Since the very start of Freemuse in 1998 I have been closely following the development of the organisation. I work as an ethnomusicologist and have always felt the need to expand the field of research so it can become directly related to the conspicuously difficult conditions for people doing fieldwork in almost all parts of the world. Therefore I have introduced some of my students to research on music censorship. They have all been very happy to use their academic skills in a practical way related directly to the composers and musicians. Some of them have attended the two Freemuse world conferences in Copenhagen. Through this the contact with Freemuse gave the students a chance to meet international scholars and guests without expensive travel.
I have given two formal series of lectures on censorship at Copenhagen University and both have dealt with a wide range of topics, covering popular music, world music as well as art music. The knowledge of the students, their different qualitative choices and their fieldwork has made the courses very inspiring and lively. Covering topics like the death accident at the Roskilde festival in 2000 to the development in South African post apartheid music culture, students have taken the risk and the chance to enhance their interest in ethnomusicological fieldwork by addressing questions of freedom of expression and the role of music when coping with life.
For me as a trained ethnomusicologist some of the perspectives in the study of musical censorship seem quite familiar. The context based study of music which since the 1960s has dominated the discipline, provides a strong platform for the study of music censorship. Gender and race are crucial aspects and in this way the study of music censorship is clearly related to what is called postcolonial studies, in which the formerly colonised and dominated areas of the world have risen in a cultural movement claiming respect, equality and rights to freedom of expression. I believe that the cases which Freemuse documents give very important insights into the intricate relations between power and music, even if this may not be a common view in musicology, where some colleagues argue that censorship is not about the music but rather about everything else — texts, dresses, places and dance. In their work the Freemuse people always directly involve musicians and journalists, and this in my view becomes a very strong demonstration of how to use an interdisciplinary approach to bridge the unwanted gap between scholars and the people who make music.
So in conclusion I can say that my involvement with Freemuse has also brought many new and fascinating kinds of music to my life. Music which we hopefully, by combining the different perspectives of performers, journalists and scholars, can support; music which should not be silenced!
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