SPRING-SUMMER '25 PICK
SUMMER-FALL '25 PICK
“From primitive to mainstream culture, the expansive world of music is uniquely explained in less than 300 pages…”
The Shortest History of Music: From Bone Flutes to Synthesizers, Hildegard of Bingen to Beyoncé… by Andrew Ford
Publisher Description: No art form is as widely discussed―or as readily available―as music. With the click of just a few buttons, modern humans can decide what they think of the brand-new Beyoncé just as quickly as they can form opinions on Brahms or the Beatles or Bob Dylan. But things weren’t always this way. In this brisk, breakneck history, award-winning musician and broadcaster Andrew Ford dives into the constant evolutions and reinventions that have led to the popularity and accessibility of modern music―from early oral songs, to the invention of a notation, to the first recording technology and record companies―all paving the way for the multibillion-dollar industry we know today.
How to present this to library customers: In a time of shrinking collections in favor of digital resources, books like these a great to have as a door opener to more research in other library materials. This book stands alone as a good sell for music novices and explorers.
Audience Key:
NOVICE:
A patron who does not know about the arts but is looking for new interests. These items are for public collections that call for you to introduce the arts to patrons and ignite their interests. They often know much more about popular culture than what’s happening in the arts.
EXPLORER:
These items are for customers who have some knowledge of the arts and want to learn more. Oftentimes these patrons stream music from your music streaming service, take out music and art biographies and they may attend music and art programming at your library.
AFICIONADO:
Ordering for aficionados requires knowledge about their habits when consuming the arts. These patrons are aware of the arts through museums, classical music, jazz and more. Oftentimes, these patrons attend music and art programming at your library, are professionals in the arts world with thorough knowledge of visual and/or performing arts.