Popular music as cultural heritage: scoping out the field of practice

Remembering the 1960s: popular music and memory in Europe

“…Mass-produced cultural forms like music have found their way into museums following the increased legitimacy of popular culture (Bennett 2009, Brandellero andJanssen 2014). However, in Europe, there are notable differences in the way popular music is positioned as twentieth-century cultural heritage (Cohen 2013).…”

“…Traditionally, European identity and cultural heritage are seen in connection to high culture (Cohen 2013, Lähdesmäki 2012. More recently, however, various studies (Bennett 2009, Reitsamer 2014, Brandellero and Janssen 2014 have demonstrated that due to the blurring of the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture and the attention paid to social history, heritage discourses increasingly include popular music as an expression of shared identity. Nevertheless, there has thus far been little discussion of the European dimensions of popular music heritage (Cohen 2013 being a notable exception).…”

“…Following on from the increasing cultural legitimacy of popular music, which is manifest by its inclusion in cultural policies (Nuchelmans 2002, Looseley 2011, Van der Hoeven 2012 and the coverage given to the arts and culture in elite newspapers (Schmutz et al 2010, Janssen et al 2011, popular music has become part of heritage discourses (Brandellero and Janssen 2014). Bennett observes how the rock aesthetic that emerged in the 1960s is strongly connected to the identity of the baby-boomer generation:…”

“…Furthermore, narratives of popular music heritage are not only connected to generational identities, but are also linked to notions of place. For example, museums (Burgoyne 2003), documentaries (Reitsamer 2014) and tourist organizations (Brandellero and Janssen 2014) give shape to popular music as a form of local and national heritage.…”

Alternative Radio: exhibiting radio and music heritage after the Christchurch earthquakes

“…For objects of musical culture this kind of 'heritage' framing is often at odds with music's status as 'popular' or 'commercial' culture (Brandallero and Janssen 2013, 225). However, being put together by independent practitioners from archives kept by the community organisation, and its community members, the exhibition reflected a democratisation of memory and meaning-making in museum practice (Black 2011;Baker & Huber 2013;Brandellero & Janssen 2013;Roberts & Cohen 2013).…”