Music mediation concerns all kinds of target groups and all music genres. Because many people tend to define 'music' simply as the music they are used to listening to themselves, we would like to point out that music mediation projects should always define exactly which kind of music they are mediating. We are explicitly mentioning this because music mediation is often tacitly associated with classical music and a young audience. However, music mediation also pertains to countless variants of folk, pop, rock, jazz or ethno music. The Compass offers the according fictitious examples for reference.
Keywords
Here you can find explanations on terms which are used in connection with Compass
On the keyword "music mediation"
The term 'music mediation' has established itself as a profession and job title. We have adopted the term, but would like to point out that it has its deficiencies: music mediation cannot be defined; it can only be positioned. A musician, an event manager, a journalist or a teacher consciously takes a position from which they interact with an audience, with pupils or with readers, while undergoing changes themselves in the process. So 'music mediation' means movement for everyone involved: content, perception, structures or mindsets are enhanced, altered, questioned or reinforced.
On the keyword "quality"
Using the Compass will trigger reflections on your own thoughts and actions concerning music mediation. It can help you review your own standards and goals, which is a good pre-condition for good music mediation. If you put your project through all proposed categories, you will end up with an adequate description for PR work, sponsors and clients. If you use the compass for the drafting process of a project, you might be able to avoid automatisms while broadening your professional horizon. An - ideally external - evaluation of a project following the Compass's proposed categories will guarantee a certain quality.
On the keyword "compass"
Compass is a practical guideline for navigating within an extensive professional field. It is a tool that helps to depict the diversity of music mediation projects, but also helps to evaluate and to visualize new projects. In order to help position music mediation projects, we offer a vocabulary that music mediators can freely make use of, and we hope to contribute to professionalising this young field of work in doing so. The proposed five categories form the essence, and should be seen as suggestions that can be supplemented individually. Compass is deliberately reduced to a small number of words: many details can be depicted and found within the categories.