Listening to Mainstream Popular Music in 2021

Registration and programme for the two-day conference "Listening to (Mainstream) Popular Music in 2021: Sounds and Practices“ is now available online! The event is hosted by the University of Innsbruck (Austria), Department of Music, and will take place in a hybrid format on 11-12 June 2021.

In 2 keynotes, 14 presentations, and one round table discussion, international scholars from different fields and methodological backgrounds will intensify the scholarly discourse on the current sounds of popular music as well as on those who stream, buy, talk about, like, use, and listen to these sounds. A particular focus of the conference is on notions of the mainstream.

- Keynote 1: “Sounds” – Mapping Pop Form in the 21st Century Nate Sloan, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music; musicologist; co-host of Switched on Pop (a podcast analyzing down Top 40 pop music); co-author of Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works and Why it Matters. https://music.usc.edu/nate-sloan

- Keynote 2: "Practices" – Psychological Characteristics of Subjective Experiences of Popular Music in Everyday Life Ruth Herbert, University of Kent, Department of Music and Audio Technology; music psychologist and pianist; author of Everyday Music Listening Absorption, Dissociation and Trancing. https://www.kent.ac.uk/arts/people/24/herbert-ruth

- Round Table: Mainstream Popular Music Research. Goals, Objects, Approaches with Ralf von Appen, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna; Christofer Jost, University of Freiburg; Amanda Krause, James Cook University (AUS); Helen Reddington, University of East London

—> For registration (until 31 May), the conference schedule, and more information please go to https://www.uibk.ac.at/musikwissenschaft/aktuelles/events/2021/konferenz-mainstream/conference-listening-to-mainstream-popular-music-in-2021-sounds-and-practices.html

You can download the full programme incl. abstracts and short bios here (as pdf): https://www.uibk.ac.at/musikwissenschaft/aktuelles/events/2021/konferenz-mainstream/programme_mainstream2021.pdf

All presentations will be broadcasted online (via Zoom), but there is also the possibility for in-person attendance in Innsbruck. Everyone who is able to come to Innsbruck, either as presenter or non-presenting participant, can watch and discuss all of the presentations in our lecture room in the "House of Music" (www.haus-der-musik-innsbruck.at).

For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Bernhard Steinbrecher, head of the organizing committee (bernhard.steinbrecher@uibk.ac.at).