Systematic Musicology at the Crossroads of Modern Music Research

The creative and cultural sector, of which music forms an important part, calls for a research basis that is grounded in a range of scientific disciplines with specialization in music-related technology and music-driven psychosocial interaction. In that music research space, there is a natural and emergent demand for an approach in which boundaries of object-centred and subject-centred research methodologies can be crossed. By putting music and embodied music experiences at the very centre of this research focus, systematic musicology can play an important role as moderator of a trans-disciplinary approach to music research. Evidence for the new position of systematic musicology in the modern European music research space is found in networks that foster systematic musicology, in a recent strategic roadmap for sound and music computing, commissioned by the European Commission, and in two recent National project initiatives, one in Finland and one in Belgium, that support long term research in the domain of systematic musicology.