Reading Pop

'There is a typically perspicacious new introductory chapter from Middleton, which helpfully gives a summary of the entire terrain of popular music studies for the newcomer… this collection is invaluable in that it gives a 'greatest hits' selection from a journal which some undergraduates may not have access… In the main, the writing in this collection is admirable and the concerns refreshingly pluralistic.' - Years Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 'Extensive introduction is particularly valuable… the paperback price is worth it for the introduction, and the Bjornberg and Tagg essays, alone.' - Allan More, British Journal of Music Education Reading Pop collects together key essays on the interpretation of pop songs previously published in the journal Popular Music . In sixteen varied studies by many of the best-known scholars, all the most influential approaches are represented. A newly written introduction by leading pop academic Richard Middleton puts them into context and outlines the main debates. A select bibliography of other writings on pop music analysis adds to the usefulness of the book, which will become a central text in popular music studies.