Music Education & Teaching, Music - Social and Political Aspects, Popular Music - General & Miscellaneous, Sociology - General & Miscellaneous, Music Theory & Composition - General & Miscellaneous, Aesthetics of Music, Gender Identity, Music Theory & Comp

Settling the Pop Score

Name: Settling the Pop Score
Author: Stan Hawkins
ISBN: 9780754603511

by Stan Hawkins

Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Overview

"The analysis of popular music forces us to rethink the assumptions that underpin our approaches to the study of Western music. Not least, it brings to the fore an idea that many musicologists still find uncomfortable - that commercial production and consumption can be aligned with artistic authenticity. Reading pop texts takes place through dialogue on many levels, which, as Stan Hawkins argues, deals with how musical events are shaped by personal alliances between the artist and the recipient." "The need for a critical approach to evaluating popular music lies at the heart of this book. Hawkins explores the relationships that exist between music, spectatorship and aesthetics through a series of case studies of pop artists from the 1980s and 1990s. Madonna, Morrissey, Annie Lennox, the Pet Shop Boys and Prince represent the diversity of cultures, identities and sexualities that characterised the start of the MTV boom." Through the interpretation of aspects of the compositional design and musical structures of songs by these pop artists, Hawkins suggests ways in which stylistic and technical elements of the music relate to identity formation and its political motivations. Settling the Pop Score examines the role of irony and empathy, the question of gender, race and sexuality, and the relevance of textual analysis to the study of popular music. Interpreting pop music within the framework of musicology, Hawkins helps us to understand the pleasure so many people derive from these songs.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Booknews

Hawkins (musicology, U. of Oslo) presents a critical approach to evaluating popular music by exploring the relationships that exist between the music, the audience, and aesthetics. Through his interpretation of aspects of compositional design and musical structures of songs by pop artists from the 1980s and 1990s, he examines the role of irony and empathy, the relevance of textual analysis to the study of popular music, and the questions of gender, race, and sexuality. Concentrating predominantly on artists within a British and North American context, he reveals how they have brought about change within western popular music during the past few decades. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)