Guides: Music: Popular music

Popular music

Rock's Backpages This link opens in a new window
Music journalism database, with an emphasis on UK and US artists. Includes some NZ sources.
Use: when looking for interviews, profiles, reviews.
Search: keywords - an artist name or an event (eg Chris Knox, Band Aid) rather than concepts or genres.

Journal of World Popular Music
Scholarly journal, articles on issues and trends in international popular musics (also known as world music or global pop).
Use: when looking for peer-reviewed articles on popular musics from around the world
Search: keywords - a topic, issue or artist. Search box is in the top right of the home page.
Popular music (Cambridge University Press)
Scholarly journal, wide range of topics and concepts from a variety of theoretical perspectives
Use: for analysis of popular music issues within theoretical frameworks.
Search: keywords, then filter results by using the options in the left-hand menu (eg. date range, article type).
Perfect Beat
Scholarly journal on popular and indigenous music of the 'Pacific rim' ie. the nations in and around the Pacific Ocean.
Use: for peer-reviewed articles on popular music issues from Pasifika, NZ, Australian or East Asian contexts. Also includes interviews with artists from these regions.
Search: keywords. The search engine searches across all issues from 1992.
Rolling Stone
US popular music magazine. Not a scholarly journal but well-recognised in the popular music industry.
Use: when researching major popular musicians, or political events and their impact on music.
Search: keywords, using the "Search within this publication" link.

RIPM Preservation Series: European & North American Music Periodicals This link opens in a new window
100 rare, full-text, music journals dating from the mid-18th through the 19th century. Content published in 16 different languages.