Welcome to WorldMusicSheffield.org

Welcome to a site which has developed out of research about the audience for world music in the UK. In due course we hope that the site will become a point of contact for people interested in hearing and talking about music from around the world - from field recordings in various countries done decades ago to modern fusions of a variety of styles and cultures.

Eventually, I will be publishing findings from my research into the UK audience for world music - and I hope that people visiting the site will also contribute to the development of those early thoughts. That will have to wait until at least November 2010 - but even at this stage it is clear that people who listen to "world music" are primarily interested in music. I have been struck by people's long-term interest in and love of music, encompassing a wide variety of 'labels' ... classical, opera, jazz, blues, folk, pop, rock, heavy metal, hip hop ... but also their enthusiasm for hearing new and different music wherever it comes from. And I've been struck by their enthusiasm to talk to other people who have the same level of interest ... to share and learn and, above all, hear new music.

So, that's what I hope the site will become - a place where people, with an abiding interest in music and discovering new music, can talk and introduce each other to new sounds.

It's going to take a few months to be up-and-running ... but until then,

if you have any ideas about what the site should contain, how it should work ... or whatever, please contact me.

Best wishes

Charles