Cultural Categories of Distribution of Iranian National Music

Among the three main domains of production, distribution and consumption, Iranian national music has specifically received little attention from contemporary researchers. Music has a special place in the Iranian culture since it is shaped by historical and biocultural experiences of this society. But in recent years, Iranian national music has not only lost its social influence but the audience and its social functions as well. Usually, music is distributed in Iran through its producers after obtaining official licenses and reviewing the content of a musical piece. Since Iranian national music is different in contents and requirements compared to other countries, using Western theories to understand its distribution mechanism in Iran may not be very helpful. Also, no research has been done so far to understand the socio-cultural aspects of the distribution mechanism of Iranian national music. This research seeks to establish a comprehensive understanding of this field with a heuristic approach as well as by using the systematic grounded theory. Data were collected via an in-depth interview technique, coded and categorized with three open and axial as well as selective instructions. 23 concepts and 8 categories were extracted from the data. Finally, using the paradigm model, the grounded theory is presented in the form of a story and visual model.