Transnational networks of popular music production in fascist Germany and Austria
Sean Prieske
The research project investigates the question of which international recording and publication networks characterised popular music in Germany and Austria between 1930 and 1950. In the early twentieth century, the foundations of the modern music industry developed based on global music distribution channels and recordings. The increasing pluralisation and internationalisation of music distribution with its international networks contrasted with fascist ideologies in Austria, Germany and other countries. Building on this is the question of how networks of international popmusic publishing were shifting between 1930 and 1950. I explore these connections with their creative potentials and political frictions, focussing on distribution networks between Berlin, Vienna, São Paulo, New York, Barcelona, London, and Milan. The research is based on extensive fieldwork in recently accessed archives of the Dreiklang-Dreimasken-Verlag and other archives. Using methods from computational musicology and network analysis, the networks identified are transferred into a digital network model. Drawing on previously unconsidered sources, the research project makes an important contribution to the understanding of international pop music networks before, during and after National Socialism, which were essential for the development of European pop music from the mid-twentieth century onwards.