About the book
John Seabrook, a longtime staff writer at The New Yorker, investigates how the modern pop hit came to be built, with hooks arriving about every seven seconds and songs engineered around melody, rhythm and repetition. He traces the method from its origins in Sweden in the early 1990s to its hold on the Billboard charts, visiting songwriting teams in New York, Los Angeles, Stockholm and Korea. Producers and writers such as Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Stargate and Ester Dean appear alongside performers including Rihanna, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. Seabrook also covers the money, marketing and technology of a disrupted industry, and how streaming services use listening data to group music into new genres defined by algorithms.
Ryan Holiday bought copies for everyone at his company after reading it, and credits it with explaining how a small group of people produce nearly every hit on the radio.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
I've been meaning to read this book for a while, and after I did I bought copies for everyone at my company (since we produce books and other kinds of content). In the book, Seabrook explains how just a few men and women are responsible for producing nearly every hit song you hear on the radio, see on YouTube or listen to on Spotify. He explains the economics of the music industry in a way that allows you to understand why music is the way that is today (the good parts and the bad parts). As someone who tends to listen to songs on repeat while I write--usually bad songs--it was interesting to hear how many of them were made. My only gripe: He neglects a couple people I would have liked to hear more about like Sia and Linda Perry who are just as prolific as Dr. Luke and Max Martin.
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