Performing Rites

Although essentially a study of popular music, Performing Rites has two broader concerns: first, to contribute to the long-running debate about the value (and meaning) of mass culture and, in this respect, its argument is not confined to music; second, to contribute to the even longer running debate about the value (and meaning) of music and, in this respect, its arguments are not confined to pop. The overall purpose is to show why studies of popular culture must take aesthetic issues seriously, but in developing this argument with respect to music as a commodity, Frith attempts to challenge some of the more deeply held assumptions of art music analysis.