The field of modern competitive barbershop singing is in a state of crisis over falling membership and popularity, and repertoire is one variable being considered as a means of increasing the appeal of barbershop music. This particular genre tends to blur the distinctions between composer, arranger, and performer. As a result, the product of that network, the musical work, acquires an equally fluid identity. A question of ownership arises: what is "the work" and to whom does it belong? Arrangements vary in their fidelity to an original published tune, and a certain amount of improvisation or rearranging is expected in barbershop, at the very least in the form of tags or codas at the end of a chart.

Index Classifications: 1900s, Popular

Contributed by: Paul Killinger