When talking about ethics in ethnomusicology it is imperative that I remain specific about who it applies to. An ethnomusicologist must consider ethics if he comes from a culture that is different from the culture that he wants to conduct his research on. An ethnomusicologist that conducts research on a culture that is their own may not have to weigh ethics. For example, music scholar, Kofi Agawu writes about African music and all of its significant aspects. He mentions the dynamics of music among the generations, the significance of the music, and the effects of the music on the society. Agawu highlights that some scholars glaze over the spirit of African music and argues that this is problematic because the spirit is one of the most essential components in the music. Agawu is also a scholar from Africa, more specifically Ghana, so he knows more about the culture because he is a part of that culture. Being a native of the culture that one is studying is beneficial because of the instinctive insight that one has been taught since birth.Agawu, Kofi. 2016. The African Imagination in Music. New York: Oxford University Press. However, a native fieldworker may experience a slight ethical dilemma as they research their own community, given that there are concerns that "arise from interpersonal relations between scholar and 'informant' as a consequence of fieldwork."Slobin, Mark. 1993. "Ethical Issues." In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, ed. H. Meyers, 329. New York: Norton. According to Clint Bracknell, who studies Aboriginal song traditions from the Nyungar southwest of Australia as a Nyungar person from that region, Indigenous researchers can "use ethnomusicology as a platform" to "engage with, learn, and invigorate their own regional music traditions, particularly those that are presently endangered and under-researched" in order to "contribute to the diversity of music studied, supported, and sustained worldwide."Bracknell, Clint. 2015. "'Say You're a Nyungarmusicologist': Indigenous Research and Endangered Song." Musicology Australia 37(2): 212, 213. However, they also risk "expos[ing] the vital organs of their culture" as well as the "outsider" misinterpreting their culture.Nettl, Bruno. 2005. "You Will Never Understand this Music." In The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts, 155. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. If the native fieldworker's community does not want them to reveal or record their cultural practices, the fieldworker experiences the dilemma of how much they can reveal in the face of a "cultural grey out" without crossing the line.Bracknell, Clint. 2015. "'Say You're a Nyungarmusicologist': Indigenous Research and Endangered Song." Musicology Australia 37(2): 199. The fieldworker must consider how they can support musical diversity while simultaneously respecting their community's wishes.
When talking about ethics in ethnomusicology it is imperative that I remain specific about who it applies to. An ethnomusicologist must consider ethics if he comes from a culture that is different from the culture that he wants to conduct his research on. An ethnomusicologist that conducts research on a culture that is their own may not have to weigh ethics. For example, music scholar, Kofi Agawu writes about African music and all of its significant aspects. He mentions the dynamics of music among the generations, the significance of the music, and the effects of the music on the society. Agawu highlights that some scholars glaze over the spirit of African music and argues that this is problematic because the spirit is one of the most essential components in the music. Agawu is also a scholar from Africa, more specifically Ghana, so he knows more about the culture because he is a part of that culture. Being a native of the culture that one is studying is beneficial because of the instinctive insight that one has been taught since birth.Agawu, Kofi. 2016. The African Imagination in Music. New York: Oxford University Press. However, a native fieldworker may experience a slight ethical dilemma as they research their own community, given that there are concerns that "arise from interpersonal relations between scholar and 'informant' as a consequence of fieldwork."Slobin, Mark. 1993. "Ethical Issues." In Ethnomusicology: An Introduction, ed. H. Meyers, 329. New York: Norton. According to Clint Bracknell, who studies Aboriginal song traditions from the Nyungar southwest of Australia as a Nyungar person from that region, Indigenous researchers can "use ethnomusicology as a platform" to "engage with, learn, and invigorate their own regional music traditions, particularly those that are presently endangered and under-researched" in order to "contribute to the diversity of music studied, supported, and sustained w.orldwide."Bracknell, Clint. 2015. "'Say You're a Nyungarmusicologist': Indigenous Research and Endangered Song." Musicology Australia 37(2): 212, 213. However, they also risk "expos[ing] the vital organs of their culture" as well as the "outsider" misinterpreting their culture.Nettl, Bruno. 2005. "You Will Never Understand this Music." In The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-One Issues and Concepts, 155. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. If the native fieldworker's community does not want them to reveal or record their cultural practices, the fieldworker experiences the dilemma of how much they can reveal in the face of a "cultural grey out" without crossing the line.Bracknell, Clint. 2015. "'Say You're a Nyungarmusicologist': Indigenous Research and Endangered Song." Musicology Australia 37(2): 199. The fieldworker must consider how they can support musical diversity while simultaneously respecting their community's wishes.