Reference no: EM132558634

The mirror image of the "world music" phenomenon described in Topic A is the appropriation of Western musical instruments, sounds, structures, and styles by musicians whose cultural origins are outside the West. Recording by such musicians -- also frequently referred to generically as "world beat," "ethno pop," or "world pop" -- raise issues that are the obverse of those listed under topic A. For example:

Question 1. Do musicians from non-Western cultures tend to sell their own musical traditions short when they merge these traditions with Western styles and techniques, usually in a pop or jazz groove?

Question 2. Can music remain "traditional" while incorporating elements of Western musical modernity? What are the criteria for classification as "traditional" music?

Question 3. Does the commercial success of fusion recordings tend to undermine the cultural authority of more traditional musicians in the non-Western countries from which these projects emerge?

Question 4. Do these projects tend to produce music that wears well with time, or does the music appear in hindsight to have been slapped together quickly as a response to the music industry's hunger for fads and novelty?

Question 5. Even though native musicians are ostensibly in control of the projects, do they invariably end up being exploited by the entertainment business? (i.e., recruited, recorded, and rejected as soon as they fail to meet marketing goals).