Contemporary Sound Arts was set up in 1991 to:

create and promote a facility for critique, analysis, research and production in the area of sound, and to encourage and promote debate amongst practitioners, nationally and internationally

facilitate an interdisciplinary approach to the critical investigation of sound encompassing historical, political, philosophical. artistic, sociological and technological perspectives

engage in and support research, and the production and distribution of various forms of print and electronic media related to sound.

CSA produced three issues of a sound journal. The first Essays In Sound was edited by Shaun Davies, Annemarie Jonson and Eddy Jokovich in 1992.

The second Essays In Sound 2: Technophonia was edited by Alessio Cavallaro, Shaun Davies, Frances Dyson and Annemarie Jonson, and was published in September 1995.

The third, Essays in Sound 3 was published in 1997.