Heritage Media and ‘Classic’ Re-presentation

Abstract

This chapter examines the significance and contribution of media to the representation of popular music as heritage. The chapter begins by examining the importance of documentaries, from those focusing on different eras of popular music to more niche documentaries that focus on particular artists and their work. This is followed by consideration of the role of film, including films that depict contemporaneously pivotal events in the evolution of contemporary popular music that have since become historical timepieces. Attention then turns to print media, including classic rock and pop magazines. Finally, the vogue for rock and pop (auto)biographies is explored, these offering space for more detailed accounts that often fill in details missing from other forms of heritage media due to editing considerations and budget restrictions.