This book addresses the controversy of whether there is a growing homogenization of the world's popluar music - the universal language of youth - or whether there is a continuing and perhaps ever increasing diversity of song styles and forms. The more conventional "cultural imperialism" hypothesis is tested. The focus is on how the process of popular music production is perceived by local musicians, who are immersed in overlapping international, national and local contexts of production. Reflections on theory, descriptions of lcoal case studies, and interview data have been provided by the international Communication and Youth Culture Consortium and integrated by the authors in an attempt to understand how societal influences are tempered by and interpreted through cultural and semiotic codes as well as individual musicians' experiences and creative talents.