Catherine Grant, 12 August 2014

Earlier this year the number of views of South Korean mega-star Psy’s Gangnam Style YouTube video exceeded two billion. That’s more than a quarter of the people on the planet who have watched the video. It also adds up to a collective 16,000 years spent watching (assuming everyone sat out the four-and-a-bit minutes, which is a big assumption).

At the same time, many musical practices face enormous challenges in getting any attention at all – particularly those of Indigenous and minority peoples. As I wrote on The Conversation in May, an estimated 98% of Australian Indigenous music and dance traditions have already been lost. Without urgent action, the remainder are also in jeopardy.

It’s difficult then to generalise about the state of music in the 21st century. But a new declaration, drafted in Brisbane last year, attempts to do just that. It aims to articulate a “sharpened vision for the musical world” as we approach the year 2020.

What might this mean for the future of music – in Australia and beyond?

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Read the full article “The Brisbane Declaration: a blueprint for the musical world” on The Conversation.