Books by Simon Frith

The key theme of these books is the changing nature of the live music industry in the UK, focussed upon popular music but including all musical genres. The third volume covers the period from Live Aid to Live Nation (1985-2015).

As a sociologist Simon Frith takes the starting point that music is the result of the play of social forces, whether as an idea, an experience or an activity. This book addresses these forces, recognising that music is an effect of a continuous process of negotiation, dispute, and agreement between the individual actors who make up a music world.

To date there has been a significant gap in existing knowledge about the social history of music in Britain from 1950 to the present day. The three volumes of The History of Live Music in Britain address this gap and do so from the unique perspective of the music promoter. The books offer new insights into a variety of issues.

The first comprehensive survey of critical approaches to pop music. The diversity of the essays covers sociological, feminist, semiotic and musicological points of view.