Rockonomics: The Money Behind the Music

by Marc Eliot

In Rockonomics you will discover how Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra cut themselves in for songwriting credit as payment for agreeing to record a tune; the inside story of Dick Clark and Alan Freed, whose business practices were notably similar, but who came out of the payola scandal with careers heading in opposite directions; why, on his first three albums, Bruce Springsteen received nine cents an album to his manager's thirty-six cents; updates on the Beatles $80 million lawsuit, and new lawsuits since this book's original publication, including Billy Joel's; plus, the phenomenon of rap, the death of Bill Graham, the new "political correctness" of rock, a financial report on the state of the business through the first third of the nineties, and much more.

Genres: Music, Business, Economics, History

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Jon]

Lots of great stories and speculation about the business side of the American (and to some extent, British) music industry. Eliot takes us into a shadow world of music-biz players like Alan Freed, Dick Clark, Allen Klein, Berry Gordy, Albert Grossman, Brian Epstein, and Bill Graham and shows us how they really operated. From Edison's cylinders to the compact disc, this is a sometimes sordid, often myth-debunking history any fan will want to read. However, at least in the 1989 edition I read (the one pictured here is an updated version) there are some problems, such as misspellings of performers' names (Richie Havens, the Jaynetts, the Limeliters) and faulty information. (Bob Dylan's NASHVILLE SKYLINE was NOT the first LP he released after his alleged "motorcycle accident", and his debut album included two, not just one of his own compositions. Moreover, Eliot's and others' account of Dylan's legendary "going electric" performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival has since been disputed by the festival's organizer, who has audiotape evidence to back up HIS version of what happened.) Eliot also has an odd obsession with referring to singers as "mama's boys", even when, as with Dylan, little evidence is provided to justify this label. Despite these quibbles, if you want to know the real story behind the ASCAP-BMI rivalry in the 30s, the Musicians' Union recording ban of the mid-40s, the "payola" scandal of the 50s, the brief rise and rapid fall of rock festivals in the 60s, the coke-fueled corporate greed that led to the punk backlash of the 70s, and the commercialization of classic rock in the 80s--and plenty more--this is the book to read.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and detailed look at the music business. Lots of litigation! And ends in 1993 so no napster, itunes or (most importantly) Spotify!