Mapping Musical Vitality

Abstract

Abstract This chapter weaves together three existing theoretical and practical tools in the area of music sustainability to examine whether their combined usage could lead to greater understanding of the global circumstances and trends in music endangerment and vitality. It also considers whether the integrated use of these tools could lead to improved decision-making about the local, national, and/or international allocation of funds and resources for music safeguarding. The three tools are: (1) the Music Vitality and Endangerment Framework (MVEF), a tool to gauge, monitor, and evaluate changes in the vitality of music genres; (2) the map Music Endangerment and Vitality, a key outcome of a project that used a survey methodology based on the MVEF to map 101 music genres across the world; and (3) the Assets, Threats, Solvability (ATS) Model, a triage system for determining how best to allocate support and resources to support specific genres that may be in need of support. The chapter begins with some context around comparative approaches to ethnomusicological research, focusing particularly on mapping. It then briefly presents the MVEF and map tools, before exploring some challenges, risks, and limitations of using them to evaluate and represent music genres. The chapter closes by critically considering some implications of this comparative approach to understanding music endangerment and vitality, including how employing the ATS Model in conjunction with the MVEF and map could strengthen the usefulness and outcomes of all three tools.

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