The Interplay of Music, Money, and Agency in Azerbaijani Ashiq Bards’ Performances at Iranian Azerbaijani Weddings

Abstract This article examines the role of the Azerbaijani ashiq bard in Iranian Azerbaijani weddings, focusing on the interactions and agency of wedding musicians, hosts, and guests and the circulation of money between them. By engaging with practice theory and economic ethnomusicology, this article considers both musical and economic imperatives, analyzing how various forces and factors shape tradition at the levels of musicians’ and guests’ practices and larger structures. I argue that audience members’ requests (darkhâsts) and financial exchanges, while homogenizing the repertoire, also create opportunities for marginalized musical values and less-performed elements to reemerge, even as they are being downplayed in new methods of transmission.