Sociology of Rival Music Genres and Music Consumption in Post-1979 Revolution Iranian Society

AbstractThis article examines the genesis of and competition among rival music genres in post-revolutionary Iran. Rival genres (pop music, rap music, rock music, traditional music, etc.) are genres that gradually emerged and developed since the 1920s. Relying on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural field I point out the important music genres in post-revolutionary Iran that act as a means of expressing conflict over the borders of the field, and why in this field, contrary to Bourdieu’s theory, instead of a bipolar situation, a multi-genre situation prevails. Then, with the data obtained from my previous research and that of others who mostly live in Iran, I try to depict a picture of music consumption based on the rival music genres in the field and show how, contrary to the ideals and slogans of the Islamic Revolution, under the influence of global youth culture, the consumption of popular music has become the dominant consumption.Key Words: Culturefield of music productionglobal youth cultureIranian culturemusic consumptionmusic genresmusic tastepopular musicpost-revolutionary Iranian culture Disclosure StatementThe author reported no conflict of interests in the research for or writing of this article.Notes1 P. Bourdieu (Citation1993) The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature (New York: Columbia University Press), p. 42.2 M. Mohammadi (Citation2017) Modal Modernities: Formations of Persian Classical Music and the Recording of a National Tradition (Create Space: An Amazon.com Company), p. 88.3 J. 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