
The Business
A History of Popular Music from Sheet Music to Streaming
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
“The only history of pop music you’ll ever have to read.”— Huffington Post
Let legendary rock manager Simon Napier-Bell take you inside the (dodgy) world of popular music – not just a creative industry, but a business that has made people rich beyond their wildest dreams.
This book describes the evolution of the music industry from 1713 – the year parliament granted writers ownership over what they wrote – to today, when a global, 100 billion pound industry is controlled by just three major players: Sony, Universal and Warner. Inside you will uncover some little-known facts about the industry, including: how a formula for writing hit songs in the 1900s helped create 50,000 of the best-known songs of all time; how Jewish immigrants and black jazz musicians dancing cheek-to-cheek created a template for all popular music that followed; and how rock tours became the biggest, quickest, sleaziest and most profitable ventures the music industry has ever seen.
Through it all, Napier-Bell balances seductive anecdotes – pulling back the curtain on the gritty and absurd side of the industry – with an insightful exploration of the relationship between creativity and money.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- By the Same Author
- Title
- Contents
- Foreword
- 1 Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay
- 2 Around and Around
- 3 The Song Is You
- 4 Give My Regards to Broadway
- 5 Alexander’s Ragtime Band
- 6 Stardust
- 7 The Winner Takes It All
- 8 Pennies from Heaven
- 9 Pack Up Your Troubles
- 10 Cheek to Cheek
- 11 Prohibition Blues
- 12 I Got Rhythm
- 13 On the Radio
- 14 Don’t Trust Nobody
- 15 Let’s Do It
- 16 Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
- 17 Same Old Song And Dance
- 18 Set ’Em Up Joe
- 19 Heard it All Before
- 20 Trouble in Mind
- 21 New World Coming
- 22 She Wears Red Feathers
- 23 Brothers in Arms
- 24 Hound Dog
- 25 American Pie
- 26 Hallelujah
- 27 Please Please Me
- 28 The Times They Are a-Changing
- 29 Come Together
- 30 Shape of Things to Come
- 31 We Will Rock You
- 32 Light My Fire
- 33 All Around the World
- 34 Into the Groove
- 35 Signed, Sealed, Delivered
- 36 Shine On You Crazy Diamond
- 37 Money, Money, Money
- 38 Fly Me To The Moon
- 39 Fuck tha Police
- 40 I’ll Be Missing You
- 41 Mad About the Boy
- 42 Everybody’s Doing It
- 43 I’ve Got a Great Idea
- 44 Where Do We Go From Here?
- Endword
- Cast of Characters
- Songs in Chapter Titles
- Bibliography
- Index of Quotations
- Index
- Supporters
- Copyright