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Contributors | November 10, 2009

Zachary Lazar: IMG Evening's Empire

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Without knowing it, I'd always had two unspoken arrangements with the world. The first was that I would not trouble it with unpleasant conversation... Continue »
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Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music

by David Suisman

Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From Tin Pan Alley to grand opera, player-pianos to phonograph records, David Suisman’s Selling Soundsexplores the rise of music as big business and the creation of a radically new musical culture. Around the turn of the twentieth century, music entrepreneurs laid the foundation for today’s vast industry, with new products, technologies, and commercial strategies to incorporate music into the daily rhythm of modern life. Popular songs filled the air with a new kind of musical pleasure, phonographs brought opera into the parlor, and celebrity performers like Enrico Caruso captivated the imagination of consumers from coast to coast.

Selling Soundsuncovers the origins of the culture industry in music and chronicles how music ignited an auditory explosion that penetrated all aspects of society. It maps the growth of the music business across the social landscape—in homes, theaters, department stores, schools—and analyzes the effect of this development on everything from copyright law to the sensory environment. While music came to resemble other consumer goods, its distinct properties as sound ensured that its commercial growth and social impact would remain unique.

Today, the music that surrounds us—from iPods to ring tones to Muzak—accompanies us everywhere from airports to grocery stores. The roots of this modern culture lie in the business of popular song, player-pianos, and phonographs of a century ago. Provocative, original, and lucidly written, Selling Soundsreveals the commercial architecture of America’s musical life.

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About the Author

David Suismanis Assistant Professor of History at <>University of Delaware.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780674033375
Subtitle:
The Commercial Revolution in American Music
Author:
Suisman, David
Publisher:
Harvard University Press
Subject:
Economic History
Subject:
United States - 20th Century
Subject:
Popular Culture - General
Subject:
Music
Subject:
Music trade
Subject:
Music trade -- United States.
Subject:
Music -- United States -- History and criticism.
Subject:
Business Aspects
Series Volume:
The Commercial Revol
Publication Date:
May 2009
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
356
Dimensions:
9.25 x 6.125 in
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