ABSTRACT
I move from this general discussion to focus on the study of popular music. Academic analysis of popular music and its associated manifestations was initially slow to develop. During the 1970s and 1980s, even the increasingly popular field of media studies tended to concentrate its attention on the visual media, particularly television, and neglected popular music. There were notable exceptions, with the work of scholars such as Simon Frith, George Lipsitz, lain Chambers, Angela McRobbie, Richard Middleton, John Shepherd, Dave Laing, Lawrence Grossberg, and Nelson George. During the 1990s, there was a veritable flood of material, as well as a marked increase in the number of courses either directly on popular music, or on it as an aspect of popular culture and media studies. While 'established' popular music scholars continued to produce important new work (e.g. Frith 1996; Grossberg 1992;
Lipsitz 1994), they were joined by writers such as Andy Bennett, Marcus Breen, Mavis Bay ton, Sara Cohen, Reebee Garofalo, Phil Hayward, Steve Jones, Tony Mitchell, Keith Negus, Will Straw, and Deena Weinstein.
