Estudos de música popular: Objecto, abordagens, temas e problemas

Abstract

Popular music studies is an interdisciplinary area which has been present in the study of music and popular culture internationally, most prominently in Anglo-American academia. This article aims to introduce the field of popular music studies to students of the social sciences and humanities in Portugal. I will present in this text its objective, themes, approaches and problems, beginning with the current  state of the art and taking into consideration the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches which have characterized this field. I begin with an introductory approach to the subject of PMS and then highlight the main themes and problems (scientific and institutional) which have been present in the growth of PMS since its emergence in the 1970s. Finally, I present briefly the current situation of PMS in Portuguese academia.