The International Association for the Study of Popular Music, or IASPM, is the world’s largest (non-profit) organisation dedicated to the study of popular music, understood in its broadest meaning, from novelty and vaudeville over Christian Rock and K-pop to EDM and grime, and much more in between and beyond. IASPM has an interprofessional and interdisciplinary scope, and intends to act as a global network of popular music scholars from various disciplines (cultural studies, musicology, communication sciences, performance studies, economy, psychology, law,…), performing musicians (professional and amateur), and representatives from the popular music industries and media. For a more detailed mission statement, see the IASPM website.

IASPM currently counts fifteen local branches (please find a list with appropriate links here) and membership numbers run well into the hundreds. IASPM Benelux is the IASPM branch that represents the Netherlands and Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, the French-speaking part of Belgium is represented by IASPM Francophone d’Europe). In Flanders and the Netherlands, IASPM Benelux is the only academic organisation that unites local popular music scholars, around 50 members, from BA students to established professors. The Benelux branch is headed by a five-piece board comprising scholars from various institutions (Universiteit van Amsterdam, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Universiteit Antwerpen) and from various disciplines (e.g. cultural and historical musicology, performance studies, cultural studies).