- Published: 8 October 2015
- ISBN: 9781448191017
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 368
The Song Machine
How to Make a Hit
- Published: 8 October 2015
- ISBN: 9781448191017
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 368
This is a fascinating tale about an amazing phenomenon
Walter Isaacson, author of 'Steve Jobs'
In The Song Machine, John Seabrook tells of a cutthroat and fascinating industry, where readers discover the gifted musical maestros who orchestrate hit after hit but rarely get their name in print. The narrative shows not just how technology has upended the music business but of how - despite prattle about "the long tail" - just one per cent of artists generate 80 per cent of the industry's profits. This is a story with as many surprises as Game of Thrones.
Ken Auletta, author of 'Googled: The End of The World as We Know It'
Revelatory, funny, and full of almost unbelievable details
Eric Schlosser, author of 'Fast Food Nation'
Anyone who wants to understand how the clash of cultures has shaped what we listen to should read this important book. John Seabrook has a marvelous ear for language – and perfect pitch when it comes to music journalism.
Bob Spitz, author of 'The Beatles: The Biography'
A revelatory ear-opener, as the music business remains in a state of significant flux.
Kirkus Reviews
Revealing, frightening, funny and unsettling
Roddy Doyle
Seabrook takes us on a lucid and well-researched tour of the places where modern hits are created
Peter Clark, Literary Review
His work is almost as easy to consume as the songs it discusses – and nearly as addictive.
Alix Buscovic, Record Collector
Explains in fascinating detail how pop stars are utterly dependent on the beats and hooks provided by a handful of largely Swedish hitmakers.
Robert Colvile, Weekly Telegraph
Weaving its way through two-and-a-half decades, one of The Song Machine’s greatest achievements is to situate the pop song within a shifting matrix of technological evolution, diminishing revenue streams, and warring egos
Independent
Seabrook subtly explores not only the insides of a song, but how a song gets inside us
Observer
Seabrook’s book takes the reader into a hidden world behind some of the most high-profile cultural products of the era
Guardian
A highly engaging narrative
Economist
A sobering peak inside Stockholm’s Cheiron Studios.
Andy Gill, Independent
As addictive as its subject
Sunday Times
Reveals the formula for modern pop.
Helen Brown, Daily Telegraph
A gripping investigation of modern hitmaking… Seabrook’s writing is as sleek and swift as a dolphin
New Statesman
An amazing story
David Hepworth, Week
· Lodge’s short stories are as witty and surprising as his novels.
Kate Saunders, The Times
He seems so perfectly suited to the form… [A] well-observed collection that one wishes was twice as long.
Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times
This is a superb analysis of modern pop music.
i
Seabrook has written an interesting book, smearing away some of the gloss and glamour from the music industry, to reveal details of its inner workings… An interesting book overall on a global industry that has as many secrets as glitterballs.
Paul Cheney, Nudge