Review of 'The Oxford companion to popular music' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Popular music here refers to popular formats, as opposed to art music or traditional music. It focuses on formats such as operetta, light music, film score, early jazz, pop dating before rock, and stage musical. The mainstream pop and rock entries of the contemporary era are less common, as they are not the book's focus. In addition to the biographical artist entries, there are informative entries on styles, instruments, shows, dances, industry figures, writers, and even historic clubs. Superb indices for artists, shows, films, albums, and songs. An excellent reference.