Understanding Popular Music Culture

Introduction: popular music culture  1. The music industries: record companies, rights management, platformisation and live music  2. Technologies: from talking machines to artificial intelligence  3. Making music: musicians, creativity, performance and career paths  4. Musical stardom: star texts and auteurs  5. Musical texts: listening, viewing and analysis  6. Art, commerce and authenticity: from teen idols to ‘fake’ artists  7. Musical genre: style, culture and metadata  8. Marketing music: branding, virality and engagement  9. Popular music on screen: from film and television to YouTube and gaming  10. Music journalism: print, platforms and poptimism  11. Music consumption, identity and fandom  12. Subcultures, sounds, and scenes  13. Politics: protest, social justice and environmental action  14. Gender, sexuality and music cultures  15. Moral panics: folk devils, free speech, censorship and cancel culture  16. Globalisation, internationalisation and state music policy  17. Popular music and the past: histories, memory and heritage  Conclusion

Biography

Robert Strachan is a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Liverpool. He has published widely on a variety of aspects of music and sound, including technology, creativity, audiovisual media and the history of British Black music. He is the author of Sonic Technologies: Popular Music, Digital Culture and the Creative Process (2017). 

Marion Leonard is a Reader in the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool. She is author of Gender in the Music Industry (2007) and Popular Music and Museums (forthcoming). She has published on a range of popular music topics, while her current research has a focus on aspects of music heritage. She has co-edited The Beat Goes On: Liverpool, Popular Music and the Changing City (2010) and Sites of Music Heritage (2014).

Roy Shuker is Adjunct Professor in Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His previous publications include Popular Music Culture. The Key Concepts (Fifth edition, 2022); Understanding Popular Music Culture (Fifth edition, 2016); and Wax Trash and Vinyl Treasures: Record Collecting as a Social Practice (2010).

"This sixth edition of Roy Shuker's vital text, now in collaboration with Marion Leonard and Robert Strachan, offers a thorough, thoughtful, and authoritative reflection on the workings of contemporary popular music expression. From technological and industry contexts to the cultural and societal issues to the musical and thematic content, the team of authors has shaped a far-reaching framework for readers to build greater understanding and appreciation of this impactful cultural form."

 - Lori Burns, Professor, University of Ottawa

"Understanding Popular Music Culture (6th edition) is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the vast, interdisciplinary field of popular music studies. It skillfully balances key theoretical ideas with engaging discussion and relatable examples. Substantially updated, it expertly explores the historical and contemporary developments shaping popular music today. This edition meets a real need in the field and stands out as an engaging and genuinely student-friendly text."

- Rebekah Farrugia, Professor Communication and Media Studies, Oakland University

"This classic text has been fully revised and updated. It retains its rich and comprehensive coverage of established topics such as music-making, genre, politics and gender while also incorporating new material on more recent developments including platformisation and AI. Crucial reading for everyone engaged in the study of popular music from undergraduate and postgraduate students to established academics and general readers."

- Andy Bennett, Professor of Cultural Sociology, Griffith University