Making Value

“Providing the first systematic account of music from the perspective of a theorization of value, Timothy D. Taylor draws on a deep knowledge of North American music industries, world musics, and independent music scenes to show how value accrues to musical commodities as they move among complex scenes of exchange. By centering a theorization of value, Making Value’s contribution lies in its offering of an alternative to critical thinking about music in contemporary capitalism, deriving from studies of the culture industries and Adornian critique.” - Martin Stokes, King Edward Professor of Music, King’s College London

“Examining how the capitalist processes of valorization, commodification, and accumulation interact with the social and cultural practices that produce and profit from musical performances and recordings, Making Value will prove enlightening to academics and students working across ethnomusicology and popular music studies as well as cultural, media, and communication studies. Its erudition, succinct chapters, discrete case studies, and familiar theoretical reference points make this important book highly teachable in the classroom.” - Jeremy Gilbert, Professor of Cultural and Political Theory, University of East London

"By focusing on questions of 'how' rather than 'why' as they apply to the production of meaning, Taylor showcases the dynamic elements of the social processes that impact cultural inquiry. Excerpts on music management and trendspotting will serve as interesting enrichment texts for interdisciplinary courses in commercial music and music business. Scholars engaged in fieldwork will find much inspiration in Taylor’s emphasis on descriptive models of scholarly exploration and may use the text to further discussions on the contemporary musicological canon." - Maria Souliotis, Notes

"Taylor ’s book and its focus on the action-based valuation of cultural goods and practices pro-vides a captivating picture of how the business of music operates. Scholars, lay readers, and aspiring artists can find much to enjoy in this book. . . . The book is highly recommended for scholars, as well as anyone interested in the ways in which values are ascribed to cultural practices, whether in arts, sports, fashion, or other cultural fields." - Nina Öhman, American Studies in Scandinavia