Popular music studies is a rapidly expanding field with changing emphases and agendas. The music industry has changed in recent years, as has governmental involvement in popular music schemes as part of the culture industry. The distinction between the major record labels and the outsider independents has become blurred over time. Popular music, as part of this umbrella of the culture industry, has been progressively globalized and globalizing. The tensions within popular music are now no longer between national cultural identity and popular music, but between the local and the global. This four volume collection examines the changing status of popular music against this background. Simon Frith examines the heritage of popular music, and how technology has changed not only the production but the reception of this brand of sound. The collection examines how the traditional genres of rock, pop and soul have broken down and what has replaced them, as well as showing how this proliferation of musical styles has also splintered the audience of popular music.

Moving from web to field, from Victorian parlor to 21st-century mall, the 15 essays gathered here yield new insights regarding the intersection of local culture, musical creativity and technological possibilities. Inspired by the concept of "technoculture," the authors locate technology squarely in the middle of expressive culture: they are concerned with how technology culturally informs and infuses aspects of everyday life and musical experience, and they argue that this merger does not necessarily result in a "cultural grayout," but instead often produces exciting new possibilities. In this collection, we find evidence of musical practices and ways of knowing music that are informed or even significantly transformed by new technologies, yet remain profoundly local in style and meaning. CONTRIBUTORS: Leslie C. Gay, Jr., Kai Fikentscher, Tong Soon Lee, René T. A. Lysloff, Matthew Malsky, Charity Marsh, Marc Perlman, Thomas Porcello, Andrew Ross, David Sanjek, jonathan Sterne, Janet L. Sturman, Timothy D. Taylor, Paul Théberge, Melissa West, Deborah Wong. Ebook Edition Note: Four of the 26 illustrations, and the cover illustration, have been redacted.

The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music offers the first collection of source readings and new essays on the latest thinking in the sociology of music. Interest in music sociology has increased dramatically over the past decade, yet there is no anthology of essential and introductory readings. The volume includes a comprehensive survey of the field’s history, current state and future research directions. It offers six source readings, thirteen popular contemporary essays, and sixteen fresh, new contributions, along with an extended Introduction by the editors. The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music represents a broad reference work that will be a resource for the current generation of sociologically inclined musicologists and musically inclined sociologists, whether researchers, teachers or students.

The tensions between utopian dreams and dystopian anxieties permeate science fiction as a genre, and nowhere is this tension more evident than in Star Trek. This book breaks new ground by exploring music and sound within the Star Trek franchise across decades and media, offering the first sustained look at the role of music in shaping this influential series. The chapters in this edited collection consider how the aural, visual, and narrative components of Star Trek combine as it constructs and deconstructs the utopian and dystopian, shedding new light on the series’ political, cultural, and aesthetic impact. Considering how the music of Star Trek defines and interprets religion, ideology, artificial intelligence, and more, while also considering fan interactions with the show’s audio, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of music, media studies, science fiction, and popular culture.

Ethnomusicology: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography of books, recordings, videos, and websites in the field of ethnomusicology. The book is divided into two parts; Part One is organised by resource type in catagories of greatest concern to students and scholars. This includes handbooks and guides; encyclopedias and dictionaries; indexes and bibliographies; journals; media sources; and archives. It also offers annotated entries on the basic literature of ethnomusicological history and research. Part Two provides a list of current publications in the field that are widely used by ethnomusicologists. Multiply indexed, this book serves as an excellent tool for librarians, researchers, and scholars in sorting through the massive amount of new material that has appeared in the field over the past decades.

Classic sociological analyses of 'deviance' and rebellion; studies of technology; subcultural and feminist readings, semiotic and musicological essays and close readings of stars, bands and the fans themselves by Adorno, Barthes and other well-known contributors

The great depression in the popular recording industry that began in 1979 still continues. There are signs, however, that the industry is adjusting to new technologies and may soon revive. R. Serge Denisoff documents the decline and possible revival of this comprehensive study of the recording business, a sequel to his widely acclaimed Solid Gold: The Popular Record Industry. Denisoff offers a brief history of popular music and then, in detail, traces the life cycle of a record, beginning with the artist in the studio and following the record until its purchase. He explains the relationships between artist, manager, producer, company, distributor, merchandiser, and media. They all play roles in the scenario of a hit record. He also discusses the new technologies and how they may affect record sales, especially round-the-clock rock and roll on cable television. Tarnished Gold joins Solid Gold as a staple in the popular culture literature.

After Pearl Harbor, Tin Pan Alley songwriters rushed to write the Great American War Song—an "Over There" for World War II. The most popular songs, however, continued to be romantic ballads, escapist tunes, or novelty songs. To remedy the situation, the federal government created the National Wartime Music Committee, an advisory group of the Office of War Information (OWI), which outlined "proper" war songs, along with tips on how and what to write. The music business also formed its own Music War Committee to promote war songs. Neither group succeeded. The OWI hoped that Tin Pan Alley could be converted from manufacturing love songs to manufacturing war songs just as automobile plants had retooled to assemble planes and tanks. But the OWI failed to comprehend the large extent by which the war effort would be defined by advertisers and merchandisers. Selling merchandise was the first priority of Tin Pan Alley, and the OWI never swayed them from this course. Kathleen E.R. Smith concludes the government's fears of faltering morale did not materialize. Americans did not need such war songs as "Goodbye, Mama, I'm Off To Yokohama", "There Are No Wings On a Foxhole", or even "The Sun Will Soon Be Setting On The Land Of The Rising Sun" to convince them to support the war. The crusade for a "proper" war song was misguided from the beginning, and the music business, then and now, continues to make huge profits selling love—not war—songs.

‘This is an extraordinary achievement and it will become an absolutely vital and trusted resource for everyone working in the field of popular music studies. Even more broadly, anyone interested in popular music or popular music culture more generally will enjoy - and find many uses for - the wealth of information and insight captured in this volume.' Lawrence Grossberg, Morris Davis Professor of Communication Studies and Cultural Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The first comprehensive reference work on popular music of the world Contributors are the world's leading popular music scholars Includes extensive bibliographies, discographies, sheet music listings and filmographies. Popular music has been a major force in the world since the nineteenth century. With the advent of electronic and advanced technology it has become ubiquitous. This is the first volume in a series of encyclopedic works covering popular music of the world. Consisting of some 500 entries by 130 contributors from around the world. Entries range between 250 and 5000 words, and is arranged in two Parts: Part 1: Social and Cultural Dimensions, covering the social phenomena of relevance to the practice of popular music. Part II: The Industry, covers all aspects of the popular music industry, such as copyright, instrumental manufacture, management and marketing, record corporations, studios, companies, and labels. Entries include bibliographies, discographies and filmographies, and an extensive index is provided. For more information visit the website at: www.continuumpopmusic.com