Simone Krüger Bridge PhD, FHEA, PGCE, MSc, BA, BSc is a Professor of Cultural Musicology at Liverpool John Moores University, UK, working at the intersection of ethnomusicology, popular music studies, and music sociology. Her work explores the intricate interplay between music and humanity, and the profound significance of music as a fundamental aspect of human existence and cultural expression. Drawing on musicological, sociological and anthropological thought, her work regards music as a dynamic cultural artefact intimately intertwined with social structures, practices and identities, which both reflects and shapes social norms, values and power dynamics.Simone is the author of Experiencing Ethnomusicology (2009) and Trajectories and Themes in World Popular Music: Globalization, Capitalism, Identity (2018), and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Global Popular Music (in press), The Globalization of Musics in Transit: Music Migration and Tourism (2014) and Ethnomusicology in the Academy: International Perspectives (2019). Her second monograph (2018), provides a social critique of capitalism’s impact on popular music in historical and world perspective, and is accompanied by cutting-edge educational resources (see: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/instructor-resources-trajectories-themes-world-popular-music/). Currently, her research explores the social value of Liverpool Cathedral’s egalitarian music outreach programme and its societal contribution to the Liverpool city region.Simone is the founding editor of the Journal of World Popular Music and founding co-editor of the book series Transcultural Music Studies (Equinox). She is a Professoriate Member on LJMU's Academic Board (Senate) (2023-2026); a core member of LJMU's REF 2029 UoA leadership; an external reviewer for REF Uo33 2029 at the University of South Wales; and an active member of the AHRC Peer Review College, including grant panel memberships. She has served a four-year term as the Chair of the Arts, Professional and Social Science (APSS) Faculty Research Degree Committee (FRDC) at Liverpool John Moores University; a three-year term on the Committee of the British Forum of Ethnomusicology (BFE); and a two-year term on the Executive Committee of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM); and is currently serving on three journal editorial boards.