The deadline for the 2019 IASPM-US conference is coming up on October 1. The conference will be held March 7-10, in New Orleans and this year’s theme is “Musical Cities: Music, Historiography and Myth.” For the call for papers and submission guidelines, follow the link: http://iaspm-us.net/2019-conference.

IASPM-US is taking big steps to make the organization more accessible, inclusive and visible. We adjusted our membership fee structure in 2017-18 to offer more options for students and lower-income members and cut our bottom fees significantly. We now offer a sliding scale membership for students of $25-40, and fees for non-student members start at $35 depending on income level. We have made similar adjustments to our conference registration fees as well. To join IASPM-US, go to http://iaspm-us.net/signup.

This summer, IASPM-US published the first issue of its journal, the Journal of Popular Music Studies, with its new publisher, University of California Press. The double issue, produced under the auspices of co-editors Oliver Wang and Diane Pecknold with managing editor Meghan Drury, includes a stellar mix of full-length articles by Kevin Fellezs, Sharon Hochhauser, David Verbuc, and Eric Weisbard; specially commissioned album reviews by Taylor Black and Shana Redmond; a feature where Amy Coddington comments on a “classic” JPMS article from 1988 by Venise Berry; and the printed version of Nadine Hubbs’ stirring keynote address from the 2017 conference in Cleveland. Content of the special issue is free, and can be accessed at http://jpms.ucpress.edu. We also welcome incoming editors Robin James and Eric Weisbard, managing editor Esther Morgan-Ellis, and assistant book review editor Alyx Vesey who joins continuing review editor David Suisman.