Music Sociology

Whose Music? combines historical, musicological, and sociological materials and styles of analysis in ways that connect to the field of sociology. The analyses of social class systems presented here speak in translatable ways to analyses of musical forms. Not only that, both are connected to an understanding of the organizations through which works are distributed to their audiences. Perhaps most importantly for the contemporary reader, this book depicts the part of the process by which dominant class groups justify their domination--cultural and otherwise.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Music sociology occupies a special position in the social and cultural sciences. The terminology alone – in German it is ‘Musiksoziologie’ and not ‘Soziologie der Musik’ – indicates many possible approaches: Is ‘music sociology’ a subdiscipline within sociology or musicology? Or is it a discipline on its own, espousing significant differences from sociology and musicology alike? On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the Department of Music Sociology at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna – probably the only one in the world to bear the name as a separate department – decided to clarify the state of music sociology. Some of the world’s most prominent representatives of the discipline were invited to participate in this project and present their own viewpoints on the various approaches to music sociology. Their contributions address the particular research objects of music sociology (institutions of musical life; production, distribution and consumption of music; music-making; ‘works’, genres and repertoires; etc.) as well as the different methods of research (stock-taking, surveys, interviews, music analysis, biographical research, etc.).

Music Sociology critically evaluates current approaches to the study of music in sociology and presents a broad overview of how music is positioned and represented in existing sociological scholarship. It then goes on to offer a new framework for approaching the sociology of music, taking music itself as a starting point, and considering what music sociology can learn from related disciplines such as critical musicology, ethnomusicology, and cultural studies. As a central form of leisure, consumption, and cultural production, music has attracted significant attention from sociologists who seek to understand its deeper socio-cultural meaning. With case studies that address sound environments, consumption, media technologies, local scenes, music heritage, and ageing, the authors highlight the distinctive nature of musical experience, and show how sociology can illuminate it. Providing both a survey of existing perspectives the sociology of music, and a thought-provoking discussion of how the field can move forward, this concise and accessible book will be a vital reading for anyone teaching or studying music from a sociological standpoint.

Sociology for Music Teachers: Practical Applications, Second Edition, outlines the basic concepts relevant to understanding music teaching and learning from a sociological perspective. It demonstrates the relationship of music to education, schooling and society, and examines the consequences for making instructional choices in teaching methods and repertoire selection. The authors look at major theories, and concepts relevant to music education, texts in the sociology of music, and thoughts of selected ethnomusicologists and sociologists. The new edition takes a more global approach than was the case in the first edition and includes the application of sociological theory to contexts beyond the classroom. The Second Edition: Presents major theories in ethnomusicology, both traditional and contemporary. Takes a global approach by presenting a variety of teaching practices beyond those found in the United States. Emphasizes music education in a traditional classroom setting, but also applies specific constructs to studio teaching situations in conservatories (with private lessons) and community music. Provides recommendations for teaching practices by addressing popular music in school music curricula, suggests inclusionary projects that explore musical styles and repertoire of the past and present, and connects school to community music practices of varying kinds. Contains an increased number of suggestions for projects and discussions among the students using the book.

The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music offers the first collection of source readings and new essays on the latest thinking in the sociology of music. Interest in music sociology has increased dramatically over the past decade, yet there is no anthology of essential and introductory readings. The volume includes a comprehensive survey of the field’s history, current state and future research directions. It offers six source readings, thirteen popular contemporary essays, and sixteen fresh, new contributions, along with an extended Introduction by the editors. The Routledge Reader on the Sociology of Music represents a broad reference work that will be a resource for the current generation of sociologically inclined musicologists and musically inclined sociologists, whether researchers, teachers or students.

The subject of this study has two distinct but not unrelated aspects: first, an investigation into the sociology of music as an autonomous and specialized discipline; and second, an examination of certain fundamental facts that may be considered within the purview of the sociology of music itself. If an analysis and study even a preliminary one of these facts is to be properly focused and fruitful, we must first try to determine the subject and methods of the sociology of music, its position and boundaries in respect to musicology, and, most especially, its relation to the aesthetics of music and music history. It is equally indispensable to ascertain what the sociology of music as a separate scholarly discipline embraces, where its investigation leads, and, finally, to establish its position vis-a-vis sociology in general. (From the Author's Introduction.)

Music is an accumulation of mediators: instruments, languages, sheets, performers, scenes, media and so on. Learning from music - this art of infinite mediations - allows us to confront sociology with a different way of considering objects. For this task, Hennion draws on aesthetics, art history, science, technology and popular music studies. He shows us that music is a collective process, which must always be performed again and again. As part of that project, he presents a wide-ranging series of case studies, restoring attention to the rich and varied intermediaries through which music is brought to life. This is the first English translation of one of the most important works of French scholarship on music and society.