ABSTRACT:
I argue that the purpose of popular music education (PME) should not be to blindly and unquestioningly perpetuate the market-driven, employment-focussed, capitalist ideologies that have shaped many areas of PME in higher education (HE) in recent decades. The impact of such pervasive ideologies go far beyond merely influencing curricular content encountered by the relatively small number of students who choose to study popular music in HE, with clear links between the values, beliefs and behaviours that such approaches to education promote, and the myriad social, political, economic and environmental problems we face internationally.