Dave Laing

Power and Meaning in Punk Rock

One Chord Wonders

Originally published in 1985, One Chord Wonders was the first full-length study of the glory years of British punk. The book argues that one of punk’s most significant political achievements was to expose the operations of power in the British entertainment industries as they were thrown into confusion by the sound and the fury of musicians and fans. Through a detailed examination of the conditions under which punk emerged and then declined, Dave Laing develops a view of the music as both complex and contradictory. Special attention is paid to the relationship between punk and the music industry of the late 1970s, in particular the political economy of the independent record companies through which much of punk was distributed. Using examples from a wide range of bands, individual chapters use the techniques of semiology to consider the radical approach to naming in punk (from Johnny Rotten to Poly Styrene), the instrumental and vocal sound of the music, and its visual images. The concluding chapter critically examines various theoretical explanations of the punk phenomenon, including the class origins of its protagonists and the influential view that punk represented the latest in a line of British youth “subcultures.” There is also a chronology of the punk era, plus discographies and a bibliography.

John Shepherd

David Horn

"The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World's five-volume work 'Locations' is the most authoritative reference work on the history and current practice of popular music ever published. The five volumes on 'Locations' that form Part 2 of this multi-volume work follow on from the two volumes of Part 1: Media, Industry and Society (Volume I) and Performance and Production (Volume II). They cover over 200 nation states and are organized according to continental regions: Volume III: Caribbean and Latin America Volume IV: North America, Volume V: Asia and Oceania, Volume VI: Africa and the Middle East, and Volume VII: Europe. Each discusses the history, development and current practice of popular music in cities, districts, cross-border regions, nation states and diasporic communities around the world. Includes coverage of: The historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic and cultural context Genres for which the location is known or which have been important to the development and current practice of its popular music. Significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars. The role of the industry: music publishers, record companies/labels, recording studios, radio and TV. The role of the state and government regulatory bodies. The teaching and research of popular music in educational institutions. Songs associated with the location. Notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, technological innovators, record company heads, journalists, critics and scholars, songwriters, composers and lyricists. 250 leading popular music scholars and practitioners have contributed over 500 entries. They include Rafael Jos ̌de Menezes Bastos on Brazil, Peter Manuel on India and the Caribbean Islands, John Collins on Ghana, Moya Aliya Malamusi on Malawi, Tr̥u Mitsui on Japan, Motti Regev on Israel, Martin Stokes on Turkey, Richard Peterson on Nashville, Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman on Hawai'I, Bruce Johnson on Australia, Paolo Prato on Italy, Svanibor Pettan on Croatia and Alf Bjr̲nberg on Sweden."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World

"The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World's five-volume work is the most authoritative reference work on the history and current practice of popular music ever published. The five volumes that form Part 2 of this multi-volume work follow on from the two volumes of Part 1: Media, Industry and Society (Volume I) and Performance and Production (Volume II). They cover over 200 nation states and are organized according to continental regions: Volume III: Caribbean and Latin America Volume IV: North America, Volume V: Asia and Oceania, Volume VI: Africa and the Middle East, and Volume VII: Europe. Each discusses the history, development and current practice of popular music in cities, districts, cross-border regions, nation states and diasporic communities around the world. Includes coverage of: "The historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic and cultural context Genres for which the location is known or which have been important to the development and current practice of its popular music. Significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars. The role of the industry: music publishers, record companies/labels, recording studios, radio and TV. "The role of the state and government regulatory bodies. The teaching and research of popular music in educational institutions. Songs associated with the location. Notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, technological innovators, record company heads, journalists, critics and scholars, songwriters, composers and lyricists. 250 leading popular music scholars and practitioners have contributed over 500 entries. They include Rafael Jose de Menezes Bastos on Brazil, Peter Manuel on India and the Caribbean Islands, John Collins on Ghana, Moya Aliya Malamusi on Malawi, Tōru Mitsui on Japan, Motti Regev on Israel, Martin Stokes on Turkey, Richard Peterson on Nashville, Amy Kuuleialoha Stillman on Hawaii, Bruce Johnson on Australia, Paolo Prato on Italy, Svanibor Pettan on Croatia and Alf Bjornberg on Sweden."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Volume V Asia and Oceania

Originally published in 1985, One Chord Wonders was the first full-length study of the glory years of British punk rock. The book argues that one of punk’s most significant political achievements was to expose the operations of power in the British entertainment industries as they were thrown into confusion by the sound and the fury of musicians and fans. Through a detailed examination of the conditions under which punk emerged and then declined, Dave Laing develops a view of the music as both complex and contradictory. Special attention is paid to the relationship between punk and the music industry of the late 1970s, in particular the political economy of the independent record companies through which much of punk was distributed. The rise of punk is also linked to the febrile political atmosphere of Britain in the mid-1970s. Using examples from a wide range of bands, individual chapters use the techniques of semiology to consider the radical approach to naming in punk (from Johnny Rotten to Poly Styrene), the instrumental and vocal sound of the music, and its visual images. Another section analyses the influence of British punk in Europe prior to the music’s division into “real punk” and “post-punk” genres. The concluding chapter critically examines various theoretical explanations of the punk phenomenon, including the class origins of its protagonists and the influential view that punk represented the latest in a line of British youth “subcultures.” There is also a chronology of the punk era, plus discographies and a bibliography.

Lee Marshall

Simon Frith has been one of the most important figures in the emergence and subsequent development of popular music studies. From his earliest academic publication, The Sociology of Rock (1978), through to his recent work on the live music industry in the UK, in his desire to ’take popular music seriously’ he has probably been cited more than any other author in the field. Uniquely, he has combined this work with a lengthy career as a music critic for leading publications on both sides of the Atlantic. The contributions to this volume of essays and memoirs seek to honour Frith’s achievements, but they are not merely ’about Frith’. Rather, they are important interventions by leading scholars in the field, including Robert Christgau, Antoine Hennion, Peter J. Martin and Philip Tagg. The focus on ’sociology and industry’ and ’aesthetics and values’ reflect major themes in Frith’s own work, which can also be found within popular music studies more generally. As such the volume will become an essential resource for those working in popular music studies, as well as in musicology, sociology and cultural and media studies.

Essays in Honour of Simon Frith

Popular Music Matters

Paul Oliver

Peter Wicke

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music Volume 1 provides an overview of media, industry, and technology and its relationship to popular music. In 500 entries by 130 contributors from around the world, the volume explores the topic in two parts: Part I: Social and Cultural Dimensions, covers the social phenomena of relevance to the practice of popular music and 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.

Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Part 1 Performance and Production

Richard Osborne

The music industries are fuelled by statistics: sales targets, breakeven points, success ratios, royalty splits, website hits, ticket revenues, listener figures, piracy abuses and big data. Statistics are of consequence. They influence the music that consumers get to hear, they determine the revenues of music makers, and they shape the policies of governments and legislators. Yet many of these statistics are generated by the music industries themselves, and their accuracy can be questioned. This original new book sets out to explore this shadowy terrain. While there are books that offer guidelines about how the music industries work, as well as critiques from academics about the policies of music companies, this is the first book that takes a sustained look at these subjects from a statistical angle. This is particularly significant as statistics have not just been used to explain the music industries, they are also essential to the ways that the industries work: they drive signing policy, contractual policy, copyright policy, economic policy and understandings of consumer behaviour. This edited collection provides the first in-depth examination of the use and abuse of statistics in the music industries. The international group of contributors are noted music business scholars and practitioners in the field. The book addresses five key areas in which numbers are employed: sales and awards; royalties and distribution; music piracy; music policy; and audiences and their uses of music. The authors address these subjects from a range of perspectives. Some of them test the veracity of this data and explore its tactical use by music businesses. Others are helping to generate these numbers: they are developing surveys and online projects and offer candid self-observations in this volume. There are also authors who have been subject to statistics; they deliver first-hand accounts of music industry reporting. The digital age is inherently numerical. Within the music industries this has prompted new ways of tracking the usage and recompense of music. In addition, it has generated new means of monitoring and engaging audience behaviour. It has also led to increased documentation of the trade. There is more reporting of the overall revenues of music industry sectors. There is also more engagement between industry and academia when it comes to conducting analyses and offering numerical recommendations to politicians. The aim of this collection is to expose the culture and politics of data. Music industry statistics are all-pervasive, yet because of this ubiquity they have been under-explored. This book provides new ways by which to learn music by numbers. A timely examination of how data and statistics are key to the music industries. Widely held industry assumptions are challenged with data from a variety of sources and in an engaging, lucid manner. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in how the music business uses and manipulates the data that digital technologies have made available. Primary readership will be among popular music academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students working in the fields of popular music studies, music business, media studies, cultural studies, sociology and creative industries. The book will also be of interest to people working within the music industries and to those whose work encounters industry statistics.

The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industries

Music by Numbers

Il punk

Phil Hardy

Describes and assesses the styles, composers, and musicians of contemporary music

The Da Capo Companion To 20th-century Popular Music

Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Part 1 Media, Industry, Society

The Story of Folk Into Rock

The Electric Muse

"EPMOW lives music. Put another way, it does for popular music what Grove has done for classical" David Brackett ‘Excellent, readable and thoroughly useful...While some previous single-volume and multivolume works have addressed the development and current state of popular music, none has done so with this work's depth of scholarship and global reach. Scholarly, clearly written, and well indexed, it is an ideal reference set.' Library Journal Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World's five-volume work ‘Locations' is the most authoritative reference work on the history and current practice of popular music ever published. The five volumes on ‘Locations' that form Part 2 of this multi-volume work follow on from the two volumes of Part 1: Media, Industry and Society (Volume I) and Performance and Production (Volume II) . They cover over 200 nation states and are organized according to continental regions: Volume III: Caribbean and Latin America Volume IV: North America Volume V: Asia and Oceania Volume VI: Africa and the Middle East Volume VII: Europe Each discusses the history, development and current practice of popular music in cities, districts, cross-border regions, nation states and diasporic communities around the world. Includes coverage of:- The historical, geographical, demographical, political, economic and cultural context- Genres for which the location is known or which have been important to the development and current practice of its popular music- Significant venues such as theatres, dance halls, clubs and bars- The role of the industry: music publishers, record companies/labels, recording studios, radio and TV- The role of the state and government regulatory bodies- The teaching and research of popular music in educational institutions- Songs associated with the location- Notable performers and other practitioners such as producers, engineers, technological innovators, record company heads, journalists, critics and scholars, songwriters, composers and lyricists. 250 leading popular music scholars and practitioners have contributed over 500 entries. They include Rafael José de Menezes Bastos on Brazil, Peter Manuel on India and the Caribbean Islands, John Collins on Ghana, Moya Aliya Malamusi on Malawi, Tôru Mitsui on Japan, Motti Regev on Israel, Martin Stokes on Turkey, Richard Peterson on Nashville, Amy Ku'uleialoha Stillman on Hawai'I, Bruce Johnson on Australia, Paolo Prato on Italy, Svanibor Pettan on Croatia and Alf Björnberg on Sweden. For more information please visit: www.continuumpopmusic.com

Dave Laing

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