Music is so ubiquitous that it can be easy to overlook the powerful influence it exerts in so many areas of our lives - from birth, through childhood, to old age. The Social and Applied Psychology of Music is the successor to the bestselling and influential Social Psychology of Music. It considers the value of music in everyday life, answering some of the perennial questions about music.
The book begins with a scene-setting chapter that describes the academic background to the book, before looking at composition and musicianship. It then goes on to look at musical preference. What...