The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory

· W. W. Norton & Company
4.8
12 reviews
Ebook
368
Pages
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn More

About this ebook

"An utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music." —Nathaniel Rich, The Atlantic

There’s a reason today’s ubiquitous pop hits are so hard to ignore—they’re designed that way. The Song Machine 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, unexpected characters—alongside industry heavy-hitters like Katy Perry, Rihanna, Max Martin, and Ester Dean—this fascinating journey into the strange world of pop music reveals how a new approach to crafting smash hits is transforming marketing, technology, and even listeners’ brains. You’ll never think about music the same way again.

A Wall Street Journal Best Business Book

Ratings and reviews

4.8
12 reviews
Brandon Sholund
August 7, 2023
This book breaks down the way modern hits are manufactured. Choosing to focus on the current hot producers and the team that supports them, this book shows how recycled and industrialized the music industry has become. The production teams highlighted here have no musical background, can't play an instrument or even craft a song. They do, however, has a computer and can upload an app and cut and paste other people's music. There is a lot of tech talk in this book and the book does tell only one side of a story but by exposing the new production methods and the soulless corporate entities that produce it, this book explains why the modern music is so forgettable, disjointed and bland.
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Sound Road
May 19, 2023
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About the author

John Seabrook has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than three decades. The Spinach King is his fifth book. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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