Popular music on screen examines the relationship between popular music and the screen, from the origins of the Hollywood musical to contemporary developments in music television and video. Through detailed examination of films, television programmes and popular music, together with analysis of the economic, technological and cultural determinants which impact upon their production and consumption, the book argues that popular music has been increasingly influenced by its visual economy. Through engaging with the debates which surround postmodernism, the book suggests that what most characterises the relationship between popular music and the screen media is a strong sense of continuity, expressed through institutional structures, representational strategies and the ideology of 'entertainment.