The playback of recordings is the primary means of experiencing music in contemporary society, and in recent years 'classical' musicologists and popular music theorists have begun to examine the ways in which the production of recordings affects not just the sound of the final product but also musical aesthetics more generally. Record production can, indeed, be treated as part of the creative process of composition. At the same time, training in the use of these forms of technology has moved from an apprentice-based system into university education. Musical education and music research are thus intersecting to produce a new academic field: the history and analysis of the production of recorded music. This book is designed as a general introductory reader, a text book for undergraduate degree courses studying the creative processes involved in the production of recorded music. The aim is to introduce students to the variety of approaches and methodologies that are currently being employed by scholars in this field. The book is divided into three sections covering historical approaches, theoretical approaches and case studies and practice. There are also three interludes of commentary on the academic contributions from leading record producers and other industry professionals. This collection gives students and scholars a broad overview of the way in which academics from the analytical and practice-based areas of the university system can be brought together with industry professionals to explore the ways in which this new academic field should progress.
About the Author:

Simon Zagorski-Thomas is Professor at the London College of Music (University of West London) and is ex-chairman and co-founder of the Association for the Study of the Art of Record Production.

Katia Isakoff is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist music producer, with album releases through Mute Records, EMI, BMG, Universal, Metamatic, and Altersonic Sound (a co-owned label and studio: altersonicsound.com).

Sophie Stévance is Canada Chair Research in research-creation in music. She is professor in musicology at the Faculty of Music, University Laval, Quebec City (Canada), head of Observatoire interdisciplinaire de création et de recherche en musique (OICRM-ULaval), Laboratoire de recherche-création en musique et multimedia (LARCEM) and Groupe de recherche-création en musique (grecem.oicrm.org).

Serge Lacasse is professor of musicology, specializing in popular music, at the Faculty of Music, Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada. He heads the Laboratoire audionumérique de recherche et de création (larc.oicrm.org).