Basic Music Reference is a quick-start guide designed to introduce library employees to the basic tools and techniques involved in answering questions related to music. As in every specialist subject area, music has its own terminology, but unlike most, it also has a multitude of formats—on paper and other materials—as well as special notation and frequent use of foreign languages in titles and texts. These features make it particularly difficult for library employees to answer users’ questions and thus a guide such as this one is essential. Not all libraries with a music collection can afford to hire a music reference librarian. Even libraries with such a specialist rely on support staff and student employees to answer questions when the music librarian is not available. Whatever the scenario, this volume will serve as a helpful training tool for library employees to learn about the basic music reference tools, and to develop the techniques of greatest use when answering the most common types of music-related questions

This book explores how the immediate experience of musical sound relates to processes of meaning construction and discursive mediation. A unique multi-authored work that both draws on and contributes to current debates in ethnomusicology, musicology, psychology, and cognitive science, it presents a novel and productive view of how cultural practice relates to the experience and meaning of musical performance.

Songs from Sweden shows how Swedish songwriters and producers are the creative forces behind much of today’s international pop music. As Ola Johansson reveals, the roots of this “music miracle” can be found in Sweden’s culture, economy, and thriving music industry, concentrated in Stockholm. While Swedish writer-producers developed early global recognition for making commercially successful pop music, new Swedish writer-producers have continuously emerged during the last two decades. Global artists travel to Stockholm to negotiate, record, and co-write songs. At the same time, Swedish writer-producers are part of a global collaborative network that spans the world. In addition to concrete commercial accomplishments, the Swedish success is also a result of the acquisition of reputational capital gained through positive associations that the global music industry holds about Swedish music. Ultimately, pop songs from Sweden exhibit a form of cultural hybridity, drawing from both local and global cultural expressions.