7th Inter Asia Popular Music Studies Conference

The Department of Film & Performing Arts organized the 7th Inter Asia Popular Music Studies Conference online from 3rd to 6th December 2020. Fifty-two presenters from the US, Europe, Australia, and the Asia-Pacific region deliberated their papers under the theme of “Asia’s Sonic (under) Currents and Currencies” to explore the responses of popular music as local and trans-local, national and transnational formations and traditions to the disruptions and changes in the region’s changing techno-cultural landscape. The conference also explored the relevance and currencies of both assumptions and practices of popular music in the region with examples ranging from genres and categories, cultural industries, politics and government, fandom and activism. The conference featured a keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Tan Sooi Beng, a plenary session by singer and cultural activist Grace Nono, and a live concert by Azmyl Yunor. The proceedings of the conference will be published in 2021 by Sunway University Press.