In response to the increased calls from both inside and outside the academy for anthropologists to extend the reach of their research, there have been discussions about how we can reach new audiences and communicate our ideas and thinking to new publics. While some argue that such an enhanced profile for the role of anthropology enables us to engage more actively in national and international debates relating to our different fields (Singer 1990;Paine 1990), others are more cautious and reflect that assuming a role of advocacy when arguing a particular point of view, or taking a particular stance, is not an unproblematic practice (Hastrup and Elsass 1990; Kellet 2009). Successive examples of how the findings from ethnographic research have been used both 'for' and 'against' the interests of the people who have been engaged in the fieldwork (researchers and participants) mean that the politics of representation imply that anthropologists must consider the sometimes conflicting elements of the moral, ethical, political, social, personal and academic dimensions of their work (Kirsch 2002;Scheper-Hughes 1995;Wright 1988).That the participants may also form part of these audiences has highlighted the need for researchers and their research findings to speak not only to sponsors and other powerful elites, including the academy, but also to local and at times global audiences (Finnegan 2005). This has clear implications not only for the style of communication and the places and spaces where the communication takes place, but also for the nature of that communication (Rapport 1997). There is consensus that an effective communication ABSTRACT: There has been increasing pressure for anthropologists to communicate their ideas and thinking to new publics and so actively engage in national and international debates relating to their field. However, this is not an unproblematic practice and the politics of representation requires anthropologists to consider the sometimes conflicting dimensions of the moral, ethical, political, social, personal and academic. My fieldwork with families linked to In Harmony Liverpool, a children's music project in England, involved inviting participants variously to take part in interviews, draw maps of musical sites in their homes, construct playlists of favourite songs and take photographs of sites in their homes where music 'happens'. As my aim is to produce a visual and audio display to communicate with wider audiences, I consider the issues of representation, authenticity, potential damage and 'othering' in the planning of the research and how this shaped data collection and the plans for dissemination.