power–Positions: Engaging with the (Post)Colonial in Popular Music Studies. An Introduction“ weiterlesen
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“And It Turns Out that It only Has Two Chords”: Secondary School Music Teachers’ Orientations on Dealing with Learners’ Music Cultures in the Classroom in Germany

In this study, we reconstruct German secondary music teachers’ strategies for dealing with learners’ (pop) music culture(s) in music lessons as well as shared implicit and explicit knowledge that underpins this practice and orientates teachers in their everyday teaching. Findings arise from data collected in group discussions analyzed with the help of the documentary method (Bohnsack 2014). Our study shows differences between learners’ and teachers’ (implicit) conceptions of the goals and the content of music lessons in school, especially with regard to the different notions of the value of pop music. It seems to be an everyday practice in school to functionalize pop music and positioning Western art music higher than other musical styles included in lessons. This is combined with an orientation toward the analysis of music as a common modus operandi. Our findings confirm the gap between students’ musical interests and practices in everyday life and school music education. This leads us to discuss the power relations in the educational system and the structures that cause social injustice, as well as new perspectives on music teacher training and music education in schools to face these issues in the future.

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„“And It Turns Out that It only Has Two Chords”: Secondary School Music Teachers’ Orientations on Dealing with Learners’ Music Cultures in the Classroom in Germany“ weiterlesen
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Data-Based Co-Creation and Participation: Reflections on an Ambivalent Relation by the Example of Music Apps

This paper discusses data-based co-creation initiated by pop music related apps with respect to ambivalences of cultural, social, economic, and political participation. It refers mainly to Armin Nassehi’s (2019) approach on digitization, Klaus Dörre’s (2009, 2019) further development of the concept capitalistic expansion and Karl Polanyi’s (2011 [1944]) ideas on fictitious commodities. Referring to two examples—Fantome Mezzanine by Massive Attack and the feature “Handy-Lightshow” of the app of the German schlager singer Helene Fischer—the paper suggests a dialectic approach to cultural, social, economic, and political participation, and raises questions on employment, distribution, and ownership.

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„Data-Based Co-Creation and Participation: Reflections on an Ambivalent Relation by the Example of Music Apps“ weiterlesen