Towards an aesthetic of popular music

In this chapter, the author suggests a way in which we can use a sociology of popular music as the basis of an aesthetic theory, to move, that is, from a description of music&s;s social functions to an understanding of how we can and do value it. One of his working assumptions has been that people&s;s individual tastes – the ways they experience and describe music for themselves – are a necessary part of academic analysis. Individual tastes are, in fact, examples of collective taste and reflect consumers&s; gender, class and ethnic backgrounds; the &s;popularity&s; of popular music can then be taken as one measure of a balance of social power. The sociologist of contemporary popular music is faced with a body of songs, records, stars and styles which exists because of a series of decisions, made by both producers and consumers, about what is a successful sound.