Music at the Edges: Peripherality in the practices of popular music

June 29 – July 1, 2026
University of Aberdeen, Kings College, Aberdeen, Scotland

For this meeting of the UK and Ireland branch of IASPM we invite scholars to explore and reflect on the conceptof peripherality as it relates to the diversity of practices undertaken in relation to music making anddissemination. We consider peripherality here in both its literal (spatial and geographical) forms and in themore metaphorical ways that attitudes and behaviours are shaped by a perceived distance from an impliedcentre. To this end, we encourage considerations of the ways in which peripherality may influence how musicis created, performed, recorded, and disseminated within and from such locales. This may include locationsthat are geographically isolated, taking into consideration the positive and negative influences on the localmusic scenes and their functioning. Peripherality may also refer to the ways in which the music markets withinsuch locales might be considered satellite markets for other centres of production. We also recognise theways in which specific genres of music may be considered ‘underground’ when positioned in relation to‘mainstream’ genres and hence are considered peripheral within specific markets. Furthermore, we recognise the ways in which digital and internet technologies can break down traditional barriers between the centre and the periphery and the tensions which may arise as a result of this.

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Statement on the proposed suspension of recruitment to all undergraduate programmes at the University of Nottingham

By the UK and Ireland branch of IASPM, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music
8 December 2025

The Executive Committee of IASPM UK and Ireland collectively express our deep concern over the University of Nottingham’s recent decision to suspend recruitment to all undergraduate programmes in music, risking permanent closure of all music degrees at the University.

As representatives of the largest association of popular music researchers in Europe, we call on the University to reverse this decision and engage positively with its staff and students to find a solution that secures the department’s future and respects its significant achievements across all domains of music including popular music studies.

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Music, Crisis, Memory

An International Interdisciplinary Conference
School of Arts and Cultures, Newcastle University, 8-9 May 2026

Music can act as an essential tool for accessing and even shaping memories, particularly in times of crisis or when experiencing grief and loss. Music can also trigger vivid memories, including those related to specific events, emotions, or individuals. In various published studies, scholars demonstrate that music has long served as a powerful medium for communal mourning and remembrance in times of crisis, providing a way to process grief and make loss audible.

When we discuss the relationships between music, crisis, and memory in depth, many questions arise: How does music support people through times of crisis and loss (e.g. global pandemic, fatal warfare and natural disaster)? How do we remember or forget crises musically? How can music function as a memory carrier as well as a healer? What remarkable crisis has the music industry dealt with? How does the crisis inspire music composition and create musical memory?

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