Fredric Dannen: What Happened to Music
Those wondering what happened to music need look no further than Frontline's documentary: he way the music died. Filmed some time in 2004, this video documents the changing landscape of the music industry. For those attempting to aspire to notoriety with songs that are on the fringe, it leaves a bad taste; but it's a learning experience nonetheless.
Another fantastic view of the music business can be gleaned from Fredric Dannen's Hit Men. This book provides a tremendous chronology of how music hits were manufactured simply the record company's willingness to pay radio stations for spinning a song. I had the good fortune of meeting Frederic at a CMJ event a number of years ago ... I can tell you that I found him to be completely reputable. Some of the attendees were a bit annoyed with what he had to say especially when he informed them that the state of the industry was doomed to failure; the truth doth hurt.
As per the book Hit Men, here's one Amazon member's eloquent five star summation:
Copiously researched and documented, Hit Men is the highly controversial portrait of the pop music industry in all its wild, ruthless glory: the insatiable greed and ambition; the enormous egos; the fierce struggles for profits and power; the vendettas, rivalries, shakedowns, and payoffs. Chronicling the evolution of America's largest music labels from the Tin Pan Alley days to the present day, Fredric Dannen examines in depth the often venal, sometimes illegal dealings among the assorted hustlers and kingpins who rule over this multi-billion-dollar business.
On a more recent and position note, here's a fast read: Record Breaking Revenues In The Music Business, But Are Musicians Getting A Raw Deal? Another interesting read about the current state of the music industry is The Song Machine, John Seabrook's book about the current music hit factory. To sum it all up, nothing has really changed except for the new execs. Everybody's still trying to grasp at how to capitalize on the next new thing in an industry that's long been commoditized.
