ABSTRACT
This book focuses on the contemporary state of popular music in the post-colonial nation states of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand are neighboring countries in the Southern Hemisphere which are often perceived by those in the West and elsewhere as "down under." When considering the industries that generate, maintain, and promote popular music, a passing mention must be made of the academic infrastructure that enables scholars to research and teach popular music in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. In the cities of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand, urban music-making comprises a vital part of larger social, material, and symbolic dimensions that have lent definition and meaning to each city's unique identity (for example, "Melbourne: Australia's Live Music Capital" or "The Dunedin Sound"). Music-making in this context is also characterized and strengthened by regionally specific musical networks, where the local, the transnational, and the global intersect in promising as well as problematic fashion.
