In this carefully researched and insightful study, Hesmondhalgh examines the role of music in our lives, and how people forge connections with others through music. A variety of theories and approaches are brought together to provide a distinctive and valuable perspective on the general subject of music that builds on previous research from a variety of fields but also goes beyond them in instructive new ways.
Listen to David Hesmondhalgh discuss the arguments at the core of Why Music Matters with Laurie Taylor on BBC Radio 4 s Thinking Allowed here.
In what ways might music enrich the lives of people and of societies? What prevents it from doing so? Why Music Matters explores the role of music in our lives, and investigates the social and political significance of music in modern societies.
First book of its kind to explore music through a variety of theories and approaches and unite these theories using one authoritative voice
Combines a broad yet theoretically sophisticated approach to music and society with real clarity and accessibility
A historically and sociologically informed understanding of music in relation to questions of social power and inequality
By drawing on both popular and academic talk about a range of musical forms and practices, readers will engage with a wide musical terrain and a wealth of case studies
Listen to David Hesmondhalgh discuss the arguments at the core of Why Music Matters with Laurie Taylor on BBC Radio 4 s Thinking Allowed here.
In what ways might music enrich the lives of people and of societies? What prevents it from doing so? Why Music Matters explores the role of music in our lives, and investigates the social and political significance of music in modern societies.
First book of its kind to explore music through a variety of theories and approaches and unite these theories using one authoritative voice
Combines a broad yet theoretically sophisticated approach to music and society with real clarity and accessibility
A historically and sociologically informed understanding of music in relation to questions of social power and inequality
By drawing on both popular and academic talk about a range of musical forms and practices, readers will engage with a wide musical terrain and a wealth of case studies
"Most notably the book is ambivalent about much of the promises claimed by the advocates of music's transformative potential, but is never bleak, retaining a refreshing realism about the capacity of music to matter to people, publics and nations across the world." (New Books In Critical Theory, 19 June 2014)