ABSTRACT
Transitional processes between traditional and modern social structures and values can be noticed in all spheres of contemporary Libyan society. This chapter aims to put together a sociocultural and musical backdrop for the Libyan musical tradition. CDs and DVDs featuring rai music and Western pop music can be seen displayed in record shops next to CD collections of famous Qurn reciters such as Sheikh Abdul Bsi Abd u-Samad from Egypt or Sheikh Mishary Rashid Ghareeb Mohammed Rashid Al-Afasy from Kuwait. The chapter includes Libya's folk music and its role in contemporary musical life and the official culture more widely, the recording industry and its proliferation in the post-1969 revolutionary era and, finally, formal music education in Tripoli and the making of the professional musician. Most of Libya's population is composed of Arabic-speaking Muslims of mixed Arab and Berber ancestry. Libya's population also comprises Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Afghanis, Turks, Indians and sub-Saharan Africans.
