Music and media mused in new book

'Media and Popular Music' is Dr Mills's second book, following on from the success of his 2010 book, 'Hymns to the Silence: Inside the Words and Music of Van Morrison'.

'Media and Popular Music' explores the cross-over between pop music and the media, including chapters on print journalism, radio, television, advertising, new media and independent labels. Each chapter's historical setting is followed by an in-depth interview with a notable practitioner including Mark Cooper, producer of Later with Jools Holland and CEO of Music Entertainment at the BBC; Ben Watt, half of Everything But The Girl and owner of independent label Buzzin' Fly, the famous Rusby family behind the career of Kate Rusby, and BBC Radio Leeds's James Addyman.

Through these interviews, theory and practice are measured against each other and the book uses their experiences and observations to explore the ways that popular music is produced, marketed and mediated.

Dr Mills commented: "This is a very readable book primarily, but not exclusively, for students, containing a unique balance of theoretical and historical material alongside original, extended and candid interviews with successful people working in the music marketplace. This sets it apart from other text books whilst containing easy-to-use references to other useful books for students."

The book forms part of the Edinburgh University Press's Media topics series which also includes Media Ethics and Social Change and Media and Memory.