A dare to listen with your heart
across your own border

When we started Europopmusic in 2008 we had the dream that we would stimulate others into listening to music from the European mainland that they would otherwise be unaware off. With an average of 200 to 300 unique visitors a day I might say we at least succeeded in attracting people.

But writing and building Europopmusic also brought me something else I not anticipated at first. Mapping out the history of popular music in Europe and linking that to local social-cultural events gave me a deeper insight in Europe, its diversity and its people. By immersing and transposing myself into another european culture and history I found myself often having a greater understanding of the people, their culture and their country. It made me read the newspaper with a different mindset and visit countries with a different perspective then that of the average bystander.

Europopmusic went online at a time when anti-european sentiments grew. Eurosceptics sketched a situation in which they felt their local culture was threatened by other European cultures. As countermovement we found that the search for a pan-european heritage and identity also grew. In the year we started Martin Klimke and Joachim Scharloth released their research on ‘1968 in Europe’ which turned out to be a valuable resource for our featurette in finding the sources of European pop culture. That story-cycle also lead to one of the most inspiring moments for us when we came in contact with the POPID project in 2013. POPID explores the relationship between popular music and contemporary renderings of cultural identity and local and national cultural heritage in a pan-European context.

It seems there are more people searching for the binding factor. But aside these international stream of thought we also experienced that language is a major obstacle for people to listen beyond their borders. Even for those that aspire a pan-European ideal. We often found ourselves at concerts where people asked what we were doing there, and how we got to know this artist in the first place. And that while music is perhaps the most universal language to convey your feelings without the need of you necessarily understanding the words. From the moment, mid-nineties, when we let go of the idea that we can only appreciate music if we can understand the lyrics a new world opened up for us. By ignoring the fact that you can not understand the lyrics you let the music enter on a more subconscious layer. Like tuning in on another frequency. You will find that you know which emotion the performer wants to convey without you understanding what is sung. And often after translation it will prove that you were not that far off. You’ll find that you can relate to the artist without understanding him.

I was intriguid by popular cultural philosopher Roman Krznaric who argues in his book about ‘the empathic revolution’ that our brains are wired for social connection: and empathy is at the heart of who we are. Empathy, Krznaric argues, has the power to transform relationships, from the personal to the political, and create fundamental social change. In my mind, music can be a first step to achieve and exercise that goal. See it as an empathic lubricant. Also, of all the art forms, music is perhaps the one closest to being heard and used in everyday life. In a way, music made me more empathetic for fellow European countries by only listening and opening my ears. Krznaric lists some obstacles that make empathy difficult, one of them is distance. I think that language can be classified in that segment. People feel a distance because they literally can not understand the language. Nevertheless it is very well possible, even suprisingly easy, to experience the music on another level and thus emphasize with the artist if you step across that obstacle. I dare you to gap that distance. And who knows, maybe music can even bring us closer together.

On our website you’ll find a whole range of artists, background info and reviews in all kinds of genres, from easy listening to metal. I would like to challenge you to pick a random artist every week or month from a country other than your own and listen to a song or entire album. If you’d like to share what artist you've heard and what you thought you can always leave comments on our Facebook group, through Twitter (@europopmusic) or mail info@europopmusic.eu.

AS ALWAYS, ENJOY THE MUSIC

Double Bass (january 2015)

Selection of
Classic albums

Czesław Niemen (Poland)
Enigmatic (1969)

Jana Kirschner (Slovakia)
Krajina rovina (2010)

Alaska y Dinarama (Spain)
Deseo Carnal (1984)

Lucio Battisti (Italy)
Il mio canto libero (1972)

Bijelo Dugme (Croatia/Serbia)
Bitanga i princeza (1979)

Barış Manço (Turkey)
2023 (1975)