Hitmaker

by Tommy Mottola, Cal Fussman (Primary Contributor)

Much has been written about Tommy Mottola, one of the most powerful, visionary, and successful executives in the history of the music industry. He discovered, developed, and launched the careers of many superstars, including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, and Gloria Estefan and is credited with creating the "Latin Explosion." He has had the privilege of working alongside Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Tony Bennett, and Ozzy Osbourne, among other music giants. This is his story-a story of the modern music industry, from Elvis to the iPod, through the eyes of the man who made much of it happen. HITMAKER recounts how a Bronx kid and college dropout became one of the music industry's most creative and controversial CEOs. For the first time, Tommy lays bare the facts behind the most sensational aspects of his life, including being married to and developing the career of Mariah Carey, managing Michael Jackson's emotional ups and downs, and the power struggle with his onetime boss and mentor Walter Yetnikoff.HITMAKER will take you inside this world of power, money, and fame as he reveals his fascinating dealings with countless icons and how he was sitting at the top when the business suddenly changed. Tommy's story is one of incredible highs and lows-and here it is, in his own voice, for the first time.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Business, Biography Memoir, Memoir

387 pages, Hardcover

First published January 29, 2013

About the author

Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía. He headed Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columbia label, for nearly 15 years.

Tommy Mottola entered in the music scene in the mid 60s as a recording artist for CBS Records under the name "T.D. Valentine". After his attempt to become a recording star himself failed, Mottola started working for publishing powerhouse Chappell Publishing and started his own management company, Champion Entertainment Organization. His role at Chappell put him in touch with many artists, and soon he signed his first successful management clients, Hall and Oates.

Mottola helped Hall and Oates land a record deal and several high profile endorsements. He was also recognized for successfully using new mediums for promotion, like music videos and corporate sponsorship for music tours.

Apart from Hall and Oates, Mottola is known as a mentor and former talent manager. His most famous protégés were Carly Simon, John Mellencamp, Diana Ross, and Taylor Dayne in the 1980s, Mariah Carey in the 1990s, and Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Anastacia and Jennifer Lopez in the early 2000s.

Reviews

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mottola sings his own praises in this long-winded but lightly-detailed life story that focuses mostly on his corporate work. The book starts out with promise, written in a self-effacing style in which he takes blame for his mistakes and even says he doesn't recall exact conversations (refreshing compared to other autobiographies). But once he gets some power the tone of the book changes to him over-praising his ability to pick artists and hits. The guy was good, but not as good as he writes himself to be. In focusing on his corporate successes he almost ignores his private life and short-changes readers on inside stories about the stars he worked with.

For some reason the artists that get the most pages in the book are Hall & Oates, who Mottola claims are one of the greatest groups in rock history (of course, because he managed them!). Meanwhile Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and other big names get shortchanged. There are almost no interesting inside stories revealed about the names you'll know while there are a number of minute details about corporate co-workers you've never heard of. Namely, Mottola doesn't dish on the people you want to hear about.

Everything he touched he claims went "straight to number one" or was "one of the biggest selling albums of all time" or that his then-wife released "the single greatest modern Christmas album of all time" (you know--the one he forced her to make against her wishes!). In truth he just put out some great records with some good artists whose stories don't get detailed here. He tip-toes around his marriage to Mariah Carey (who he keeps referring to as appealing to a hip-hop audience) and repeatedly talks about what a bad father he was to his first two kids. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have learned the lesson that the biggest problem he had was with his ego. He admits that many told him he was blind to his failures and weaknesses but he was too impressed with himself to listen to others. And this book is proof he hasn't changed.

[zeynep · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, actually, but it wasn't ah-mazing or anything. I would recommend this to any pop stan, with the added caveat that they have to read THE MEANING of MARIAH CAREY as a bonus text. Also love that this book (published in 2013) has a congratulatory blurb from...Harvey Weinstein on the back cover. Really gives you a sense of that good old boys club yes it does

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Self-absorbed narcissist gives his side of his successes, blames others for his failures.

[Andoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such an exciting read that it was hard for me to put it down. The book is roughly 400 pages and I finished it in 8 days. While its content might be a 4 out of 5, it always keeps the reader interested and is written very honestly and sincerely, so because of that I gave it a 5 out of 5.

It is certainly not a traditional autobiography which can sometimes drag on a little too long about period of the main characters life, which the reader may or may not find useful or interesting. This book more so tells the story of the music industry through the eyes of the President of Sony Records and how it has evolved from around the time of Elvis to the iPod.

I typically take an autobiography and highlight a good portion of quotes, strategies, or philosophies worth remembering. You won't get too many noteworthy quotes in this book but what you will get is a sense of Tommy Mottola's attitude and insight into the way he thinks which is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than a bunch of quotes to highlight.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun business book to read and especially to someone that might be interested in exploring what happens behind the scenes in the music industry.

[Christine Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Self-aggrandizing? Yes. Self-promoting? Yes. Entertaining? Yes!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inside baseball of the music industry, as told by the head of Sony music in the 1990s as they built the leading market share in the business. Self-serving? Of course.

Mottola owes a great deal of his success to the fact that he tried to make it as a singer (T.D. Valentine!). Despite the fact that he didn't make it, he gained an understanding for how the process worked, the creative/recording process and the publicity process. He related to the talent in a way that most execs could not (similar to the success Les Moonves, a former actor, has had running CBS).
The stories about Hall & Oates, his first big act, George Michael, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, J Lo, and of course his crazy relationship w/ Mariah Carey are worth the read. The contrast between the old guard at Sony who built the company and the music business, Akio Morita and Norio Ohga, and the bureaucrats who took over, Idei and Howard Stringer (idei's "wine steward"!) could not be more stark.
As with other biographies by people who had great professional success, I am again struck by how he only realized what he was missing (his first 2 children growing up) when it was too late. What price success?

[Mel Ostrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Bronx Horatio Alger Story

It takes a certain type of person to advance from a humble Bronx, NY neighborhood to the top echelons of a major corporation – in this case, Sony Music Entertainment. You have to respect the drive, assertiveness, self-confidence and talent for “shmoozing” in those people like Tommy Motolla. Just at the right time, as a young man heinserted himself into the evolution of pop music. His book, “Hit-Maker,” documents his major achievements while providing a brief coverage of his private life. Although the autobiographical story is not very deeply analytical nor is it a captivating read, it does mention the names of famous performers that he dealt with. For example, it was interesting to learn he was married 3 times and that his 2nd wife was Moriah Carey. The book is somewhat reminiscent of another more detailed success story from The Bronx: Jerry Weintraub’s “When I Stop talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead.”

[Bob Schnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough call on this one. I enjoyed the first third of the book, basically right up until he meets Mariah Carey. After that it is all about artists I dislike, Mr. Mottola's "I told you so" attitude and playing the blame game. I especially took exception to his pronouncement that record stores (namely Tower) could've saved themselves by diverting all resources to online sales. He conveniently forgets that Sony and the rest were unwilling to license music downloads to record stores (just like eBook publishers are doing now to libraries). Without affordable and easy access to digital product, no record store website was going to compete in any significant way with Amazon or Napster. By the end I was ready to throw this book against a wall. Mr. Mottola may be Mr. Sensitive to his friends, but he comes across as Mr. Arrogant Narcissist too often in his narrative.

[Derek Neighbors · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love music history. Tommy is full of great music stories. That alone endeared me to this book. I expected it to be much more about the music industry and less stories about Tommy and the artists he worked with at Sony. Imagine my delight that not only did it have a unique take on the music industry, but also all these great insider views about artists I grew up loving.

I am glad to report while there was some chatter about his relationship with Mariah, it didn't dominate the book and was always in a good context. Oddly there was some interesting insight from Tommy into the life of Michael Jackson. Mottola and Mellencamp are decidedly not friends. :) Mottola worked with so many great artists and was at the top when the music industry and sony were at their crest.

[Jeff Grosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that Tommy Mottola lived my dream career would be a tremendous understatement. He discovered, developed, and launched the careers of people like Hall & Oates, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Shakira, and Jennifer Lopez just to name a few. When Tommy was named CEO of Sony Music Entertainment he may not have been the best qualified on paper, but he had the best set of ears for discovering talent and had his finger on the pulse of where the music industry was headed. He was extremely successful and tripled the company's revenue. He was able to it because he never lost his love and passion for the music. Tommy Mottola will go down in history as maybe the most successful music executive ever. I'm so glad I was able to read his story from his perspective.

[Hamoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

save your time and avoid this dull, uninformative book.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining and well written.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can dig it. Tommy is a hitmaker and had the basic instincts to make this passion into a successful career. Of course he had my dream job but there's still time. I liked the buildup and step by step as he navigated the grimy NYC streets and his family pains. He related how his upbringing helped shaped him into the music mogul he was. I liked how he shared the behind the scenes drama with business executives and industry folks with their backstabbing and cut throat personas. He does admit when he felt wrong and doesn't get into much of his own temper issues. He put in just enough of his personal life and celebrities and the bad decision to marry Mariah, but the real value is the mechanics of the actual industry and what its become. He flew past the last few years of working at Sony as the industry crashed and I would like to know more about his post Sony career. Yeah, he's a narcissist but he demonstrates decent morals and ethics, his emotions on his sleeve very believable. What I would expect from someone of his stature. You have to have some type of confidence and assertiveness to do what he did. Without that you'd be where I am. Very inspiring story!

[Jesse Flood · Rating 4 out of 5]

) I enjoyed this book from Tommy Mottola. He was a musician early on which his family discouraged, to working his way up to the top and seemed to have worked with hitmakers (which could fill this page) past and present. One of the things I found most interesting about this book was about Mariah Carey; particularly their marriage. It seemed like he tried to give her everything he felt she could have ever wanted, but it just wasn't enough. So many great discoveries in this book. Compelling read.

[Angel]

The book was well written and engaging. Lots of interesting stories from notable musical artists. The most interesting part to me was how he inspired Mariah's butterfly theme by leaving her lyrics to an Elton John song in a note to her shortly before their break up. She never mentioned this in her book.

[Adam Kovynia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy Mottola has a straight forward easy to read style and I enjoyed reading about his life story very much. I made a YouTube video about this book and my own opinions about the music business and memories of collecting CDs and working at a record store. You can see the video by searching for Adam Kovynia on YouTube.

[Kenneth Mansur]

This book covers a lot of ground. I did not know he managed Hall & Oates. His marriage and divorce to Mariah Carey is an obvious subject as well as Michael Jackson's ill-fated condemnation of him later in his career.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was fun at first but got really bored about 2/3 of the way in. This guy has a huge ego and was born with a silver spoon. Quacks on about how great he was and all he accomplished but a lot of it was handed to him. It's a memoir not a book of strategy or tactics.

[Angel Valenzuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with a lot of musical history from artists I know and love, and some I have only heard of but still respect. Now I’ve heard Mariah’s side and Tommy’s side and I know the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. What a riveting read from the first page. Definitely a behind the scene look on making a dinger a star.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not entirely honest about his marriage to Mariah (as to be expected) but very good on how he made Hall & Oates the success they were. A key playmaker in the business before it all went to pot.

[Axel Barceló · Rating 3 out of 5]

For such a pro like Mottola, I was hoping his stories to be much more believable. Yet, an entertaining read, with enough insight and gossip to keep you turning the pages

[Poornima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! Very insightful and memorable!

[Michele Devinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a Tommy Mottola fan as a kid, only because he was the manager for Daryl Hall & John Oates. I was stunned when he ended up being the head of CBS/Sony Music and even more surprised when he married Mariah Carey. I'm not a Mariah fan, but his side of the marriage was more interesting than I thought it would be--and less tacky than it could have been. Also fun to read about the changes in the music industry over the years (which is a favorite topic of mine for reading anyway). But I still most wanted insight into the early years of DH&JO and got that in spades. Read it in less than 48 hours and was completely engrossed. That's all I can ask of a book.

[Aram]

The Golden Age of the music industry. "Hitmaker", it certainly is a great read. And this book gets even better when you've read the stories of all those other "hit men": Howling At The Moon (Walter Yetnikoff), The Last Sultan (Robert Greenfield), The Mansion On The Hill (Fred Goodman) and of course Hit Men (Frederic Dannen). The stories in those books will all collide, and each book shows you the perspective from the other music mogul that was standing in that same room. But as a whole, all of those stories combined will tell you the truth, nothing but the snorting truth, so please help me God.

[Kyle Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

While listening to the history of the business side of the music industry was interesting as well as some of the artist stories, I didn't really enjoy this book. I listened to it so I'm not sure if it was the reader (Chazz Palmintieri) or if it was the author. I can only recommend this book if you are really interested in the the music business. It seems it was primarily written as a response to critics.

[Karen Suglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting "inside" read. Tommy is definitely a self-made man but it didn't hurt that he knew a lot of people through his connections. He walks a careful line not to put individuals in a negative light and still reveal what was going on behind the scenes.

There is a lot of money in entertainment, no doubt.

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books about the music industry, and this one was so much better than Clive Davis' brag book about his legacy and his annual Grammy parties. Good stuff and learned a little bit more about Tommy Mottola's impact on the music biz and how he went from managing Hall & Oates to running Sony's music department.

[Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

No question that he is a dynamic, impressive, brilliant man, but book makes him out to be a little too much in love with his own accomplishments, often at the expense of other key figures. For example, no mention of Freddie DeMann, who managed Michael Jackson and Madonna during the most important years of their careers.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

He's obnoxious; bragging about scoring on a chick "Not just a 10, but a 20," and "I've always had elephant balls." His marital failure with Mariah Carey; I wish he'd just say that he shouldn't have married a girl young enough to be his daughter in the first place.

Nevertheless, as far as rock and roll significa goes, there's lots of behind the scenes history and fun trivia.