Introduction—world music: Politics, production and pedagogy a special thematic issue of The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology

This article examines some of the key issues discussed and debated in the literature on ‘world music’ in anthropology and ethnomusicology. In particular, it focuses on the kinds of aesthetic and musical decisions made by non-Western musicians as they produce music for a global market; as both producers and consumers of global music, musicians labelled by the term ‘world music’ must consider both local and global audiences when they take the stage or enter the recording studio. The article then relates these issues to the other articles in this issue of TAPJA, which explore a variety of local responses to the world music phenomenon.