Understanding Popular Music

by Roy Shuker

Understanding Popular Music is a comprehensive introduction to the history and meaning of popular music. It begins with a critical assessment of the different ways in which popular music has been studied and the difficulties and debates which surround the analysis of popular culture and popular music.
Drawing on the recent work of music scholars and the popular music press, Shuker explores key subjects which shape our experience of music, including music production, the music industry, music policy, fans, audiences and subcultures, the musician as 'star', music journalism, and the reception and consumption of popular music. This fully revised and updated second edition
*case studies and lyrics of artists such as Shania Twain, S Club 7, The Spice Girls and Fat Boy Slim
* the impact of technologies including on-line delivery and the debates over MP3 and Napster
* the rise of DJ culture and the changing idea of the 'musician'
* a critique of gender and sexual politics and the discrimination which exists in the music industry
* moral panics over popular music including the controversies surrounding artists such as Marilyn Manson and Ice-T
* a comprehensive discography, guide to further reading and directory of websites.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Sociology, Cultural Studies, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Matt Chisling (MattyandtheBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shuker's work is a thorough introduction to the study of popular music. This heavily revised version of the work is a great introductory piece, but it should be worth noting that its very much designed for a first-year survey course in the study of popular music. Some of the chapters are a bit unstructured, reading more like a glossary of terms or ideas than a cohesive argument. In addition, I would advocate for more historical flow in the text. However, Shuker's collection is well documented, all encompassing, and does offer the reader a glimpse into all the areas of popular music one can study.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★☆☆ | 3.5 Stars

[This is a review for the 2008 edition which is not on Goodreads]

This textbook covers a whole range of issues related to the production and consumption of popular music. It's really only an introduction to these issues and can be at times stretched a little too thin. Nevertheless, I found it interesting to learn about music from before my time and how trends have played out over the last century or so.

[Lee Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good book to help me understand more of music culture. I like the attributes that explain the rapid evolution of music consumerism.
He mentions a guy called 'Frith' a lot to support his evidence, and finally i enjoyed the 'Packaging reggae' chapter, that explains how reggae was founded and brought to the masses.
overall it is a great book but a pretty heavy!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very much an overview of the field - a map of which academic has said what about popular music. Shaker doesn't have much to say here on his own account. I get that - but he could have made it a bit more readable. You can be both academically rigorous and interesting at the same time. This managed to take a fascinating subject and make it dull.

[Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful as a reference for further readings but not riveting in itself (it is a textbook after all).