ABSTRACT
In order to be consumed in its various forms, popular music must be brought to the attention of those who listen to the radio, go to the clubs and concerts, and purchase its recorded products. Radio has served a crucial publicising role here, and continues to do so; 'live' exposure has been historically important, though it arguably became less so as MTV and television video programmes became key players during the 1980s. The role of each of these in creating musical constituencies and meanings is examined elsewhere here (see Chapters 3 and 10). Then there is the music press, which plays a major part in the process of selling music as an economic commodity, while at the same time investing it with cultural significance. In one of the few extended critical discussions of the music press, Frith correctly argues for its central role in 'Making Meaning': 'the importance of the professional rock fans - the rock writers', and the music papers, whose readers 'act as the opinion leaders, the rock interpreters," the ideological gatekeepers for everyone else' (Frith 1983: 165).
