This new edition of Popular Music and Society, fully revised and updated, continues to pioneer an approach to the study of popular music that is informed by wider debates in sociology and media and cultural studies. Astute and accessible, it continues to set the agenda for research and teaching in this area.
The textbook begins by examining the ways in which popular music is produced, before moving on to explore its structure as text and the ways in which audiences understand and use music. Packed with examples and data on the contemporary production and consumption of popular music, the book also includes overviews and critiques of theoretical approaches to this exciting area of study and outlines the most important empirical studies which have shaped the discipline.

Topics covered include:

· The contemporary organisation of the music industry;
· The effects of technological change on production;
· The history and politics of popular music;
· Gender, sexuality and ethnicity;
· Subcultures;
· Fans and music celebrities.
For this new edition, two whole new chapters have been added: on performance and the body, and on the very latest ways of thinking about audiences and the spaces and places of music consumption.

"Brian Longhurst provides a comprehensive view of contemporary popular music. He shows its role in shaping fan scenes and sub-cultures. He sees it as text to be read in the lyrics, but also through dance, the body and political context. And he exposes the commercial machine that determines which songs and genres do, and do not, get wide exposure. This work will be a prime resource for students and scholars alike for years to come." (Richard A. Peterson, Vanderbilt University)