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A review by kimball_hansen
The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook
2.0
I'd give this a 2.5 because it was a little boring for me. It was strange hearing a person describe music from an almost scientific standpoint. I didn't think he explained the terms well like "hook." What's an example of a hook from a song? The author seemed very one-sided and focused on very few artists and it was more of a history of the artists rather than the how their specific songs became hits. It could have been much better had he taken a lesson from [a:Michael Lewis|776|Michael Lewis|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1317447168p2/776.jpg] or [a:Walter Isaacson|7111|Walter Isaacson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1192222433p2/7111.jpg]. The way he incorporated his personal touch with him and "the boy" didn't fit well at all. I still wonder why is there so much music from Sweden? Why is Stockholm this music producing capital of the world. Seems weird this wasn't expounded.
It's neat to think how little control these "musicians" have over the music they sing. And that the producers create songs and offer them to artists and if one doesn't want it then the next one in line will perform it. The music industry is way too political and corrupt. I remember listening to The Big Red Radio one morning and they described why certain songs get played more than others. I learned more from those 3 minutes on the radio than what I expected to learn from this book.
This book definitely did not "change the way you listen to music" like it was advertised. I'd like a book to write about real music like Rock and not about these "Hits" and worthless Pop which lasts for maybe a year then no one listens to them ever again. Rock songs lasts for decades whereas Pop fizzles out and dies quickly. Pareto's Law. 20 vs 80.
It's neat to think how little control these "musicians" have over the music they sing. And that the producers create songs and offer them to artists and if one doesn't want it then the next one in line will perform it. The music industry is way too political and corrupt. I remember listening to The Big Red Radio one morning and they described why certain songs get played more than others. I learned more from those 3 minutes on the radio than what I expected to learn from this book.
This book definitely did not "change the way you listen to music" like it was advertised. I'd like a book to write about real music like Rock and not about these "Hits" and worthless Pop which lasts for maybe a year then no one listens to them ever again. Rock songs lasts for decades whereas Pop fizzles out and dies quickly. Pareto's Law. 20 vs 80.