Category Archives: Music magazines

World music magazines

World music magazines such as fROOTS, Etnoumlje, and Sing out! are largely devoted to profiles of current performers and groups whose repertoires fall within the fuzzy boundaries of world music, a nebulous marketing concept that covers almost any ethnic tradition, from sea shanties to sacred Buddhist ceremonies to Afropop. These articles go beyond the information in the artists’ press releases, often including interviews that provide biographical details and illuminate the historical roots of the music that they perform.

Occasionally these magazines publish research-based items, such as a survey of the current state of a particular genre, or articles of historical interest, such as the commercial recording of ethnic traditions in the early twentieth century.

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Filed under Music magazines, Popular music, Reception, World music

Music magazines

Music magazines fly under the radar for many scholars, but they are often the most reliable sources for information about current performers and repertory. Providing interviews, biographical details, and information about works and performances, these periodicals fill the information gap that precedes the publication of scholarly studies on these topics, and they are less likely to perpetuate errors than unconfirmed Internet sources.

Sometimes these magazines also present research that may not be oriented toward making a scholarly point, but may still prove useful for scholarly projects; examples include surveys of the output of small record labels, the musical life of a city, or the history of an institution.

Music magazines covered by RILM include selected publications for Western music and popular music as well as those devoted to less mainstream genres such as blues, world music, and Indian performing arts.

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Filed under Music magazines, Publication types, Reception