Popular Music and Society

by Brian Longhurst

This new edition of Popular Music and Society , fully revised and updated, continues to pioneer an approach to the study of popular music that is informed by wider debates in sociology and media and cultural studies. Astute and accessible, it continues to set the agenda for research and teaching in this area. The textbook begins by examining the ways in which popular music is produced, before moving on to explore its structure as text and the ways in which audiences understand and use music. Packed with examples and data on the contemporary production and consumption of popular music, the book also includes overviews and critiques of theoretical approaches to this exciting area of study and outlines the most important empirical studies which have shaped the discipline. Topics covered • The contemporary organisation of the music industry;
• The effects of technological change on production;
• The history and politics of popular music;
• Gender, sexuality and ethnicity;
• Subcultures;
• Fans and music celebrities. For this new edition, two whole new chapters have been on performance and the body, and on the very latest ways of thinking about audiences and the spaces and places of music consumption. This second edition of Popular Music and Society will continue to be required reading for students of the sociology of culture, media and communication studies, and popular culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise. I admit that the dryness of the title mislead me. This is a rich, robust study of music and its linkages with culture, as per the FRankfurt School and Max Weber. Authenticity in & around black music is a stirring debate in here. At times it gets a bit bookish for a book on music, but that's part of the territory when making these artistic-philosophical connections.

[Julio César · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introduction for those undergraduates interested in the "music & society" field of studies. For those who know a little of the subject, though, it can be a little basic.