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The focus on concepts of power and domination in societal structures has characterized sociology since its beginnings. Max Webers definition of power as "imposing ones will on others" is still relevant to explaining processes in the arts, whether their production, imagination, communication, distribution, critique or consumption. Domination in the arts is exercised by internal and external rulers through institutionalized social structures and through beliefs about their legitimacy, achieved by defining and shaping art tastes. The complexity of how the arts relate to power arises from the complexity of the policies of artistic production, distribution and consumptionpolicies which serve to facilitate or hinder an aesthetic object from reaching its intended public. Curators, critics and collectors employ a variety of forms of cultural and artistic communication to mirror and shape the dominant social, economic and political conditions. Arts and Power: Policies in and by the Arts brings together diverse voices who position the societal functions of art in fields of domination and power, of structure and agencywhether they are used to impose hegemonic, totalitarian or unjust goals or to pursue social purposes fostering equal rights and grassroots democracy. The contributions in this volume are exploratory steps towards what we believe can be a more systematic, empirically and theoretically founded sociological debate on the arts and power. And they are an invitation to take further steps. The editors Prof. Dr. Lisa Gaupp, Professor of Cultural Institutions Studies at the Department of Cultural Management and Gender Studies (IKM) at the mdw University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Hon. Prof. Dr. Alenka Barber-Kersovan, Honorary Professor of Sociology of Music at the Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization at Leuphana University of Luneburg Prof. Dr. Volker Kirchberg, Professor of Sociology of the Arts at the Institute of Sociology and Cultural Organization at Leuphana University of Luneburg

Die zunehmende Instrumentalisierung von Musik als Marketinginstrument und die Inszenierung urbaner Konglomerate als "Music Cities" dienen vor allem dem neoliberalen "City Branding". Die komplexen Zusammenhänge zwischen Musik und Stadt wurden bislang nur punktuell untersucht. Dieser transdisziplinäre Band mit Beiträgen international renommierter Autoren und Autorinnen verbindet theoretische Grundlagen mit empirischen Ergebnissen, ausgewählten Fallstudien und historischen Abhandlungen. Mit der Fokussierung auf die Musik erweitert das Buch nicht nur den gängigen Diskurs um "Creative Cities", sondern bringt auch wichtige Impulse für die kulturpolitische Praxis.