Popular Music and Sonic Cultures Master’s Program

Music Matters is the Lecture and Performance series of the Popular Music and Sonic Cultures Master’s degree program at the University of Groningen in the northern Netherlands.

This MA program accepts students from a variety of BA program backgrounds (Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Music Performance, Music Theory, Cultural Musicology, American Studies, Arts & Culture Studies, Sociology, European Languages and Cultures, etc.) that want to focus on Master’s level work on the study of music and culture. Students come together across disciplinary backgrounds to deepen their knowledge of music’s role in society and so no one type of previous training is necessary (ie. music theory, social science, etc.). For information on how to apply click here.

Music Matters XXXI: Can music affect climate justice? – A Discussion with Dr. Ellen Waterman

Sonic Worlding: co-creation, equitable participation, and climate justice is a five-year artistic research project (SSHRC, 2026-32) led by Dr. Ellen Waterman at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. The Sonic Worlding team includes artist researchers and climate activists who are collaborating with d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent musicians to explore what it’s like to live during this time of climate crisis and to imagine more livable futures. Their practice/artistic-based research methodologies involve making music, sound art, films, and podcasts and reflect on how Disability, neurodiversity, and d/Deaf communities are some of the most impacted by climate disruption, but their perspectives are all too often ignored in climate change policy (UNHRC 2020, Jodoin et al. 2020). These communities, however, have expertise in adaptation and resilience that can make a valuable contribution to our ability to imagine liveable futures. This interactive session will discuss and demonstrate how through storytelling and co-listening, participatory sonic arts can be a powerful vehicle for climate justice artivism and offer an socially impactful story. It will explore the question: How do we move from art making to climate action, and how can we tell if our work is having an impact? Can music really affect climate justice?

Music Matters XXX: Phantom Bands- A Discussion with Dr. Benjamin Piekut

Unlike many other postwar musical avant-gardes, minimalism developed a significant extension in the field of popular culture, most notably in drone metal in the twenty-first century. This development could be anticipated to some extent, given the inspiration and musical techniques that the early minimalists found in Black and nonwestern musics, and the importance they placed on lateral relations of authorship that departed from elite musical culture’s lionization of the composer-genius. But in the half-century of minimalism’s gradual unfolding, the ecological niche it once occupied has undergone its own profound transformations. On the one hand, the vernacular mode of production that once distinguished the popular field from fine art has been fully adopted by participants in the latter. On the other hand, popular music aesthetics developed a stratification of taste around typically masculinist repertoires like rock. For these reasons, the meaning of minimalism’s crossing into popular culture is inscrutable and even contradictory. Furthermore, the social relations of the band, which Patrick Nickleson has identified as so important to minimalism’s critique of western art music, were quickly incorporated into live music technologies that enable a single performer, on stage or in their bedroom, to replace the give-and-take of convivial musicality with its simulation in the form of loop stations. Examining examples from Terry Riley, Earth, Kali Malone, Steven O’Malley, and Justin Bieber, this talk by Benjamin Piekut ( Cornell University, Deparment of Music) tries to follow the reversals and extensions of minimalism’s crossover into the popular by continually inquiring into its production of the social.

Music Matters XIX: Our City’s Carillons – A Discussion about Bells, Groningen, and Pop Music

You hear them a few times every hour, but how much do you know about the wonderful carillons in Groningen? To learn more join us June 01 for a discussion about the Martini carillon, the University of Groningen carillon, the two musicians who currently play them (who take requests!), and the different array of compositions we hear on them (from popular music to traditional tunes!). During the session, we’ll all go out in the streets together to hear a piece composed by American composer Constance Cooper. Constance will be present, so we’ll also hear from the composer about her work. Join us! The event is free, open to the public and will take place Monday June 01, 10:30-12:00 in Oude Boteringestraat 34 room 002.

Music Matters XLVII: A Conversation with Iguana Death Cult

On Wednesday May 20th 2026 (15:00-16:00) at Vera Groningen we’ll conduct a public interview with one of The Netherlands’ most exciting bands, Iguana Death Cult. We’ll discuss songwriting, style, live performance, the development of their career, global music scenes, and balancing domestic and international touring. This event is the 47th event in the Music Matters at University of Groningen series and it is free and open to the public.

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University of Groningen Hosts the 2026 European Hip-Hop Studies Conference

Things done changed. Hip Hop studies’ foundation took place more than 30 years ago, with core writings such as Tricia Rose’s Black Noise setting the Blueprint and establishing debates that continue to this day. Since then we have seen great change: 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G passed away in the mid-1990s, rap music’s sound palate has continued to expand (e.g., through crunk, trap into drill), with the genre in its various forms dominating the airwaves worldwide, and altering the shape of popular music writ large. At the same time, many of the structural dynamics that were at the root of Hip Hop’s inception continue to foster inequities, with systemic racism, sexism, and global capitalism wreaking havoc across the world.

The conference will take place in the Groninger Museum, during a major Hip Hop exhibition at the museum entitled Hip-Hop Is taking place between December 2025 and May 2026. See https://www.groningermuseum.nl/en/press/nieuwe-tentoonstelling-hip-hop-is-in-groninger-museum for more information on the exhibition and https://europeanhiphopstudiesnetwork.wordpress.com/network-meetings/ehhsn-9-0-2026-meeting-groningen-the-netherlands/ for more information on the conference.

Music and Culture Talks (RUG x ESNS) #2 – Sherlock Telgt in discussion with Skits of Dope D.O.D.

Wednesday March 11 2026 we hosted a conversation between “Godfather of Groningen Hip-Hop” Sherlock Telgt (of Culture Capsule) and Skits of Groningen based international Hip-Hop group Dope D.O.D.

The discussion focused on hip-hop in the Netherlands, the entrepreneurial means necessary to ensure longevity as a musician today, and the importance of place – with Groningen remaining vital to their practice,

Dope D.O.D recently launched their new album Multiverse! Check it out!

A few snapshots of the event:

Music Matters XLVI (21 & 22/01/2026) Two Talks by Martin Stokes

In January we co-hosted two public talks by ethnomusicologist Dr. Martin Stokes: An on campus talk entitled “1932: The Arab World’s Fair of Music” and a talk at Vera (Oosterstraat 44) entitled “Music in Motion: Music, Mobility and Citizenship.” This second talk was connected with a concert by the Daryn Esemble that took place at Vera in the evening.

For more details see: https://www.vera-groningen.nl/events/music-in-motion-2026/?lang=en

Music & Culture Talks #1 (15/01/2026)

Starting in 2026, we are partnering with Eurosonic to present a new series of talks at the intersections of Eurosonic’s mission to support the international music ecosystem and emerging European artists and research questions of interest to scholars and students in the Popular Music and Sonic Cultures Master’s program. Sponsored by ICOG, the Groningen Research Centre for the Study of Culture, the series will feature discussions with artists, music industry figures, and scholars. The first event took place during Eurosonic 2026 and consisted of two hour-long panel discussions:

In the first part of the program featured Groningen’s very own Blanks, Irish artist SexyTadgh, and music photographer Ben Houdijk. We discussed crafting artist identities and generating audience engagement through photography and innovative online artmaking and social media content production. It was a valuable discussion for developing artists, influencers, and students interested in performance, image, social media and identity.

See: https://esns.nl/nl/conference/panels/esns-talks-crafting-musical-identities/

Here’s a shot from the event:

Then in part two of the program, we spoke with Sziget (Hungary) festival booker Márk Bóna and artist and activist Sexytadgh and discussed perspectives on how to cultivate diversity on festival stages and the differing needs of distinct regions in Europe. We focused specifically on the impact of queer performance and the programming of diverse lineups with a specific focus on Hungary and Romania. MA students from the Music Industries and Digital Culture course presented the research they completed as part of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Accessibility research project the Popular Music and Sonic Cultures MA program maintains in collaboration with Eurosonic Noorderslag. For more of this research see: https://www.rug.nl/society-business/science-shops/taal-cultuur-en-communicatie/projecten/2-lopende-projecten/inclusivity-in-the-live-music-industry/

Music Matters XLII (31/10/2025) Music and the Resilience of New Orleans

The Music Matters at University of Groningen Lecture & Performance Series returns on October 31st with a lecture, performance, and panel discussion on the music cultures of New Orleans.

Louisiana based singer-songwriter Gill Landry (former member of the band Old Crow Medicine Show, see www.gilllandrymusic.com/) perform and engage in discussion with NPO Radio 1 journalist Laila Frank, pop culture journalist Jan Donkers, and Arts Culture and Media professor and musicologist Dr. Kristin McGee. There will also be a short lecture on New Orleans music by American Studies professor Dr. Mark Thompson.

This event is a collaboration with the Take Root Festival https://www.spotgroningen.nl/events/takeroot/ and the American Studies program at University of Groningen.

All are welcome to join. Tickets are 5 EUR and are available at:

www.spotgroningen.nl/programma/american-studies-presents-takeroot-talks/

Music Matters XLI – Artistic responses to artificial intelligence: fears, formulas, and frontiers.

We are excited to announce the next edition of Music Matters, entitled “Artistic responses to artificial intelligence: fears, formulas, and frontiers” presented by Professor Keith Negus. The talk will take place on Thursday May 22nd in the Heymanszaal from 17:00-18:30.

This talk is the third in the series “Future Sounds” which focuses on how AI and the shift toward right-wing politics across Europe and the US, are shaping both the future of the music industry and artistic expression more broadly. We are delighted to have Professor Keith Negus from the University of Agder as our third speaker.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

ABSTRACT: First proposed as a term during the 1950s, artificial intelligence (AI) – driven by big data and
machine learning – is posing challenges for creative practice, curated promotion systems, computer assisted artworks, and copyright. This talk explores a range of artistic responses to AI – from those that echo long held fears about machines and creativity, through those that integrate AI into familiar formulas, to those that challenge anthropocentric assumptions about intelligence and creativity. Drawing from dialogues across the humanities, arts, and sciences, the talk will raise questions about the role of AI in shaping the practices and meaning of creativity within the broader ecologies of cultural production.

BIO: Keith Negus is Professor II, Department of Popular Music, University of Agder. He previously taught at West Surrey College of Art and Design; The Centre for Mass Communication Research, Leicester University; University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras; and Goldsmiths, University of London where he is Professor Emeritus. He is the author of Producing Pop, Popular Music in Theory, Music Genres and Corporate Cultures, Bob Dylan, and co-author of Creativity, Communication and Cultural Value, and Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the
Sony Walkman.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Music Matters XL – Who Owns the Future? Black Music, Al, and the Digital Colour Line

We are excited to announce the next edition of Music Matters, entitled “Who Owns the Future? Black Music, Al, and the
Digital Colour Line” presented by Yvonne Ile. The talk will take place on Thursday April 24th in Heymanszaal from 17:00-18:30.

This talk is the second in the series “Future Sounds” which focuses on how AI and the shift toward right-wing politics across Europe and the US, are shaping both the future of the music industry and artistic expression more broadly. We are delighted to have DPhil Music Candidate and Lecturer in Popular Music Industry Studies, Yvonne Ile as our second speaker.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

ABSTRACT: This talk investigates the evolving relationship between Black music and artificial intelligence, examining how digital technologies shape its future. It explores the implications of AI on Black musical expression, considering questions of ownership, representation, and cultural authenticity in an increasingly algorithm-driven industry.

BIO: Yvonne Ile is an artist and a doctoral candidate in Music at the University of Oxford, where she is the first Black student to pursue a DPhil in the subject. Her research examines Blackface Minstrelsy, Black British Music, Music and AI, and Cultural Appropriation. As a musician, her art is deeply influenced by the cultural legacies she studies, blending contemporary sounds with her deep African roots.

Music Matters XXXIX – Oral Tradition and AI

We are excited to announce the next edition of Music Matters, entitled “Oral Tradition and AI” presented by Rahel Aklilu from EMI Records. The talk will take place on Thursday March 20th in Marie Loke zaal from 17:00-18:30.

This talk is the first in the series “Future Sounds” which focuses on how AI and the shift toward right-wing politics across Europe and the US, are shaping both the future of the music industry and artistic expression more broadly. We are delighted to have writer and Music Industry professional Rahel Aklilu as our first speaker.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

ABSTRACT: Oral tradition, archiving and documentation of culture have undoubtedly evolved. As we move towards digital documentation (which is evolving in itself) the role of oral tradition holds greater importance in preserving the music and culture we consume and enjoy, which serve as living archives of our times. Artificial intelligence can, and has been used to both aid and disrupt these traditions but what does the future look like? We will look at the overlap between technology, tradition and community and how they affect narrative.

BIO:

Rahel Aklilu is a London-based freelance writer and music industry professional. Her work encompasses a range of topics within music, culture and fashion with a focus on amplifying work in the Black diaspora and beyond, often through the lens of socio-politics. Publications she has written for include The Face, Dazed, Complex UK, Clash and Vice.

Music Matters XXXXVIII – cumgirl8 in conversation!

The second Music Matters event of November sees the return of the Interview Series, in partnership with the legendary Groningen venue VERA. On November 20, we are excited to have Manhattan-based post-punk collective cumgirl8, who will be in conversation with Max Sandford. The conversation will take place at VERA from 14:30-15:30, in advance of their performance later that evening.

cumgirl8 are made up of Lida Fox (bass), Veronika Vilim (guitar), Chase Lombardo (drums) and Avishag Rodrigues (guitar). The band render the immersive and chaotic energy from cyberspace into our world, coming together to make a boundary-less sound that stretches across the likes of ESG, Cocteau Twins, Suicide, CSS, B-52s, The Shangri-Las, Madonna, and many more.

Last year, cumgirl8 shared their debut 4AD EP phantasea pharm, recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely from analog tape. The six-track EP followed stand-alone single ‘dumb bitch’(2022) and their two other EPs, cumgirl8 (2020) and RIPcumgirl8 (2021). As much as the music itself, cumgirl8’s incendiary live performances are brilliantly chaotic and emblematic of the spirit of New York performance art. Last year, the band played a sold-out show at New York’s newest venue Knitting Factory at Baker Falls (formerly The Pyramid Club), a stint supporting Le Tigre on a sold-out Canadian run, a headline EU/UK tour, and a festival run that included spots at Primavera, The Great Escape, Greenman, Core Festival, Loose Ends, and Pitchfork Paris just to name a few.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Music Matters XXXXVII – Employing Technology for the Preservation of Indigenous Music at Risk of Extinction

DJ Juan Chao

We are excited to announce the return of Music Matters for the 2024-25 season. Our first event takes place on November 6 and will coincide with the upcoming Music4Change conference at the University of Groningen, and will feature a hands-on encounter with a DJ and researcher working at the forefront of their field.

DJ Juan Chao is a Uruguayan musician-producer and creator of the organization Archivo de Música Original. His work focuses on using technology for the preservation of indigenous music at risk of extinction. He collaborates with various communities and has carried out projects in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

His Music Matters session will feature two components. Firstly, a workshop entitled “How to Use Technology for the Preservation of Indigenous Music at Risk of Extinction: Useful
Archives, Samplers, and Digital Inclusion.” This will take place from 15:30-16:30 at Doopsgezinde Kerk, Oude Boteringestraat 33, 9712 GD Groningen.

In this workshop, Juan Chao will showcase examples that demonstrate how the introduction of various technologies can positively influence the preservation of indigenous community’s music. The workshop will explore a project carried out with the Wayuu indigenous group, which included: an archive of their local music; a musical education digital tool; the production of an EP, and an installation of a sampling studio within the community. The workshop aims to provide concrete examples of how having a social and cultural sustainability approach can positively impact our work.

Juan Chao also performs live DJ sets and is a specialist in the use of samplers and analogue synthesizers. We are therefore very fortunate to also see him perform later that evening, from 19:00-20:30 at Pacific Buzz Beer and BBQ, Oosterstraat 65, 9711 NS Groningen.

We look forward to seeing you at both of these exciting events on November 6!

For more information about Music4Change, please visit their website.

Music Matters XXXXVI – Electronic dance music, entrainment and the extended self

We are excited to announce the fourth and final event of the Electronic Dance Music Matters series, taking place on May 16th from 17:00-18:30 in the Heymanszaal. Our speaker is Dr Maria Perevedentseva, from the University of Salford, whose talk is entitled ‘Electronic dance music, entrainment and the extended self’.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

Abstract:

Over the last decade, entrainment (as the temporal coordination of interacting mechanical systems) has been shown to play a significant part in music cognition in a variety of contexts. Motor and neural entrainment to periodicities in music have been observed in audiences and musicians, and related to affect induction, increased perceptions of musical pleasure, and prosociality. In these studies, electronic dance music (EDM) is often favourably invoked for its ability to promote multiple levels of entrainment due to its emphasis on interlocking cycles of regular, repetitive beats and the physicality of its mode of consumption, with dance movements providing additional cues for social synchronisation.

In this paper, I take a wide-angle view of entrainment, speculating on the possibility of entraining to timbral as well as rhythmic periodicities, and consider the musical, social, and psychophysical repercussions of these forms of self and environment coupling. I examine the ways in which EDM appears to be optimised for entrainment and relate this to the genre’s cultural history, aiming ultimately to probe why EDM listeners repeatedly seek out these musico-social experiences and how they may impact their wider habits and social outlooks.

BIO: Maria Perevedentseva is a Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Salford, with research interests in electronic dance music, timbre, cognition, and the analysis, history, and criticism of the popular avant-garde. She published an article on timbre and the “mycelial turn” in Dancecult in 2023, and has chapters forthcoming in the Cambridge Companion to Electronic Dance Music, the Intellect Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies, and a Routledge volume on Music Studies After the Internet. She is a co-founder of the Music and Online Cultures Research Network (www.mocren.org).

We look forward to seeing you there!

Music Matters XXXXV – Music, Memories & Identity

We are excited to announce the third event of the Electronic Dance Music Matters series, taking place on April 18th from 17:00-18:30 in the Heymanszaal. Our speaker is Dr Beate Peter, from the Arts, Culture, Media programme in Groningen, whose talk is entitled ‘Music, Memories and Identity: Mapping Affect and Belonging’.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

ABSTRACT:

The Lapsed Clubber Audio Map is the co-produced result of a community project that was funded by the Heritage Lottery. It captures the memories of rave spaces in Greater Manchester, UK, between 1985 and 1995. In this talk, Dr Beate Peter discusses the findings of a thematic analysis of the memories. Situating raves as embodied-auditive experiences, the analysis shows how the memories on the map are often related to particular sounds or moods that can be heard but not visualised. Yet, as the map captures memories that span a whole decade, a noticeable shift takes place from auditory aesthetics towards visual aesthetics. It means that memories change from the notion of sound to that of an image by describing places, faces, names or album sleeves.

Using this shift from auditive to visual memory, Beate argues that the continued absence of early popular electronic music from the canon is due to its auditive nature at a time when popular media is relying on image and appearance as markers of distinction, taste and cultural belonging. As a result, the identities that are captured on the map serve as a collective memory of a community that underwent changes in the way it relates to music and creates affective memories.

BIO: Beate Peter is Assistant Professor of Cultural Sociology at the University of Groningen. With an interest in popular music cultures and lived heritage, Beate seeks to develop innovative methods to capture and analyse lived intangible cultural heritage. The findings are co-presented with Dan Padure who assisted with the analysis.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Music Matters XXXXIV – The whiteness of Dutch electronic dance music

Diagram with details of Electronic Dance Music Series We are excited to announce the second event of the Electronic Dance Music Matters series, taking place on March 21st from 17:00-18:30 in the Heymanszaal. Our guest speaker is Dr Timo Koren from the University of Amsterdam, whose talk is entitled “The Whiteness of Dutch Electronic Dance Music: How Space Shapes Music Genres’ Social Formations”.

Please see below for the abstract and further details:

ABSTRACT: Music genres articulate relationships to social groups. As these genres travel, disperse and change form, the social formations of the collective music worlds they develop change. This lecture investigates genre trajectories by highlighting the work of Amsterdam-based nightclub promoters in the cultural production of club nights through genre-based orientations, conventions and ideals. The first part explores how promoters attune their curatorial practices to urban processes through genre-based commercial and cultural imperatives. The spatial vocabulary through which they understand their practices produces localised understandings of global music genres tied to the specific affective atmopsheres of neighbourhoods and dancefloors and tied to specific conceptions of clubbing audiences. The second part delves deeper into the social formations around music genres through a case study of the whiteness of Dutch electronic dance music. It seeks to understand not only how the production and consumption of electronic dance music has ‘become’ white in the Dutch capital, but also how this whiteness is sustained, how whiteness produces localised Others by connecting place, genre, and race, and how whiteness limits economic and creative opportunities for promoters of colour. The lecture is based on qualitative interviews with 36 Amsterdam-based promoters, short-term ethnographies at nightclubs and industry events and archival research.

BIO: Timo Koren is Assistant Professor in Cultural Economy in the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Before joining this department in September 2023, he worked as a lecturer in the Department of Arts and Culture Studies at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Southampton (UK). Connecting cultural industries research to urban studies, his research focuses on the night-time economy, in particular cultural production, social inequalities, music genres, and regulation.

We look forward to seeing you there!