PopCon brings first-ever Los Angeles conference to USC

PopCon, the annual music writing and popular music studies conference, came to USC and Los Angeles for the first time on March 7-9. This year’s theme focused on music collections and archives.

The conference featured over 30 events—including keynote sessions with funk legend George Clinton, filmmaker dream hampton and journalist Danyel Smith. USC Thornton Dean Jason King served as the USC producer and keynote curator for PopCon.

“This year’s theme—all about music legacies, archives and collections—is a topical one, given that we’re living in a moment where we are witnessing polarizing cultural debates around the value of history, memory and the past,” King said. “I’m so happy to bring this conference to USC and Los Angeles.”

One of the keynotes with Wendy & Lisa, a celebrated musical duo and the original members of Prince & the Revolution, was covered in Variety. They announced a new project with Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox, hinting at the formation of a trio.

“If you’ve got any good names for a band name for the three of us, that’d be great,” Wendy Melvoin told the audience.

PopCon 2024 was hosted by USC Thornton in collaboration with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

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USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Professor and USC vice provost for the arts, Josh Kun, speaks at a PopCon lectern inside the Annenberg building on USC’s campus. (Photo courtesy of ZaZu Lippert/USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism)