Editors’ introduction

Gareth Dylan Smith and Bryan Powell began work on the Journal of Popular Music Education ( JPME ) in 2014, editing the first issues of the journal in 2017. After nine years at the helm of JPME , Gareth and Bryan are stepping aside to hand over to the new leadership of David Knapp. David brings invaluable expertise as a music education researcher, writer and pedagogue. He will take over sole editorship of the journal from 2026. Gareth and Bryan bid a fond farewell to Warren Gramm, who served as editorial assistant and later assistant editor on JPME since 2018. The team welcomes Nick Piato to take over the reins as editorial assistant in partnership with David Knapp. The authors introduce each of the articles in this first issue of the ninth volume of JPME and look forward to the journal evolving under new leadership.