Seattle’s Experience Music Project pop music conference is compellingly interesting, writes Robert Cristgau. “The short explanation is that EMP isn’t exclusively academic—of the 180 presenters this year, only 84 ID’d themselves that way, including many grad students and wearers of multiple hats. Nor were all the nonacademics journalists; we heard from several alt bizzers and quite a few artists, literary and performance as well as musical. Big tent is a fantasy often invoked and seldom achieved in cultural studies circles. But beyond the boldness, imagination, and actually existing openness, EMP’s tent is so roomy for one simple reason: money.