IASPM-US recognizes that the past and present of popular music are inseparable from the systems of racial, ethnic, class, gender, and dis/ability inequity in which they are embedded. The society is committed to the exposure and dismantling of such injustice through the facilitation of extended academic and public conversation and the removal of barriers to participation.

IASPM-US is dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive, and accessible space for all its members and all who participate in activities or engage in dialogue under its name. The society continues to foster interdisciplinary conversation regarding how and why popular music matters, and continues to work toward becoming a more inclusive organization. We strive to provide a meeting point for academic and non-academic students of music. We welcome academic music scholars across all fields, affiliated and independent, tenured and non-tenure-track, as well as music journalists and other writers, industry workers, administrators, and musicians. We invite presenters and audiences to a space that supports the study of popular music as a site of decolonization, of resistance to racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, heteronormative and cisnormative power structures, ableism, and violence.

The society aims, but might not always succeed, to meet its members’ needs at its annual conference through:

• membership and registration fees on a sliding scale
• fee waivers and/or travel support for presenters in financial need
• if possible and in keeping with host university policies, making on-site child care options available (note that many universities will not permit organizations to provide this service)
• reserving a quiet, calm space at the conference venue, away from noise and crowds
• ensuring that venues are accessible to those with mobility aids
• providing transportation to conference events away from the primary conference venue
• the provision of ASL interpreters when requested
• the circulation of accessibility guidelines to presenters, moderators, and attendees