I like to rework my conference talks on long distance flights – not only due to the fact that that the bothersome pile of paperwork on your desk always seems to grow to new heights just before departure, but because it literally gives you a different perspective on things, removed from the intellectual and institutional framework you're usually trapped in. On a flight to Cape Town, there's plenty of time for that. Since last year's international IASPM conference was to be held in Grahamstown, South Africa, this required greater efforts for overseas delegates to attend, while making it more accessible for those on the African continent (this being the first conference to be held in Africa since 1987).

IASPM was founded the year that I was born, so why would I make every effort to attend this conference and send in an abstract for a stream entitled ‘IASPM 30 Years On’? It's because I figured that a stream considering the institutionalisation of popular music studies should be complemented by someone who took a degree within such an institution, looking upon this research field from the perspective of a new generation of popular music scholars. Maybe it wasn't all that accidental, then, that I happened to run into IASPM founder Philip Tagg in Cape Town before the conference. He may forgive my criticism of his portrayal of musicology in his keynote, but for my generation of scholars it is simply frustrating to see these boundaries reinforced. In addition, the call for papers for this conference also took the opportunity to comment upon ‘mainstream’ musicologists. However, fortunately, what these conferences do is to provide a space for exchange outside disciplinary and departmental struggles.

As mentioned in the call for papers, this particular conference – entitled ‘Situating Popular Musics’ – was meant to provide a context for IASPM members to explore arguments about different popular music practices, spaces and places. I would like to add that we should probably spend just as much time considering the research practices in these places, since these determine how we may conceptualise our object of study as scholars. It was therefore particularly interesting to hear John Collins' keynote on the introduction of popular music studies to Ghanaian universities, Martha Tupinambá de Ulhôa's paper on Latin American popular music studies, Bruce Johnson's contribution on the development of IASPM Australia/New Zealand and Claire Levy's talk on the impact of popular music studies in Bulgaria.

I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to hold my talk on IASPM as a network for a new generation of popular music scholars in the opening plenary alongside Laura Francisca Jordán Gonzáles and Douglas Smith, who were talking about terminological dilemmas in the reception of popular music studies in Latin America, and Kirsten Zemke, who was reflecting upon her living and teaching among the very subjects she studies as an anthropologist. In addition, in a session dedicated to the question of disciplinarity and popular music studies, Marc Evans presented a paper (co-written by Bruce Johnson) on the need for sonic theories in film sound studies in particular and in popular music studies as a whole.

But the conference of course covered a much broader spectrum of subjects and approaches, as is characteristic for IASPM. (In fact mentioning particular names and papers never does justice to such an event and its participants and I hope that the latter may forgive my idiosyncratic selection here.) Thomas Burkhalter opened the plenary on multi-sited popular music with his critical review of that which some call ‘World Music 2.0’, while more locally or nationally focussed contributions ranged from Yngvar Steinholt's analysis of the St Petersburg music scene to Heikki Uimonen's and Kaarina Kilpiö's studies on cassette culture in Finland. Madhuja Mukherjee's audiovisual presentation took us on a journey through Indian film, tracing the displacement of certain musical patterns. While this approach was an exploration of questions of memory and forgetting of musical origins from a cultural studies point of view, Jan Hemming offered a critical perspective on another popular music narrative, i.e. the history of techno music, in particular its relation to Karlheinz Stockhausen and Kraftwerk, through detailed musical analysis.

This conference also saw a number of papers on dance, such as Mary Fogarty's passionate presentation of her multi-sited ethnography on the musical tastes of hip hop dancers migrating with the dancers. Giacomo Bottà's humorous plenary talk on popular music and its transformative power in declining industrial cities was just as entertaining as it was thought provoking. With his talk on the ideology of live music, introducing us to the worldview of concert promoters, Martin Cloonan presented some results of the three-year research project on live music in the UK he conducted with Simon Frith, Emma Webster and Matt Brennan. Rupert Till presented a richly illustrated and audified version of his take on pop cults, which caused a lively discussion and quite controversial debate on popular music and religion. And of course a great share of papers was devoted to (South) Africa, ranging from Harry Sewlall's considerations of Elvis Presley in the South African musical imaginary, to Adam Haupt's talk concerning crucial questions about music, media and access in South Africa, to Mary Robertson's compelling case studies illustrating the sampling of South African political discourse in YouTube music videos.

There were also some minor difficulties which made this conference a memorable event. Despite the range of excellent papers, the lack of heating made many of us shiver and very much look forward to the next coffee break to hold onto a hot cup of tea. During the conference week, Grahamstown retailers probably saw an increase in sales of woollen hats, hot-water bottles and, in our case, firewood. Two unexpected power cuts not only postponed the viewing of Steven Feld's film ‘Hallelujah’, but led to a rather unconventional general meeting held in the dark, the auditorium (and later on the hallway) only being illuminated by laptop screens and mobile phones. Lighting and heating conditions aside, a motion was passed that afternoon to make both Philip Tagg and Jan Fairley, who was much missed at the conference, honorary members of IASPM.

The social programme of the conference began with the opening reception, held at the Albany History Museum, which at the same time was the occasion to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Popular Music (represented by editorial board member Martin Cloonan). The reception also included a private viewing of an exhibition about pioneering African musicologist Hugh Tracey and the International Library of African Music (ILAM). For some of us, the conference dinner was even topped by a delicious buffet at an Eastern Cape safari lodge, rounding out a game drive that gave an impression of the stunning beauty of this country. The end of the conference, then, led into the start of the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, including too many excellent musical performances to mention.

This is surely the place to thank conference organiser Michael Drewett and his team for making all of this possible. My personal thanks further go to my generous host for the conference week, Carlo Nardi (as always devoting a huge share of his time to IASPM activities), as well as to the association as a whole for its financial support to attend this conference.