The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory

Cross, Seattle Times“A fascinating history, one that encompasses everything from the Brill Building and Phil Spector to Afrika Bambaataa to ‘American Idol.’ Running underneath the human stories like a bassline is the inexorable flow of technology.” - Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe“Invaluable.” - Louis Bayard, Washington Post“A revelatory ear-opener.” - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review&ldquo

The stories of artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Rihanna, as well as expert songsmiths like Max Martin, Stargate, Ester Dean, and Dr. Luke, The Song Machine shows what life is like in an industry that has been catastrophically disruptedspurring innovation, competition, intense greed, and seductive new products.Going beyond music to discuss money, business, marketing, and technology, The Song Machine explores what the new hits may be doing to our brains and listening habits, especially as services like Spotify and Apple Music use streaming data to gather music into new genres invented by algorithms based on listener behavior.Fascinating, revelatory, and original, The Song Machine will change the way you listen to music.. “An utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music.” Nathaniel Rich, The AtlanticOver the last two decades a new type of hit

"Interesting overview, wished for deeper reflection" according to AaronHNahum. This book is a truly excellent overview of the current "hit factory" behind today's pop music. In all of this: history, movements, immediate affects, and some juicy stories, it's fantastic.What it isn't, really, is deeply insightful into what all this means for music as an art-form, nor for artists themselves. Each time an insight comes ('it's noticeable that Taylor Swifts 1989 is her first album that could have been sung by anyone') it passes without any real reflection on t. Forget the Lessons. Just Get a Mac. Beats? I'll confess as someone moderately capable on guitar and generally familiar with the heyday singer songwriter era of the 60's and 70's, I've heard the term bantered around but never understood it. From reading Mr. Seabrook's book I come to learn it's the computer generated drum beat that serves as the foundation to all modern pop, r&b, and rap songs. We've come a long ways from the Beatles, CSN and James Taylor. But as the author so eloquently explains, the more things. I was pretty unaware of the change in how pop music is Aladeen I found this book to be extremely interesting. I am a little younger than John Seabrook but my dynamic with pop music is similar. I am a huge 40-something music fan who has been thrown back into "contemporary hits radio" via my kids emerging tastes. I was pretty unaware of the change in how pop music is currently made and this book unveils it all, especially interesting are the producers who make it all happen - Dennis POP (RIP), Dr. Luke, Max Martin and on. The book does a g

John Seabrook has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993. The author of several books including Nobrow, he has taught narrative nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.