Commissioned Research

In November 2006, the International Music Council released to the general public its report on "THE PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF MUSICAL DIVERSITY", a study carried out for UNESCO. Principal Investigator: Richard Letts. We express our thanks to UNESCO for permitting the publication of this document.
Report and Appendices

The International Music Council organised a Roundtable on Calypso and Social Justice: Preserving the Legacy on June 30th, 2004, during the previous World Culture Forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (www.forumculturalmundial.org). The meeting assessed the social justice dimension of Calypso in order to explore the extent to which the lyrics and work of Calypso artist Dr. Francisco Slinger - known as Mighty Sparrow - have contributed both to the development of this musical genre and to the demand for fairness and the respect of cultural rights and human dignity. The Roundtable was funded by the Ford Foundation and discussed a set of commissioned essays on the subject to be published in a book under the same title. These essays range from historical surveys and analyses of song texts to first-person accounts, along with a discography.