From integrated-light spectroscopy of GCs and other massive star clusters, it is now possible to extend studies of the chemical composition of stellar populations far beyond the few nearby galaxies where individual stars can be measured in detail. I will discuss results from our work on the detailed chemistry of GCs in Local Group galaxies and beyond, and look ahead to future applications of this technique with 30-40 m class telescopes that will allow detailed abundance studies in a representative sample of galaxies in the nearby Universe. One noteworthy result so far is a clear demonstration that GCs in dwarf galaxies are, on average, more metal-poor than those in larger galaxies, and that a large fraction of the most metal-poor stars in dwarf galaxies tend to belong to GCs. The GC spectra show the signatures of Na and Mg abundance anomalies that are widespread also in Galactic GCs. This has important implications for scenarios that invoke heavy cluster mass loss to account for the large fractions of enriched "second-generation" stars in GCs, as well as for GC disruption and its contribution to the field star populations in halos in general.