'Intimacy' is one of those terms in popular music scholarship that is used in a dizzying number of contexts, and sometimes deployed in ways that seem downright head-scratching (can a stadium tour really be “intimate?”). Yet the importance of the intimate quality of various musical phenomenon, from studio recordings to live concerts to streaming video, cannot be denied. In Musical Intimacy, Stiegler and Campbell shine much-needed light on this ubiquitous but elusive concept, showing how perceptions of intimacy structure many of our most visceral sonic experiences.

Nathaniel Sloan, Assistant Professor of Musicology, University of Southern California, USA, and host of the podcast Switched on Pop

Many of us love popular music because of the intimate relationships conjured in listeners by artists and recordings. But musical intimacy usually falls into the definitional category of 'we know it when we experience it.' Not anymore! In this definitive volume, Stiegler and Campbell clearly elucidate how musical intimacy is defined, constructed in the spaces of popular music, and importantly, in the minds and emotions of listeners. This book should be on the shelf of every popular music scholar.

Norma Coates, Associate Professor, Don Wright Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada

Stiegler and Campbell's book provides a nuanced, panoramic study of media and culture that pays close attention to production processes, sites of reception, and cultural texts that audiences consume-all through the frame of what they refer to as 'musical intimacy.' By analyzing and unpacking several nodes within the circuit of production, this book serves as a valuable resource for students and scholars of communication, media, cultural studies, popular music, and other related subfields. Engaging and rigorous, Musical Intimacy offers insights and analytical tools for a wide range of readers.

Kembrew McLeod, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa, USA