The power of music to influence mood, create scenes, routines and occasions is widely recognised and this is reflected in a strand of social theory from Plato to Adorno that portrays music as an influence on character, social structure and action. There have, however, been few attempts to specify this power empirically and to provide theoretically grounded accounts of music's structuring properties in everyday experience. Music in Everyday Life uses a series of ethnographic studies - an aerobics class, karaoke evenings, music therapy sessions and the use of background music in the retail sector - as well as in-depth interviews to show how music is a constitutive feature of human agency. Drawing together concepts from psychology, sociology and socio-linguistics it develops a theory of music's active role in the construction of personal and social life and highlights the aesthetic dimension of social order and organisation in late modern societies.

蒂娅·德诺拉（TLA DENORA），现为埃克塞特大学高级讲师。曾于1994年荣获国际社会学学会颁发的“青年社会学家”奖：著有《贝多芬与天才的构建》Beelouoaid the Consrtction g Cens，1o05）一书，并发表了大量期刊文章。