By linking the institutions that support musical research, including professional associations and universities, to historical changes such as globalization and the commodification of knowledge, Korsyn undertakes a critique of musical scolarship as an institutional discourse, while contributing to a general theory of disciplinary structures.

As the work of cultural criticism that recalls the concerns of Foucault, Hayden White, Zizek and others, Decentering Music examines the struggle for the authority to speak about music when humanities are in crisis. By linking the institutions that support musical research, including professional associations and universities, to complex historical changes such as globalization and the commodification of knowledge, Korsyn undertakes a critique of musical scolarship as an institutional discourse, while contributing to a general theory of disciplinary structures that goes beyond the limits of any single field.