World Music: A Very Short Introduction

Abstract World Music: A Very Short Introduction looks at the history of world music and its many definitions. ‘World music’ is more than a marketing term for the music industry. During the Enlightenment, the idea of the ‘folk song’ encouraged European audiences to imagine music from around the world. Technology helped to create the ‘audio moment’—the transformation of sound into material which could be recorded and distributed worldwide. Throughout history, music has been used to express unity and national pride. World music both foregrounds and transgresses borders. Ideas in different cultures about world music, and indeed about music, are as diverse as ever.