Introduction

Fills in the Information Gap on Today's Musicians

Contemporary Musicians profiles the colorful personalities in the music industry who create or influence the music we hear today. Prior to Contemporary Musicians, no quality reference series provided comprehensive information on such a wide range of artists despite keen and ongoing public interest. To find biographical and critical coverage, an information seeker had little choice but to wade through the offerings of the popular press, scan television "infotainment" programs, and search for the occasional published biography. Contemporary Musicians is designed to serve that information seeker, providing in one ongoing source in-depth coverage of the important names on the modern music scene in a format that is both informative and entertaining. Students, researchers, and casual browsers alike can use Contemporary Musicians to meet their needs for personal information about music figures; find a selected discography of a musician's recordings; and uncover an insightful essay offering biographical and critical information.

Provides Broad Coverage

Single-volume biographical sources on musicians are limited in scope, often focusing on a handful of performers from a specific musical genre or era. In contrast, Contemporary Musicians offers researchers and music devotees a comprehensive, informative, and entertaining alternative. Contemporary Musicians is published six times per year, with each volume providing information on about 70 musical artists and record-industry luminaries from all the genres that form the broad spectrum of contemporary music—pop, rock, jazz, blues, country, New Age, folk, rhythm and blues, Latin, gospel, bluegrass, rap, and reggae, to name a few—as well as selected classical artists who have achieved "crossover" success with the general public. Contemporary Musicians will also occasionally include profiles of influential nonperforming members of the music community, including producers, promoters, and record company executives. Additionally, beginning with Contemporary Musicians 11, each volume features new profiles of a selection of previous Contemporary Musicians listees who remain of interest to today's readers and who have been active enough to require completely revised entries.

Includes Popular Features

In Contemporary Musicians you'll find popular features that users value:

Easy-to-locate data sections: Vital personal statistics, chronological career summaries, listings of major awards, and mailing addresses, when available, are prominently displayed in a clearly marked box on the second page of each entry.

Biographical/critical essays: Colorful and informative essays trace each subject's personal and professional life, offer representative examples of critical response to the artist's work, and provide entertaining personal sidelights.

Selected discographies: Each entry provides a comprehensive listing of the artist's major recorded works.

Photographs: Many entries include portraits of the subject profiled.

Sources for additional information: This invaluable feature directs the user to selected books, magazines, newspapers, and online sources where more information can be obtained.

Helpful Indexes Make It Easy to Find the Information You Need

Each volume of Contemporary Musicians features a cumulative Musicians Index, listing names of individual performers and musical groups, and a cumulative Subject Index, which provides the user with a break- down by primary musical instruments played and by musical genre.

Available in Electronic Formats

Licensing. Contemporary Musicians is available for licensing. The complete database is provided in a fielded format and is deliverable on such media as disk or CD-ROM. For more information, contact Thomson Gale's Business Development Group at (800) 877-GALE, or visit our website at www.gale.com/bizdev.

Online. Contemporary Musicians is accessible online as part of the Thomson Gale Biographies (GALBIO) database accessible through LexisNexis, P.O. Box 933, Dayton, OH 45401-0933; phone: (937) 865-6800, toll-free: (800) 227-4908.

We Welcome Your Suggestions

The editors welcome your comments and suggestions for enhancing and improving Contemporary Musicians. If you would like to suggest subjects for inclusion, please submit these names to the editor. Mail comments or suggestions to:

The Editor
Contemporary Musicians
Thomson Gale
27500 Drake Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535
Or call toll free: (800) 877-GALE