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. He 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. This book describes the evolution of the 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 infighting in the American pre-war music industry shut down traditional radio and created an opening for country music, race records and rock’n’roll
How Jewish immigrants and black jazz musicians dancing cheek-to-cheek created a template for all popular music that followed
How rock tours became the biggest, quickest, sleaziest and most profitable ventures the music industry has ever seen
After reading Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay, you’ll never listen to music in the same way again
