Wel­come to the mu­sic de­part­ment!

Here you will find a wide range of information and links to our research activities, our study programmes and artistic activities and events. We follow the mission statement:

Researching, communicating and shaping musical cultural diversity.

Do you have any questions? Contact us, we look forward to hearing from you!

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Popular Music and Media (Bachelor & Master) PopMediaCulture (Master) Teacher training programmes (Bachelor & Master)

News

(c) Rockpalast / Thomas von der Heiden

From the lec­ture to the fest­iv­al site: stu­dents at the Freak Val­ley Fest­iv­al 2026

Straight from the lecture to the festival site: at the Freak Valley Festival 2026, students on the Popular Music and Media and Media Studies study programmes used their cameras to document concerts, backstage happenings and everyday life at the festival. Under the direction of Jörg Maas, this resulted, amongst other things, in the festival’s official aftermovie.

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Finn Lohaus, seminar leader David Corrales, seminar guest Markus Bösch, Marius Schenk and David Roberts after the discussion session (from left to right) (c) Gesine Flick

Mar­cus Bösch as a guest: How sounds be­come polit­ic­al pro­pa­ganda

On 7 July 2026, Marcus Bösch was a guest speaker at the seminar ‘What do you Meme? Humour, Sounds and Contexts in Internet Culture’. Together with the students and other interested attendees, he discussed political meme culture, far-right codes on TikTok and the question of how a pop song like ‘L’amour toujours’ can become a tool of digital propaganda.

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The audience joined in the discussion about football, music and pop culture by asking questions and sharing their own views. (c) Sputnik Paderborn

Pop­kritik XXIII in Sput­nik: ¿11 Ami­gos? Foot­ball and pop cul­ture

The 23rd Popkritik event at the “Sputnik” in Paderborn focused on football as a pop-cultural phenomenon: from Argentine fan chants and Colombian identity, through AI-generated football music, to Shakira and the commercialisation of the World Cup.

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Numerous figures from the pop music scene and politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia attended the PopBoard NRW’s Parliamentary Evening at the Düsseldorf State Parliament. (c) Anne Orthen/PopBoard NRW press release

C:POP at the North Rhine-West­phalia State Par­lia­ment – Par­lia­ment­ary Even­ing in Düs­sel­dorf

Amid sweltering temperatures, the President of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament and the ‘Popboard NRW’ network hosted a ‘Parliamentary Pop Evening’ at the State Parliament in Düsseldorf on 18 June. Numerous politicians, musicians, officials, journalists and even a group of academics attended an entertaining and highly productive event.

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All in­form­a­tion about the mu­sic de­part­ment

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Con­tact

Do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact us. Here you will find all contact details and contact options.

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Study

We offer the following degree programmes: Popular Music and Media (B.A. & M.A.), PopMediaCulture (M.A.), Teacher Training Programme Music for Primary Schools, Secondary Level I and Special Needs Education (B.Ed. & M.Ed. respectively). You can also obtain the "Basic singing and music-making skills in primary schools" certificate from us.

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Re­search

Research is conducted in the subject area of music at the Institute for Reseach on Musical Ability, at the C:POP - Transdisciplinary Research Centre for Popular Music Cultures and Creative Economies, in research projects of the professorships and as part of numerous doctoral projects.

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Pub­lic­a­tions

Here you will find an overview of scientific, didactic and journalistic publications by our employees.

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Prof. Dr. Johannes Blömer teaching in front of a blackboard.

Pro­fess­or­ships

Here you will find the pages of the professorships in the subject area of music.

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Em­ploy­ees

Professors, secretaries, research assistants, artistic assistants, lecturers and research and student assistants work hand in hand in the subject area of music. You can find a list of our employees here.

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En­sembles & Events

Here you will find information about the Big Band, the Brass Band, the UniSono University Choir, the University Orchestra and the Samba Ensemble as well as events organised by the music department.

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Net­work

The Music subject area enters into collaborations with partners from the music and media culture sector and other universities, is involved in interdisciplinary teaching formats and scientific societies and networks alumni.

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Pader­born Pop­dozen­tur

Since 2014, the Popdozentur has been promoting exchange between urban society and prominent and renowned professionals from the broad field of the music and media industries through seminars, workshops, projects, talks, round tables, etc.

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