Kaleb Goldschmitt

Associate Professor of Music

Contact
Phone:
+1 (781) 283-2074
Email:
kgoldsch@wellesley.edu
Department
Music
Latin American Studies
Anthropology

Popular music scholar of Brazil and Latin America; Jazz and the African Diaspora; Music in Film and Audiovisual Media; Music Industry; Music and Disability

I am an ethnomusicologist and popular music scholar with an emphasis on Brazilian and Latin American musical cultures. My first book project, Bossa Mundo: Brazilian Music in Transnational Media Industries (2020: Oxford University Press), studies the moments of popular breakthrough for Brazilian music among English-speaking publics in the United States and United Kingdom. From the late 1950s through the late 2010s, the book covers such genres as bossa nova, cool jazz, easy listening, jazz fusion, world music, hip-hop, and more.

My research also focuses on the role music plays in audiovisual media such as film, television, advertising, video games, and TikTok. My publications on these topics include articles on Brazilian music in a Nike Ad for the 2006 World Cup, mobile music distribution in the Brazilian music industry, a musical meme in film soundtracks and film trailers, and samba and funk in Brazilian gangster films. I also have an interest in digital music cultures, which has led to a co-authored essay on streaming music recommendation services (e.g., Spotify's "Discover Weekly" playlist) that looks at both how they do their work and some of the challenges they present for musicians and listeners. Other research interests include music and disability, transnational musical communities, and queer and trans music studies.
I teach a variety of courses on global music, popular music, and jazz, including A History of Jazz (MUS 209) and American Popular Music In the Twentieth Century (MUS 276) for the Jazz and World Music concentration of the music major. Regular electives include Intro to Ethnomusicology (MUS 245/345; ANTH 235/345), Music and the Global Metropolis (MUS 210), and Global Music Industries (MUS 300). I am affiliated with Wellesley College's Latin American Studies program and the Anthropology Department, and I have advised anthropology majors on independent projects. Before Wellesley, I taught courses on Music and Religious Ecstasy; Film Music; Music and Social Protest; History of Electronic Dance Music; and Sound Studies. When I develop new courses, I aim to respond to new work in ethnomusicology and my own ongoing research, as well as student interest.

In addition to academic publications, I enjoy contributing to magazines and blogs aimed at a broader audience. These include public lectures and guest spots on public radio and podcasts. When the weather is good, you will often see me around Wellesley on my bicycle.

Twitter page

Education

  • B.A., University of California (Los Angeles)
  • M.A., University of California (San Diego)
  • Ph.D., University of California (Los Angeles)

Current and upcoming courses

Seminar Topics Tpc: Global Music Industries

MUS300

Topic for Fall 2024: Global Music Industries

Have you ever wondered how the music you love gets transformed from its inception to a product for eager audiences around the world? Discovering new music is often a combination of personal taste, the influence of our social cohort, and the limitations of what is available through live performance in our neighborhood and online digital music services.  This seminar will take a critical exploration of the different routes that we use to find the music we love.  We will cover a vast array of topics ranging from the ways musical taste changes in time, the use and abuse of streaming digital media, and the mining of musical ideas from the developing world in recent pop music trends.  All students in the seminar will have an opportunity to design a term project on the role of listening among Wellesley students.