Dark Side of the Tune: Popular Music and Violence

This book focuses on the 'dark side' of popular music by examining the ways in which popular music has been deployed in association with violence. Cloonan and Johnson address the physiological and cognitive foundations of sounding/hearing and provide a historical survey of examples of the nexus between music and violence, from (pre)Biblical times to the late nineteenth century. The book also concentrates on the emergence of technologies by which music can be electronically augmented, generated, and disseminated. The authors investigate the implications of this nexus both for popular music studies itself, and also in cultural policy and regulation, the ethics of citizenship, and arguments about human rights.

Author: Bruce Johnson, Martin Cloonan
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 12/28/2008
Pages: 254
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780754658726

Review Citation(s):
Choice 06/01/2009
Reference and Research Bk News 05/01/2009 pg. 225

About the Author
Bruce Johnson is Docent and Visiting Professor, Cultural History, University of Turku (Finland); Adjunct Professor, Contemporary Music Studies, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia); Honorary Professor, Department of Music, University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK). Martin Cloonan is Convener of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Music, University of Glasgow (Scotland, UK).