Society founded in Brussels in 1953 under the auspices of UNESCO by the International Music Council. Its purpose is to stimulate music education throughout the world, both as an integral part of general education and community life and as a profession. It implements its aims by organizing international conferences and seminars, notably a biennial world conference; promoting the international liaison of music educationists at all levels; cooperating with other international music organizations in musicology, performance, composition, folk music, youth music and music librarianship; cooperating with regional and national music education organizations, many of which operate as national sections of the ISME; cooperating with organizations representing other branches of education; and developing research in music education. The society's honorary presidents have included Kodály and Kabalevsky, and presidents have included Egon Kraus, Yasuharu Takahagi, Sir Frank Callaway and Lupwishi Mbuyamba. Members include 40 national music educators' organizations, 50 music education institutions and 1000 individual members. From 1960 to 1972 it published the International Music Educator twice annually, which was subsequently replaced by the ISME Yearbook. The society's aims have been influenced by the spread of recorded and broadcast music, which has enabled greater emphasis to be placed on adult education; it has acted as an advisory body to UNESCO and has contributed to the worldwide survey Music and Tomorrow's Public (ed. E. Helm, Paris, 1975). The British section of the ISME is the Schools Music Association.