Pop music and rock music are often treated as separate genres but the distinction has always been blurred. Motti Regev argues that pop-rock is best understood as a single musical form defined by the use of electric and electronic instruments, amplification and related techniques. The history of pop-rock extends from the emergence of rock'n'roll in the 1950s to a variety of contemporary fashions and trends - rock, punk, soul, funk, techno, hip hop, indie, metal, pop and many more.

This book offers a highly original account of the emergence of pop-rock music as a global phenomenon in which Anglo-American and many other national and ethnic variants interact in complex ways. Pop-rock is analysed as a prime instance of 'aesthetic cosmopolitanism' - that is, the gradual formation, in late modernity, of world culture as a single interconnected entity in which different social groupings around the world increasingly share common ground in their aesthetic perceptions, expressive forms and cultural practices.

Drawing on a wide array of examples, this path-breaking book will be of great interest to students and scholars in cultural sociology, media and cultural studies as well as the study of popular music.

About the Author
Motti Regev is professor of sociology at The Open University of Israel where he works on the sociology of culture and art and popular music studies.

Reviews

"Spirited, thought-provoking and replete with original perspectives that use music as a prism for understanding cultural politics and cross-border impact on traditional art forms."
The Hindu

"A very fine piece of work, which makes an original contribution both to our understanding of popular music and to our understanding of the global cultural order. It provides a new perspective on how sounds are produced, circulated and experienced."
John Street, University of East Anglia

"In this highly original book, Professor Regev considers how exploring pop-rock both taps and enriches sociological theory. Regev s study is both empirically nuanced and theoretically sophisticated. It illuminates music as a fundamental and dynamic material of social life. As Regev shows, pop-rock s emergence is nothing less than the re-figuration of world culture."
Tia DeNora, Exeter University

"Motti Regev expertly provides a much needed take on pop-rock, the field(s) in which it is produced and enjoyed, and its global diffusion. He uses the case of pop-rock to cast empirical light on aesthetic cosmopolitanism and artistic legitimation. The result is a book that is highly informative and refreshingly engaging."
Professor Timothy Dowd, Emory University

"This is an exceedingly important book. It really does move the fields of music and sociology on by showing how the figurative musical world we live in today is literally a musical world."
Journal of World Popular Music

Book Information
ISBN 9780745661735
Author Motti Regev
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 354g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 17mm