A Friend in the Music Business
The ASCAP Story
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- 32,99 €
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- 32,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
On February 13, 1914, a group of the nation's most distinguished and popular songwriters gathered together in New York City to support the mission of ASCAP, a new organization for publishers and songwriters. A few years later, ASCAP received its mandate from the Supreme Court to collect royalties for the public performance of copyrighted material. Over the course the next century, ASCAP has been as prominent a force for the advancement and nurture and financial well-being of songwriters as any record label or publishing outfit one would care to name. With a responsive board of directors made up entirely of songwriter/composer and publisher members, ASCAP has defended creators' rights at every turn against those who would seek to devalue music. Today, with copyright under renewed assault, its mission is as resonant and vital as ever, along with its relatively new role as a nurturer of the young artists who represent the future of music. Award-winning music writer Bruce Pollock explores the growth and changes within this complex society and its relationship to emerging technologies, in the context of 100 years of an ever-evolving music business, to see how ASCAP has become, for those who hope to make a living making music, now more than ever, “a friend in the music business.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At a time when nearly every part of the music industry is struggling to adapt to the digital landscape, prolific music writer Pollock, who has written a number of books (By the Time We Got to Woodstock) investigates the history of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. Founded in 1914 by a group of songwriters who included Irving Berlin, the organization battled with nearly every major media technology of the 20th century: "the talking pictures", radio, jukeboxes, rock and roll, and the internet. Near the beginning of the book, Pollock notes in this ultimately one-sided retelling that, "ASCAP has truly become, for every type of songwriter and composer, a friend in the music business.' " At the end, he quotes a lyricist who refers to ASCAP as a combination of "the Magna Carta of the author," "the Declaration of Independence of the creative mind," and "the Social Security of the free spirit." Pages are full of large block quotes and lists of important songwriters who joined ASCAP. This organization's role in popular music's past, present, and future is worth exploring, but the book reads like a lengthy promotional brochure.
