1 Nikos Ordoulidis: Cosmopolitan Music by Cosmopolitan Musicians: The Case of Spyros Peristeris, Leading Figure of the Rebetiko. Conference Paper, 'Creating music across cultures in the 21st century, The Centre for Advanced Studies in Music (25-27/5). Istanbul Technical University, 2017. The rebetiko enthusiasts Initially, an effort will be made to describe, in short, some of the fundamental ideological beliefs which come from specific groups of rebetiko enthusiasts in Greece. Before these ideological beliefs are approached, it must be noted that when the rebetiko is mentioned, it signifies one of the most popular urban popular music genres in Greece, which – eventually – acquired a firm relationship with discography and the music industry in general. Before returning to its aesthetic approach; what, in the final analysis, the rebetiko is (whether anyone can answer this question is a moot point), because as a term it is rather vague, the rebetiko forum shall be broached, which constitutes a community of devotees of the genre, who come from a wide spectrum of fields: some are professional musicians, others amateur, while others amateur researchers etc., have been exchanging views for years. Through the case of the rebetiko conclusions about other genres could be drawn as well, which their devotees discuss, having very often the issue of authenticity as a focal point; oftentimes, through these discussions, the prerequisites for authenticity and originality of a song, a composer, a performer, a singer, a songwriter etc. transpire. To document certain representative examples, phrases of the forum members, in order to encapsulate the essence of the mentality with which they manage issues of authenticity was the initial idea. Essentially, in these discussions, the generated sound of the performers is either approved or not, based on the rules and boundaries previously set. In the epicentre, we find not only who performs but also what and how it is performed. These discussions obviously concern mostly younger artists, examining incidences even of the present, as the rebetiko is considered popular amongst the ranks of popular musicians. 1 In essence, nowadays, another revival, albeit, rather singular, is observed. The rebetiko could not be excluded from the global inclination for adaptation observed in the last few years (see also Tragaki, 2015). In other words, the rebetiko enthusiasts often propose a contemporary performance as a topic for discussion, debating whether its protagonists deviate from the authenticity prerequisites previously set by them themselves. Their discussions, however, also concern artists of the supposed rebetiko period itself, since the boundaries of the rebetiko are not specific. Often an artist, for example from the 1940s, is placed at the epicentre of a discussion, and they try to ascertain the degree of his authenticity in comparison to another artist that they have a priori appointed as authentically rebetiko. 1 In terms of the term ‘popular’ see additional information below.