I like to rework my conference talks on long distance flightsnot only due to the fact that that the bothersome pile of paperwork on your desk always seems to grow to new heights just before departure, but because it literally gives you a different perspective on things, removed from the intellectual and institutional framework you're usually trapped in. On a flight to Cape Town, there's plenty of time for that. Since last year's international IASPM conference was to be held in Grahamstown, South Africa, this required greater efforts for overseas delegates to attend, while making it more accessible for those on the African continent (this being the first conference to be held in Africa since 1987).IASPM was founded the year that I was born, so why would I make every effort to attend this conference and send in an abstract for a stream entitled 'IASPM 30 Years On'? It's because I figured that a stream considering the institutionalisation of popular music studies should be complemented by someone who took a degree within such an institution, looking upon this research field from the perspective of a new generation of popular music scholars. Maybe it wasn't all that accidental, then, that I happened to run into IASPM founder Philip Tagg in Cape Town before the conference. He may forgive my criticism of his portrayal of musicology in his keynote, but for my generation of scholars it is simply frustrating to see these boundaries reinforced. In addition, the call for papers for this conference also took the opportunity to comment upon 'mainstream' musicologists. However, fortunately, what these conferences do is to provide a space for exchange outside disciplinary and departmental struggles.As mentioned in the call for papers, this particular conferenceentitled 'Situating Popular Musics'was meant to provide a context for IASPM members to explore arguments about different popular music practices, spaces and places. I would like to add that we should probably spend just as much time considering
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