Original essays by leading scholars in the field of popular music studies map the competing perspectives on the key terms of contemporary debates on popular music and culture. Each essay describes the history of continuities and conflicts in a term's meaning, situating the writer's own position on the term in that history of debate.

Providing a invaluable overview of the current state of popular music discourse, the collection will be useful both to those new to the study of popular music and those already well-versed in popular music and cultural studies.