Simon Frith

Simon Webster Frith (born 1946) is a British sociomusicologist and rock critic who specializes in popular music culture. He is professor emeritus of Music at the University of Edinburgh. Frith has written a number of sociological analyses of popular music, including The Sociology of Rock (1978) and Performing Rites: On the value of popular music (1996). Frith was the chair of the Mercury Prize from its inception in 1992 until his resignation in 2016.