Approaches to pop music

Approaches to Pop Music is designed to make teaching the different concepts, issues and aspects of popular music accessible and enjoyable, for both students and teachers.

It is not intended solely for the teaching of the music industry - each topic has been primarily for its relevance to key Media Studies concepts, and both contemporary and historical case studies are included which further illuminate the debates.

Author Cath Davies explores: Textual analysis and meaning - including the song and the voice, the music video and the life performance; Representation and meaning - including discussions of masculinity from Eminem to Robbie Williams, feminist and postfeminist representations and black cultural identity; Institutions - the industry, the charts, Reality TV music shows, the impact of the internet; Media effects - fandom, subcultures and moral panics.

Each section includes a set of student-based worksheets with accompanying stimulus material for use in the classroom which investigate these concepts.