Traveling music: Following the path of music through the global market

Abstract

Music in the twentieth century means, among other things, big business of mass communication that crosses global boundaries. Several theories address the possible effects of such global corporate influences on local culture. This essay reviews such theories and evaluates them in relation to popular music as a cultural product. Specifically, we review the history and structure of the popular music industry, examine applications of the cultural imperialism theory to popular music and the subsequent debate, and survey newer theories that developed as a result of the debate. These theories are then assembled and organized along a continuum to establish the progressive relationships between the numerous forms musical flow can assume. The resulting model is meant to be a heuristic so researchers can keep in mind that not all cultural exchanges are sinister. Factors that may help to mitigate the predictions posed by cultural imperialism theory in the global flow of music are also examined.

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