About this item
Let legendary rock manager Simon Napier-Bell take you inside not just a creative industry, but a business that has made people wildly rich. This book describes the evolution of the industry from 1713, the year parliament granted writers ownership over what they wrote, to today, when a global industry is controlled by just three major players: Sony, Universal and Warner. Inside you will uncover little-known industry facts, including how a formula for writing hit songs in the 1900s helped create 50,000 of the best-known songs of all time; how infighting in the American pre-war music industry shut down traditional radio and created an opening for country music, race records and rock'n'roll; how Jewish immigrants and black jazz musicians dancing cheek-to-cheek created a template for all popular music that followed; and how rock tours became the biggest, quickest, sleaziest and most profitable ventures the music industry has ever seen.
About the Author
Simon Napier-Bell has been a leading figure in the music industry for over forty years - a songwriter, record producer, artist's manager, and entrepreneur. Amongst others, he has managed the Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, Boney M, Asia, Ultravox, Japan, and Wham! He's also written film scores and co-wrote Dusty Springfield's hit, 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me' (later recorded by Elvis Presley) . In the eighties he masterminded taking Wham! to China, the first Western pop group ever to play there, and during the last two decades he has written four best-selling books on the music industry. He is a director of Papa Entertainments PLC which produces Las Vegas' best-rated music show 'Raiding the Rock Vault', and of Snap-B, a company that provides consultancy to top music professionals. He travels, does business, gives talks, and eats & drinks well, all over the world.
