Sounds, Screens, Speakers: An Introduction to Music and Media

Sounds, Screens, Speakers provides a broadly comprehensive survey of the emerging field of music and media. Music has been present at the advent of nearly every new media form since the turn of the 20th century. Whether we look at the start of sound recording, film, television or the Internet, music has been a crucial participant in the social changes brought about by these new tools for making and listening to music. This book examines such changes starting in the late 19th century to the present. From the introduction of the microphone all the way through to music in reality television, the purpose of each section is not simply to move chronologically towards the present, but to focus especially on the tangible social relationships created through specific forms of mediation. With readings at the end of most chapters, key questions to facilitate additional discovery and research, and direction to additional readings and resources on popular websites and news sources, this text serves as the ideal introduction to popular music and media.

Table of Contents:
Overview: All Media Are Social Media: Concepts, Materials, Methods Key Reading: "From Music Publishing to MP3: Music and Industry in the 20th Century" Reebee Garofalo Part 1: The Early Recording Industry, 1875 to 1940. Key Reading: A collection of gramophone and phonograph ads from the early 20th century. 1. Mediated Music, Fidelity, and Social Anxiety Focus: Selling the Phonograph 2. Sound Recordings and Radio in the 'Jazz Age' Focus: The Devil's Music 3. ‘Microphone Singing’ and the Short Musical Film Focus: Crooners and ‘Real’ Singers 4. The Global Gramophone Focus: The Recorded Music of the ‘Black Atlantic’ Part 2: Bigger, Better, Louder, Longer, 1930 to 1970. Key Reading: Introduction to Rock ‘N’ Film David James 5. The Triumph of the Film Musical Focus: Two Films with Frank Sinatra 6. The ‘Youth’ Movie and the 45 Focus: Marlon, Jimmy, and Elvis on Film Key Reading: Chasing Sound: The Culture and Technology of Recording Studios in Postwar America Susan Horning 7. FM Radio and the Long Playing Record Focus: Freeform Radio 8. Magnetic Tape and the Recording Studio Focus: The Producer: Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records Part 3: New Forms of Media, New Kinds of Fame, 1960 to 2000 Key Reading: Music, Image, Labor: Television’s Prehistory Murray Forman 9. Music on Television in the 1960s and 70s Focus: “Our World” and “Elvis” 10. MTV and the Evolution of the Short Musical Film Focus: From Playing Music Videos to Branding Musical Fame 11. The Popular Music Documentary Focus: “Don’t Look Back” and the ‘Great Art’ of Bob Dylan 12. Rock Film at the End of the 20th Century Focus: “Meeting People Is Easy” and the ‘Great Art’ of Radiohead Part Four: Clouds, Crowds, and Idols, 1980 to 2015 Key Reading: The Heavenly Jukebox Charles Mann 13. New Ways to Connect Focus: The Invention and Spread of the MP3 14. The Catastrophe of Napster, the Opportunities of Digital Focus: Napster v. The Music Industry 15. Music-Based Reality TV Focus: The Idol Journey 16. Streaming, Clouds, and the Dematerialization of Music Focus: Curating Music in the Playlist Economy Index

About the Author :
Charles Fairchild is Associate Professor of Popular Music at the University of Sydney, Australia, and the author of Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album (Bloomsbury, 2014), Music, Radio and the Public Sphere (2012) and Pop Idols and Pirates (2008).

Review :
Sounds, Screens, Speakers makes a deeply important contribution to the field of musical media studies. At once erudite and approachable, it brings the fundamental story of 20th- and 21st-century music to light brilliantly. Sounds, Screens, Speakers shows how music, moving media, and their changing technologies shape who we are. Its fluid, concise descriptions and provocative questions, alongside creative case studies and rich resources, make for engaging reading. Deftly handling a kaleidoscope of material, this book captures the major trends, the contributions of long-marginalized groups, and yet-untold stories. In surprising ways, this book tells us something new about America.