Popular Music Studies in Italy: A Historical/Political Overview

Courses on popular music were sparsely introduced in Italian universities in the late 1900s – early 2000s, and are still included under the umbrellas of other disciplines (ethnomusicology, media and communication studies, sociology). An official disciplinary sector including popular music does not exist. However, research on popular music has existed in Italy at least since the 1960s, two important international conferences took place in Italy (as early as in 1983, and in 2005), and Italian popular music scholars are known internationally and have been members of associations, editorial boards, scientific committees. To explain this contradiction, a long historical period has to be overviewed. It’s a very specific Italian story. Or maybe not.