Researching popular music started off in Germany with comparable problems and a lack of institutional and general academic appreciation as it did in the rest of the world. But, since music itself is now being considered a complex economic, aesthetic and cultural system and practice, a variety of disciplines have engaged in the field of popular music studies over the past few decades. In this book, native popular musicologists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland focus on their own popular music in the widest sense (from subcultural to mainstream phenomena, from the 1950s to contemporary acts) for the first time.
Starting with an introduction and two chapters on the histories of German popular music and its study, the volume then concentrates on focused, detailed and yet concise close readings from different perspectives (including particular historical East and West German perspectives), mostly focusing on the music and its protagonists. Moreover, these analyses deal with very original specific genres such as Schlager and Krautrock as well as transcultural genres such as Punk or HipHop. There are additional chapters on characteristically German developments, such as music media, journalism, and economical or music industry aspects. The book will contribute to a better understanding of German, Austrian and Swiss popular music, and will interconnect international and especially Anglo-American studies with German approaches. The book, as a consequence, will show close connections between international and national popular music and diverse traditions of study.
