Sociology of Music: History, Theory, Methodology and Practice

The textbook provides students with insight into and overview of the basics of social research on music. It addresses the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How of music research through four perspectives from the sociological study of music: a historical survey of the social study of music (when), theoretical points of view (what), and methodological (how), and pragmatic aspects (who, why & how). The other Ws (where and why) are included within the four main perspectives. The four perspectives - history, theory, methodology, and practice - are complementary. Some of the names included in the theory and practice of music are also listed as a part of the history of music sociology, and vice versa. In this way, the book encompasses what Howard S. Becker has conceptualized as an art world, Kurt Blaukopf as musical practice, and Christopher Small as musicking. Covering all the relevant details yet concise in structure, this book is ideal for students of the sociology of music, musical education, musicology and of arts and aethestics.

Leon Stefanija (1970, Ljubljana) is Professor of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. He holds the Chair of Systematic Musicology, and between 2008 and 2012 also the Chair of Musicology. His main research interests and teaching areas are the epistemology of music research, the sociology of music and the history of contemporary, especially Slovenian music since 1918. He regularly collaborates with the Academy of Music in Zagreb, the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, the Karl Franzens University in Graz, the Academy of Music in Sarajevo and the Ballet School in Ljubljana. He was awarded the Presern Prize of the Faculty of Philosophy in Ljubljana (1995), recognition for teaching and/or research work in 2012 and Excellent in Science in 2018 for the book Sisyphusartig schön: Porträt des Komponisten (Vienna: Hollitzer Verlag, 2018).