Song Interpretation in the 21st-Century Pop Music, edited by Ralf von Ap- pen, André Doehring, Dietrich Helms and Allan F. Moore

Abstract

The collected edition Song Interpretation in the 21st-Century Pop Music resulted from a summer school that set out to explore the fundamental issue of all music analysis: Sub - jectivity  and  the  nonexistence  of  one  true  interpretation.  The  13  chapters,  eight  by renowned scholars in the field of popular musicology and five group chapters by 26 junior scholars, demonstrate different methodical approaches informed by various disciplines such as ethnomusicology, music theory, music technology, media, literary and communic- ations studies. The senior scholars analysed a topic they are known for, whereas the groups were given songs they were unlikely to be familiar with to avoid previous knowledge inter - fering with the interpretation. Indeed, the group interpretations led to different outcomes, partly due to the scholars’ individual academic socialisations, partly due to the divergent perceptions of the music. Rather than coming to a mutually agreed interpretation, the com- plexity increased in most cases, making the results richer and more credible, but also less coherent and consistent. Song Interpretation in the 21st-Century Pop Music is an important contribution to the various fields concerned with the meaning of popular music. The poten - tial of academic cross-pollination is clearly demonstrated, but so are the challenges. The initiated discussion is promising and should be continued.