German Society for
Popular Music Studies 

German Society for Popular Music Studies

Popular music rese­arch com­prises dif­fe­rent disci­pli­nary approa­ches
to the entire spec­trum of popular music and its cul­ture.
Since 1984, the inde­pen­dent German Society for Popular Music Stu­dies
has estab­lished the stron­gest net­work of mem­bers in the
German-spea­king world for this pur­pose. We publish our rese­arch pri­ma­rily
in the estab­lished series Bei­träge zur Popular­musik­forschung and
the online publi­ca­tions SAMPLES.

News

ANNUAL CON­FE­RENCE: PROGRAM

July 4, 2025 | We are delighted to invite you to the 35th Annual Con­fe­rence of the GFPM, “More Than Words: Cur­rent Dis­courses in Popular Music Rese­arch,” which will take place from October 10 to 12, 2025, at the con­fe­rence center of the Evan­ge­li­sche Aka­demie Loccum.

The preli­mi­nary con­fe­rence pro­gram can be found here. The con­fe­rence will fea­ture pre­sen­ta­tions as well as num­e­rous par­ti­ci­pa­tory for­mats such as work­shops and open spaces. As a new team, the new board will con­tinue the ideas of the pre­vious board and faci­li­tate exch­ange, dis­cus­sion, and offers for spe­cific sup­port and con­sul­ta­tion for­mats. These include, among other things, the option to book time slots for indi­vi­dual men­to­ring ses­sions. Infor­ma­tion on this will be sent to those who have regis­tered in a sepa­rate email.

In this con­text, we would like to point out that the GFPM is still awar­ding up to 4 full scho­lar­ships worth €214 to early-career rese­ar­chers; appli­ca­tions are open until July 15; active par­ti­ci­pa­tion (e.g., pre­sen­ta­tion) is not a pre­re­qui­site for appli­ca­tion. All infor­ma­tion on how to apply can be found in the news­letter dated April 30 and on our homepage.

We look for­ward to recei­ving num­e­rous regis­tra­tions for the con­fe­rence at:

https://survey.academiccloud.de/index.php/946888?lang=de

Please note that this year’s con­fe­rence fees must be paid in advance by bank transfer. Below you will find all the rele­vant infor­ma­tion on the regis­tra­tion pro­cess and accommodation:

All con­fe­rence par­ti­ci­pants will be accom­mo­dated in the academy’s guest house (single room + bath­room). The cost for two nights inclu­ding full board is €214 per person and must be paid this year in the form of con­fe­rence fees.

Please note that the par­ti­ci­pa­tion fees must be received in the association’s account by July 31 at the latest; you will receive a con­fir­ma­tion of pay­ment as soon as the money has been received. Late regis­tra­tion is unfort­u­na­tely not pos­sible. The­r­e­fore, the transfer of the par­ti­ci­pa­tion fees is required; a refund of the regis­tra­tion fees is not pos­sible after July 31.

If you have any ques­tions, please do not hesi­tate to contact the orga­niza­tion team at gfpm2025@popularmusikforschung.de.

Mis­sion

Bene­fits of Membership

We offer num­e­rous ser­vices to our mem­bers in the GFPM net­work. In our news­letter we com­mu­ni­cate cur­rent announce­ments, job offers or calls for national and inter­na­tional con­fe­rences or publi­ca­tion pro­jects. We also inform regu­larly about new publi­ca­tions. Mem­bers of the GFPM receive the cur­rent issue of the Bei­träge zur Popularmusikforschung.

With their mem­ber­ship, our mem­bers not only enable this important net­wor­king, but also pro­vide our early-career rese­ar­chers with ver­sa­tile sup­port from the GFPM. This sup­port is an important pillar of our work and a fun­da­mental part of our mission.

Diver­sity

Popular music rese­arch is dedi­cated to a wide field of sounds, cul­tural texts, arti­facts, con­texts and prac­tices. In order to ana­lyze, dis­cuss and com­mu­ni­cate these, our asso­cia­tion brings tog­e­ther a wide variety of metho­do­lo­gical and theo­re­tical approa­ches. Experts from the field meet scho­lars from num­e­rous disci­plines, from musi­co­logy and music edu­ca­tion to cul­tural stu­dies, sound stu­dies, lin­gu­i­stics, jour­na­lism, jour­na­lism, and music busi­ness research.

Inter­na­tional Perspective

For us, popular music rese­arch is deter­mined by inter­na­tional coope­ra­tion. German and Eng­lish are our publi­ca­tion and con­fe­rence lan­guages. We are con­nected to rese­arch orga­niza­tions world­wide and invite inter­na­tional spea­kers to pro­mote exch­ange and joint pro­gress in the study of popular music.

Inde­pen­dence and commitment

As a non-profit asso­cia­tion, we are finan­ci­ally, sub­stan­tively and poli­ti­cally inde­pen­dent. We are com­mitted to a cul­tural-poli­tical streng­thening of the study of popular music, which opposes racist, sexist, chau­vi­nist and natio­na­list tendencies.

Duties

Pro­mo­tion and support

The sup­port of scho­lars in the early career phase is anchored in our sta­tutes and is prac­ticed in a variety of ways: Every year, we award the Early Career Best Paper Award in the field of popular music rese­arch. During the some­times dif­fi­cult start of an aca­demic career, we offer finan­cial sup­port for travel and publi­ca­tions from a sup­port fund. We orga­nize work­shops and inter­na­tional post gra­duate summer schools. For many young rese­ar­chers, our publi­ca­tion series offer a first publi­ca­tion opportunity.

Net­work and Sci­ence Hub

Through its trans­di­sci­pli­nary net­work, the GFPM offers an access point to various national and inter­na­tional experts, whom we are happy to refer to jour­na­lists, for expert opi­nions, legal exper­tise, cul­tural policy work or rese­arch assign­ments. Cur­rent results from popular music rese­arch are docu­mented and actively com­mu­ni­cated by the GFPM.

Contact US

Gesell­schaft für Popular­musik­forschung / German Society for Popular Music Stu­dies e. V.

c/o Peter Klose
Hochstr. 18
44149 Dort­mund
Ger­many

Tel.: +49 (0)231 140348
Mail: kontakt@popularmusikforschung.de