Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Who Plays? an Analysis of Musicians’ Global Mobility in the World Music Market

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Arts and Power

Part of the book series: Kunst und Gesellschaft ((KUGE))

Abstract

This paper discusses musicians’ global mobility using the example of the World Music market. It draws on theoretical debates on migration and mobility, focusing on Glick Schiller and Salazar’s (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39(2): 183–200. 10.1080/1369183X.2013.723253, 2013) approach to regimes of mobility, in order to investigate how global mobility becomes part of musicians’ careers within unequal fields of globe-spanning power. An empirical analysis of migration history of musicians who performed at WOMEX–The World Music Expo between 2008 and 2017 reveals that a high share of migrant musicians (18%) are active in the World Music market. Nevertheless, it is the non-migrant touring musicians who seem to sustain this market as a transnational space beyond the boundaries of nation-states and ethnic groups. Most of them live in Europe, or, more specifically, in Spain, France, Brazil, the UK, and also the USA, which implies clear power imbalances within the World Music market.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    From a European perspective, it could mean “non-European” music. However, from another geographical perspective, World Music could be European. In Brazil, for instance, Charles Aznavour’s and in South Africa, Patrizio Buanne’s albums are classified as World Music. In this market, the point of reference is always the culture of the person speaking.

  2. 2.

    This analysis did not take the content of the book World Music–The Rough Guide or the magazines fRoots and Songlines into consideration.

  3. 3.

    According to the United Nations, there are 195 countries in the world.

References

  • Addison, Tony. 2006. The international mobility of cultural talent. WIDER Research Paper, No. 2006/108. Helsinki: UNU WIDER.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai, Arjun. 1990. Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy. Theory, Culture & Society 7: 295–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/026327690007002017.

  • Bennett, Andy and Richard A. Peterson. 2004. Introducing Music Scenes. In Music scenes: Local, translocal and virtual, ed. Andy Bennett and Richard A. Peterson, 1-15. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berendt, Joachim E. 1985. Über Weltmusik. Jazz Podium, March 24, 8–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broughton, Simon, Mark Ellingham, David Muddyman Richard Trillo. 1994. World Music: The Rough Guide. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Weltmusik 2.0: Zwischen Spass- und Protestkultur. Norient. http://norient.com/academic/weltmusik2-0/. Accessed 8 November 2019.

  • Dados, Nour and Raewyn Connell. 2012. The Global South. Contexts 11(1): 12–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504212436479.

  • DiMaggio, Paul. 1987. Classification in Art. American Sociological Review 52: 440–455. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095290.

  • Fairley, Jan. 1992. European world music charts. Popular Music 11(2): 241–244. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143000005055.

  • Favell, Adrian, Miriam Feldblum, and Michael P. Smith. 2007. The Human Face of Global Mobility: A Research Agenda. Society 44(2): 15–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02819922.

  • Franzen, Stefan. 2005. Weltmusik. In Musiklexikon: In vier Bänden, vol. 4, ed. Harald Hassler, 737–740, 2nd edn. Stuttgart: Metzler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frederickson, Jon, and James F. Rooney. 1990. How the Music Occupation Failed to Become a Profession. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 21(2): 189–206. https://doi.org/10.2307/837023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frith, Simon. 1991. Critical Response. In Music at the margins: Popular music and global cultural diversity, ed. Deanna C. Robinson, Elizabeth Buck and Marlene Cuthbert, 280–287. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • fRoots. n.d. Press “Release 02–World Music”. https://frootsmag.com/press-release-02-world-music. Accessed: 14 May 2019.

  • Giddens, Anthony. 1990. The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillett, Charlie. 2009. Playlist for week beginning 31 January 09. https://web.archive.org/web/20100325114855/. http://www.charliegillett.com/playlistnewformat.php?date=31January09. Accessed: 18 April 2019.

  • Glick Schiller, Nina. 2010. Transnationality. In A companion to the anthropology of politics, ed. David Nugent and Joan Vincent, 448–467. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glick Schiller, Nina, and Noel B. Salazar. 2013. Regimes of Mobility Across the Globe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39(2): 183–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2013.723253.

  • Glick Schiller, Nina, and Ulricke H. Meinhof. 2011. Singing a New Song?: Transnational Migration, Methodological Nationalism and Cosmopolitan Perspectives. Music and Arts in Action 3(3): 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, Andrew, and Joe Gore. 1990. World Beat and the Cultural Imperialism Debate. Special Issue “North and South Relation in the New World Order”. Socialist Review 20(3): 63–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guilbault, Jocelyn. 1996. Beyond the “World Music” Label: An Ethnography of Transnational Musical Practices. Beitrag zur Konferenz Grounding Music. PopScriptum. https://www2.hu-berlin.de/fpm/textpool/texte/guilbault_beyond-the-world-wusic-label.htm. Accessed: 8 November 2019.

  • Hall, Stuart. 1992. The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power. In Formations of modernity, ed. Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben, 275–332. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, David. 1989. The condition of postmodernity: An enquiry into the origins of cultural change. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Coz, Sandrine. 2019. From desire for recognition to desire for independence: World music filtered in the market economy. In Music Practices Across Borders: (E)Valuating Space, Diversity and Exchange, ed. Glaucia Peres da Silva and Konstantin Hondros, 105–126. Bielefeld: transcript. https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839446676-005.

  • Lipphardt, Anna. 2015. Kein Zugang zum Backstage-Bereich? Methodologische Überlegungen zu biographischen Interviews mit hochmobilen Künstlerinnen und Künstlern. In Räumliche Mobilität und Lebenslauf, ed. Joachim Scheiner and Christian Holz-Rau, 57–76. Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-07546-0_4.

  • Mendívil, Julio. 2017. Musikethnologie. In Global Pop: Das Buch zur Weltmusik, ed. Claus Leggewie and Erik Meyer, 35–42. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-05480-7_4.

  • Nettl, Bruno. 1985. The Western impact on world music. Change, adaption, and survival. New York: Schirmer Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peres da Silva, Glaucia. 2016. Wie klingt die globale Ordnung. Die Entstehung eines Marktes für World Music. Wiesbaden: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11813-6.

  • Peres da Silva, Glaucia. 2017. Weltmusik: Ein politisch umstrittener Begriff. In Global Pop: Das Buch zur Weltmusik, ed. Claus Leggewie and Erik Meyer, 9–16. Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-05480-7_1.

  • Pries, Ludger. 1996. Transnationale soziale Räume: Theoretisch-empirische Skizze am Beispiel der Arbeitswanderungen Mexico - USA. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 25(6): 456–472. https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-1996-0603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salmen, Walter. 1960. Der fahrende Musiker im europäischen Mittelalter. Kassel: Johann Philipp Ninnenthal.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 2017. International Migration Report 2017. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urry, John. 2012. Social networks, mobile lives and social inequalities. Journal of Transport Geography 21: 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2011.10.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voswinkel, Stephan. 1985. Über die Vielfalt der Musik: Zu Berendts Artikel “Über Weltmusik”. Jazz Podium, 24: 10–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wicke, Peter. 2004. Über die dieskursive Formation musikalischer Praxis: Diskurs-Strategien auf dem Feld der populären Musik. In Festschrift Prof. Dr. Rienäcker zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Stephan Aderhold, 163–174. http://festschrift65-rienaecker.de/Seite2.htm. Accessed: 8 November 2019.

  • Wimmer, Andreas, and Nina Glick Schiller. 2002. Methodological nationalism and beyond: Nation-state building, migration and the social sciences. Global Networks 2 (4): 301–334. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0374.00043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WOMEX. 2019. http://www.womex.com/. Accessed: 8 November 2019.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Glaucia Peres da Silva

Authors
  1. Glaucia Peres da Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glaucia Peres da Silva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Music and Performing Art Wien – mdw, Wien, Austria

    Lisa Gaupp

  2. Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany

    Alenka Barber-Kersovan

  3. Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany

    Volker Kirchberg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Peres da Silva, G. (2022). Who Plays? an Analysis of Musicians’ Global Mobility in the World Music Market. In: Gaupp, L., Barber-Kersovan, A., Kirchberg, V. (eds) Arts and Power. Kunst und Gesellschaft. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37429-7_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37429-7_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-37428-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-37429-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation