With music today available on YouTube, online and satellite radio, MTV, through digital downloads, and on iPods and other handheld devices, we may think that we have heard all there is to hear about modern artists. The stories behind the songs that keep us humming are less often explored. Readers will learn how some of the most popular musicians today—entertainers such as Madonna, Adele, Kanye West, and Taylor Swift—rose to fame and made important musical breakthroughs, all while paying tribute to those who came before them.

For a long time, country music has been popular as a way to sing about emotions, events, and people in ordinary life. Over the years, country music has changed, bringing in more instruments, complex lyrics, and musical styles. From honky-tonks to Nashville, country rock to pop country, this style of music continues to evolve, grow, and keep people singing along. Readers discover history behind these toe-tapping tunes through main text and sidebars featuring annotated quotes from country artists and music critics, a detailed discography of essential country albums, and photographs of superstars of country music.

Soul music and country music propel American popular culture. Using ethnomusicological tools, Shonekan examines their socio-cultural influences and consequences: the perception of and resistance to hegemonic structures from within their respective constituencies, the definition of national identity, and the understanding of the 'American Dream.'

Although rock music continued to dominate the music scene, the sounds of the 1970s and ‘80s differed greatly from the music of the preceding decades, reflecting newer social realities. The aggressive sounds of punk music began to appeal to youth, while disco reached across cultures and brought diverse crowds together in dance clubs. New Wave had a playful, chill feel, while the electronic guitar-laden sounds heavy metal were anything but. Readers examine the various styles of music that defined the 1970s and ‘80s, profiling the artists who captured the spirit of rapid social and cultural change.

The music of the 1960s is perhaps as memorable as the historical milestones of the era. Timeless bands, such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, emerged from England while the U.S. saw the rise of such folk musicians as Bob Dylan and the explosion of soul, with such legends as Aretha Franklin and James Brown providing the soundtrack to the fight for civil rights. Accessible text captures the extraordinary sounds of this unforgettable period through profiles of its greatest musical talents, placing their stories in social and cultural context.

While much in the history of music builds on what came before it, each generation witnesses musical innovations that define a genre and can endure long after their creation. The individuals profiled in this lively volume have been responsible for some of the most inspired and lasting works in the history of music, those that have remained timeless even as musical styles, genres, instruments, and technologies have evolved. The stories of such icons as Guido D’Arezzo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, and Adele, among many others, are concisely presented, along with descriptions of their greatest contributions to music.

The most trusted guide to songwriting success! There is a home out there for every song you've written, but in order to place those songs and advance your music career you must arm yourself with steadfast determination, unending passion, and the most accurate music business knowledge available. For more than 38 years, Songwriter's Market has provided songwriters and performing artists with the most complete and up-to-date information needed to place songs with music publishers, find record companies and producers, obtain representation with managers, and more. This comprehensive guide gives you the tools and first-hand knowledge you need to launch your songwriting career right now! In the 2015 edition, you'll also gain access to: • A new foreword by hit songwriter and best-selling author Jason Blume • New interviews with music publishers, Grammy Award-winning producers, and major music industry leaders • Articles about how to create and mix a professional demo at home, how to get the most out of music conferences, and much more • Hundreds of songwriting placement opportunities • Listings for songwriting organizations, conferences, workshops, retreats, colonies, contests, venues, and grant sources (helpful for indie artists looking to record and tour on their own) *Includes access to the webinar "Song Seeds: How to Jump-start Your Songwriting Process" from author and Berklee College of Music professor Mark Simos.

In The Country Music Reader Travis D. Stimeling provides an anthology of primary source readings from newspapers, magazines, and fan ephemera encompassing the history of country music from circa 1900 to the present. Presenting conversations that have shaped historical understandings of country music, it brings the voices of country artists and songwriters, music industry insiders, critics, and fans together in a vibrant conversation about a widely loved yet seldom studied genre of American popular music. Situating each source chronologically within its specific musical or cultural context, Stimeling traces the history of country music from the fiddle contests and ballad collections of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through the most recent developments in contemporary country music. Drawing from a vast array of sources including popular magazines, fan newsletters, trade publications, and artist biographies, The Country Music Reader offers firsthand insight into the changing role of country music within both the music industry and American musical culture, and presents a rich resource for university students, popular music scholars, and country music fans alike.

Start Discussions That Matter to Your High Schoolers About God. About themselves, their, beliefs, their questions, their lives.[Burst: More than a quarter-million copies sold in this series!]More High School TalkSheets—Updated! contains the same kind of provocative, compelling, discussion-starting questions that are hallmarks of the best-selling TalkSheets series—now updated for new-millennium high schoolers. Here are 50 more creative discussions that focus on relevant, real-life topics:The FutureDeathPrioritiesAIDSHeaven & HellPremarital SexPrayerKnowing GodHomosexualityMaterialism & Consumerism. . . and 40 more subjects of perennial interest to teenagers.TalkSheets are convenient, effective one-page reproducible handouts with intriguing questions that will get churched kids and unchurched kids alike talking and thinking about the Bible—and how its principles affect their daily lives.Use TalkSheets to launch your own lesson—or use them as stand-alone Bible studies. Each TalkSheet comes with detailed information and suggestions for discussion leaders: Bible references galore, Internet resources, further group exploration, and activities to pursue during and after the meeting.More High School TalkSheets—Updated! is the perfect discussion-starting resource for youth meetings, small groups and cell groups, Sunday school, and camps and retreats.

A guide for music: compositions, events, forms, genres, groups, history, industry, instruments, language, live music, musicians, songs, musicology, techniques, terminology , theory, music video. Music is a human activity which involves structured and audible sounds, which is used for artistic or aesthetic, entertainment, or ceremonial purposes. The traditional or classical European aspects of music often listed are those elements given primacy in European-influenced classical music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color/timbre, and form. A more comprehensive list is given by stating the aspects of sound: pitch, timbre, loudness, and duration. Common terms used to discuss particular pieces include melody, which is a succession of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord, which is a simultaneity of notes heard as some sort of unit; chord progression, which is a succession of chords (simultaneity succession); harmony, which is the relationship between two or more pitches; counterpoint, which is the simultaneity and organization of different melodies; and rhythm, which is the organization of the durational aspects of music.