Sweet Lullabies

Recently, I've been reading a great deal about the appropriation of non-western music by European and American musicians. I feel this is a major issue, though I haven't engaged it much in my own research. Quite frankly, new music has a long history of exoticizing the music of non-western cultures. When I bring this up in discussions in the field, people often defend the appropriators, especially by pointing out that new music folks aren't making a lot of money doing this. I think that's a poor response and a dodge. This is a problem and we need to talk about it.

I read a blog post today by Ethan Zuckerman, a researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. He has a great blog and he posted way back in July about an appropriation story that's recieved much attention in ethnomusicology literature. I invite you to check it out.