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The Song Machine Inside the Hit Factory John Seabrook 9780393353280 Books

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The Song Machine Inside the Hit Factory John Seabrook 9780393353280 Books

No real insights as to how or why anything happened, but an AMAZINGLY fascinating read. My key takeaway here is that maybe sometimes it's better to die early from rare and aggressive cancer than to live to see the monster you've created! If crazy stories of art, corporate corruption, sneaky marketing, and terrible people are your thing, read this! But the most important thread through it all is a reminder that some people really are in this for the art, Innovation, and fun. Through the stories of terrible people, the stories of excellence and excellent people shine like bright diamonds.


Tags : The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory [John Seabrook] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong> An utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music. ―Nathaniel Rich, <em>The Atlantic</em></strong> There’s a reason today’s ubiquitous pop hits are so hard to ignore―they’re designed that way. <em>The Song Machine</em> goes behind the scenes to offer an insider’s look at the global hit factories manufacturing the songs that have everyone hooked. Full of vivid,John Seabrook,The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory,W. W. Norton & Company,0393353281,Business Aspects,Genres & Styles - Pop Vocal,Recording & Reproduction,Music trade.,Popular music;Production and direction.,Sound recording industry.,ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF MUSIC,GENERAL,General Adult,Genres & Styles - Rock,History,MUSIC Genres & Styles Pop Vocal,MUSIC Genres & Styles Rock,MUSIC Recording & Reproduction,Music,MusicGenres & Styles - Pop Vocal,MusicSongbooks,Non-Fiction,PERFORMING ARTS Business Aspects,POPULAR MUSIC,Performing ArtsBusiness Aspects,SOCIAL SCIENCE Popular Culture,SOUND RECORDING AND RECORDINGS,Social SciencePopular Culture,United States

The Song Machine Inside the Hit Factory John Seabrook 9780393353280 Books Reviews

I found the storyline incredibly interesting. The author compiles various interviews from different sources as well as personal interviews. While reading, it was sometimes difficult to follow who he was talking about since he called the same person different names. Also, there were chapters which ended leading up to a climax that you thought you'd continue into the next chapter, but then the author would switch stories only to come back 2-3 chapters later.

Overall I did enjoy the book and recommend it as a read for anyone interested in the music business.
One of my favorite books in the past few years. Seabrook dives deep into modern pop songwriting, which reflects a production line more than the mythic writer with a guitar and notepad. You don't have to love current pop music to love this book, but you are sure to come out of reading this with eyes open to the talents of these craftspeople. Along the way are terrific profiles of pop geniuses known (Max Martin) and relatively unknown (Deniz Pop's key role in the Swedish pop machine is made clear throughout the book). Read it.
This is a GREAT read that displays the phony music industry for the evil empire that it actually is!
Explains why everything today sounds the same & exactly how music when from being a cultural force to being dumbed down to a sleek packaged product. Basically lip synching super models that have NO redeeming talent whatsoever!
This book reveals just why no one really cares about music anymore!
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 this. What does this mean? How does an artist speak in this factory and is it even possible?

Were genuine artists ever speaking in popular music? Presumably so. What made those times so different? Was it just album sales? Etc...

Also, there is really only a passing mention of what it all means for actual musicians. Of course there's the standard "this is dying" stuff - but how are people adapting? What possibilities are there? And look, are any of these guys even good musicians? Dr Luke's utterly laughable analysis of a melody Is that really the height of what the creatives know about music? It doesn't seem so, but then there's this final thing that isn't analyses

None of these people - not the singers, not the labels, not the producers - are actually trying to make good music. They are trying to make "hot products" that will by nature flare up temporarily and then make way for the next thing. This is the opposite of an artist, isn't it?

So, while really enjoying this book, I wish there had been a lot more along these lines...
Superbly written and researched, this book is a wonderful addition to the modern music literature. The writer, for the first time ever, goes deep into the hitherto hidden and little known industry behind the music hits to reveal the often surprising and shocking truths. We all know that the industry has evolved since the 80s and 90s but these changes are little known to outsiders. There has been seismic changes in terms of the music industry structure, the balance of power and in the music production that were kept hidden from the general public and the fans.

Reading this book will open your eyes wide and you'll never see or hear a hit song the same way again.
A very long magazine article which seems to find deep themes in what properly are unrelated or coincidental events. For example, Dr. Martin, a Swedish producer, responsible for an extraordinary number of hits and this is apparently evidence that the "new way" of making a hit record (with a genesis in Sweden) has removed or diminished risk in the record factory and elevated a particular formula for success. But the opposite seems also true Martin is prodigious because he is a prodigy as Geffen and King were to Brill so perhaps is Martin to pop. The book seemed a bit long on padded detail and I felt the facts were being squeezed to fit a theme or conclusion that the author had in mind. Shorter and pacier with mot so much New Yorker-esque larger meanings and there would be a good book here. As it was - great idea though - it was a really rather boring read.
The author posits himself somewhere between wannabe cool-dad and basic Wall Street bro, leaving for dry commentary that reads more like a laundry list of business deals than an anything else. I was revolted and outraged by his condescending read on the interaction between Kelly Clarkson, and her then-producer Dr. Luke, who has since been outted as a predator to women in the music industry. Randomly there are parts about his mom playing piano. There's some interesting information in here, but I found his take in general to be lacking in imagination and wonder.
No real insights as to how or why anything happened, but an AMAZINGLY fascinating read. My key takeaway here is that maybe sometimes it's better to die early from rare and aggressive cancer than to live to see the monster you've created! If crazy stories of art, corporate corruption, sneaky marketing, and terrible people are your thing, read this! But the most important thread through it all is a reminder that some people really are in this for the art, Innovation, and fun. Through the stories of terrible people, the stories of excellence and excellent people shine like bright diamonds.