DOI: 10.1017/tmd.2026.10044 ISSN: 3033-4233

Disciplining Music Heritage: A Preliminary Survey

AV Villén

Abstract

Heritagisation of music proliferates as does the scholarly debate about it. By examining relevant journals, I interrogate the conceptualisation and construction of music heritage in relation to disciplinary boundaries in particular. The results suggest there is a prevalent dualism where critical heritage studies align with popular music, and the scientific approaches to heritage with European classical music. With respect to the disciplinary divisions in music research, it is more common to encounter reliance on ethnomusicology or popular music studies than musicology.

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