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Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Reference and Humanities for 2019
From acid house to zydeco, and from Acapulco to Zanzibar, Bloomsbury Popular Music provides unrivalled scholarly coverage of modern popular music worldwide, covering the mid-20th century to the present day. It is an ideal resource for students and academics across disciplines including music, ethnomusicology, the performing arts, media and communication, cultural studies, anthropology and sociology.
The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, over 20 years in the making, is a landmark reference work in its field, edited by John Shepherd, David Horn and Dave Laing. When complete, it will comprise 14 volumes, with ongoing updates to volumes already published. Contributions are authored by top scholars and experts from around the world, and include extensive discographies and bibliographies.
Click here to browse the full reference set, or select 'About the Volumes' below for more information.
Part One (2003, edited by John Shepherd, David Horn, Dave Laing, Paul Oliver and Peter Wicke) includes in-depth scholarly articles on topics such as social phenomena, the industry, broadcasting, copyright, publishing, record labels and recording studios, performance techniques, instruments and musical form.
Part Two: Locations (2005), edited by John Shepherd, David Horn and Dave Laing, gives systematic geographic coverage of every continent. Each volume discusses the history, development and current practice of popular music in cities, districts, cross-border regions, nation states and diasporic communities within each region:
Part Three: Genres contain entries on the genres of music that have been or currently are popular in countries and communities all over the world, with discussions of their cultural, historical and geographic origins, and formal musical characteristics. These volumes are organised by geographic regions, as follows:
“Some serious knowledge and passion has gone into these books … Both a fan and a newcomer could pick one up, learn something new and be thoroughly entertained.” — Japan Times
33 1/3 is a series of short books about popular music, focusing on individual albums by artists ranging from James Brown to Neutral Milk Hotel. Each album covered in the series occupies a specific place in music history, so each book-length treatment takes an individualized approach. 33 1/3 is widely acclaimed by fans, musicians, and scholars alike.
The Global 33 1/3 Series takes the 33 1/3 format of short, album-based books, and brings the focus to music throughout the world. Current volumes explore Japanese and Brazilian music, and the popular music of Oceania, South Asia and Europe, with volumes on music from Africa and the Middle East coming soon.
Genre: A 33 1/3 Series guides the reader through musical sub-genres that have intrigued, perplexed, or provoked listeners. From vaporwave to death metal, trip-hop to dance punk, the series offers a host of new perspectives, song recommendations, little-known anecdotes, personal stories, and above all, ways of thinking about music.
Click here to see a full list of volumes, and listen to the new Spotify 33 1/3 Podcast for more discussion on the making of some of the incredible records included in this series.
The Bloomsbury Popular Music Studies list consists of an expanding range of scholarly books ranging from edited volumes to biographies to historical overviews, and that span genres, including rock, pop, hip hop, and punk. Titles include DIY Music and the Politics of Social Media by Ellis Jones, James Braxton Peterson’s Hip Hop Headphones, Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense by Ronen Givony and Felipe Trotta’s Annoying Music in Everyday Life.
Scholarly monographs and reference covering popular music around the world include An Anthology of Australian Albums, Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music, Musical Bows of Southern Africa and Popular Music in Japan. To find out more about popular music in a particular continent or country, use the world map search tool.
The growing Bloomsbury Handbook series provides a comprehensive overview and wide-ranging analysis of the key subjects and approaches in popular music. With contributions from leading international researchers, they give students and scholars a broad, detailed, and instructive overview of current research in the field. Titles include The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Production edited by Andrew Bourbon and Simon Zagorski-Thomas, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Video Analysis edited by Lori A. Burns and Stan Hawkins, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music and Social Class edited by Ian Peddie and The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rock Music Research edited by Allan Moore and Paul Carr.
Bloomsbury Popular Music also contains a wealth of exclusive and specially-commissioned research and learning tools which are designed with teachers, students, and researchers in mind.
