Blum's writing displays a strong knowledge of parallel disciplines through the thoughtful inclusion of academic theory from the fields of sociology, historical musicology, philosophy, anthropology, composition and analysis.
[1] His first publications were co-authored with Nettl, a pioneering historical musicologist and ethnomusicologist,[2][3] and supervising his dissertation, Musics in Contact: The Cultivation of Oral Repertoires in Meshed Iran, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 1972.
In "The Concept of the ‘Asheq in Northern Khorasan" (1972) Blum presents part of his fieldwork undertaken in 1969 for his dissertation but pointedly focuses on social folk music of the (primarily) Kurdish minority.
In 1974, his article, "Persian Folksong in Meshhed (Iran)", Blum continued a detailed rhythmic and melodic analysis of ten folk songs while focusing on informant-perceived rural and urban difference in style and performance.
The field recordings from his research trips to Iran were donated to Harvard University, where they have been digitized and posted publicly online as the Stephen Blum Collection of Music from Iranian Khorāsān.