This presentation is part of a research project examining the party circuit created by immigrants from Pará, in northern Brazil, who settled in Curitiba, in the country’s southern region. While tourism and media promote Pará for its cultural richness and tropical climate, Curitiba is often portrayed as Brazil’s coldest capital and a model of urban rationality. In the parties organized by immigrants from Pará now residing in Curitiba—mostly from working-class backgrounds and urban peripheries—music becomes a vehicle for identity construction and spatial assertion, offering a moment to be seen and heard within a cultural, social, and material landscape that contrasts sharply with their homeland. The dominant genre at these events is tecnobrega, a style shaped by electronic beats and emotional pop influences, frequently dismissed by cultural elites as vulgar. Carimbó also features, albeit less prominently. This Afro-Indigenous Amazonian rhythm and dance, blending Indigenous, Iberian, and African influences, is known for its circular movements, call-and-response vocals, and strong percussive core. Promoted by the tourism industry as a symbol of “traditional” culture from Pará, carimbó has been widely reinterpreted by urban genres like tecnobrega itself. Thus, the primary aim of this study is to understand the place and significance of carimbó, as a representative of a certain musical tradition, within the party circuit organized by northern immigrants in southern Brazil. Based on fieldwork and interviews, this study explores how working-class immigrants use music events to blend traditional genres with global pop, while navigating touristic pressures for ‘authentic’ cultural displays. As such, this work serves as a case study for anyone interested in the relationship between music and themes such as migration, identity, hybridization, the role of media, globalization/glocalization, commodification, the dynamics between center and periphery and marginalization.

“In an era where digital music, streaming services, and piracy have reshaped the global music industry, live music has become not only an economic lifeline but also a vital cultural force. As physical album sales decline, live performances offer irreplaceable shared experiences and emotional connections between fans and artists. As Simon Frith has noted, live music venues often become central to the mythology of local music scenes, remembered as spaces where collective memory and cultural participation take shape, even when the venues themselves face closure due to economic challenges or social pressures. Despite their importance, many independent venues see their value overlooked due to economic pressures and negative externalities like noise complaints and associations with nightlife disturbances — issues that led to the closure of Taipei’s Live House Underworld, which faced neighborhood protests, unclear legal status, and frequent fines.

The importance of these independent venues goes beyond economic challenges. Unlike larger, commercialized venues such as Legacy in Taipei or Live Warehouse in Kaohsiung, which benefit from corporate sponsorship and government support, smaller, independently run spaces often serve as incubators for emerging artists and alternative music. These grassroots venues play a crucial role in shaping local music cultures by curating diverse lineups, fostering niche communities, and providing platforms for underrepresented bands.

This study explores the cultural significance of independent music venues through a case study of a small, independently operated venue in Kaohsiung. By examining the venue’s operational strategies and its role in supporting local musicians’ careers, this research investigates how these spaces facilitate the accumulation of cultural and social capital. Using Bourdieu’s theory of capital and Thornton’s concept of subcultural capital, the study analyzes how venue operators and artists navigate the independent music field and gain recognition. Ultimately, this research underscores the indispensable role of independent music venues in preserving cultural heritage and enriching Taiwan’s independent music industry.”

“Since the last quarter of the last century, Mandopop, or Mandarin pop music produced and circulated among Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the greater Chinese-speaking communities has been an evolving popular culture in Indonesia. Mandopop from Taiwan around early 2000 has been especially influential in Indonesia.
As a Mandopop lover and a Gen-Z Indonesian of Chinese descent, I found there can be different ideas of what Mandarin pop song means even among the same generation. I learned about this phenomenon from my very own social circle.
Mandarin pop singers or songs from Taiwan are still favored and enjoyed by
young people, but the many Gen Z Chinese-Indonesian seemed to lean toward nostalgic listening. For them, Mandopop seemed to have stopped around the year 2000s with representative icons like Jay Chow, JJ Lin and so on.
So I began to further investigate and discovered the answer may lie in the way Mandopop is circulated in social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok. To many Gen-Z Chinese Indonesian, Mandopop has become the nameless background music of viral content.
When I played a snippet of the latest Mandarin pop from Taiwan that has gone viral, they were sure they had heard of the melody and rhythm. But they couldn’t name the artist or song.
Because of this phenomenon, I would like to further explore the divide (or rupture) among Gen-Z Chinese-Indonesian in the way Mandapop is recognized and consumed. Is the consumption of Mandopop music in Indonesia today more driven by nostalgia for old artist-icons or by digital trends spread through social media? My presentation will be based on interviews with 20 Gen Z Chinese-Indonesian. “

“Taiwan’s baseball culture evolved through complex historical phases: introduced by Japanese colonizers as a tool for “”national assimilation,”” later transformed into a vehicle for national prestige amid diplomatic isolation, and deeply shaped by American baseball during the Cold War. Despite its rich history, research on Taiwan’s baseball music remains scarce.

Focusing on the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 team song Taiwan Siōng-Iōng, this study explores how its multilingual lyrics—blending Taiwanese Hokkien, English, Japanese, and Mandarin—and indigenous-inspired chanting reflect Taiwan’s layered baseball history. Applying Charles Keil’s theory of “”participatory discrepancies,”” the analysis reveals how the song’s sonic textures cultivate affective bonds and energize the distinctive ethos of Taiwanese baseball fandom.

Methodologically, this study employs literature review and audiovisual analysis to trace the evolution of Taiwan’s baseball team songs, illustrating a broader cultural shift from colonial influence toward self-identity. Grounded in Christopher Small’s “”musicking”” theory, it reframes baseball not merely as a sport but as a “”baseballing”” phenomenon where history, culture, emotion, and collective identity converge. It emphasizes baseball games—particularly the communal singing of team songs—as participatory performances where emotional communities are forged and reaffirmed, transcending game outcomes or technical skill. In this light, baseball’s essence as a team sport underscores the necessity of synchronized action, shared rhythm, and collective spirit, positioning musical participation as central to fostering unity and cultural belonging.

Ultimately, this study argues that baseball team songs are not merely musical artifacts but living rituals of emotional solidarity. They mediate dialogue among Taiwan’s diverse ethnic groups, reimagine historical memory, and rearticulate cultural identity through participatory sound practices. Through baseball musicking, we gain deeper insight into how collective musical expressions contribute to Taiwan’s ongoing cultural decolonization project.

Keywords: Taiwan Siōng-Iōng, musicking, Taiwan baseball culture, participatory discrepancies, decolonial cultural practice.”

This study explores the paradoxical dynamics in the development of dangdut koplo in Indonesia during the 2014-2024 period, focusing on a phenomenon where the music industry’s decentralization resulted in cultural centralization. Through a multi-sited ethnographic approach conducted during 2021-2023, this research observes how Javanese dangdut koplo transformed into a dominant model in popular music development across various archipelago regions. Observations were conducted in diverse locations, from mini studios in Tulungagung to music production centers in Ambon, involving in-depth interviews with producers, musicians, and music industry practitioners. By integrating three theoretical frameworks – Raymond Williams’ cultural centrality, Homi Bhabha’s hybridity, and media ecology – this research reveals how the democratization of technology and decentralization of music production strengthened the standardization of the koplo format as a musical lingua franca. The main findings indicate that this standardization did not necessarily result in homogenization, but instead created “standardized differentiation” – where standardized musical formats facilitate the articulation of cultural differences in unexpected ways. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics between standardization and cultural differentiation in the digital era and its implications for developing contemporary Indonesian popular music.