The music industry's mighty players have been asleep at the wheel since Napster revolutionized the way music was distributed in the 1990s. A veteran industry reporter tells of the current state of big music, how it got into such dire straits, and where it's going.

Reviews

In this ambitious look at the music industry's digital revolution, freelance music writer Knopper admirably attempts to make sense of more than three decades of fitful technological innovation and ego clashes. The story begins with the antidisco rallies of the late 1970s, spends a great deal of time on the excesses of the CD era (with an unnecessary detour into the nefarious business dealings of boy band manager Lou Pearlman), then chronicles the reign of Napster and its eventual usurpation by Apple's legal iTunes service. Knopper is at his best giving life to the tales of technological innovation and diligent salesmanship that fueled these shifts in consumer trends, as in the story of the CD's invention and the subsequent difficulty of persuading label executives to adopt the new format. The later tales of backroom deals featuring Steve Jobs and various label heads have the spark of real drama, but this is undermined by Knopper not having access to Jobs and by the historical proximity of the events. (Jan.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Rolling Stone contributing editor Knopper weaves an incredibly detailed history of the music industry in the late 20th and early 21st centuries to explain how greed, corruption, and resistance to change culminated in the loss of power and success for many music labels in the last ten years. He arranges the material into a coherent narrative and clarifies where his information or sources come up short. But musician/narrator Dan John Miller's (Generation Text) performance, though successful overall, occasionally lacks nuance. And given the subject matter, auditory enhancements like music samples or interview clips would have strengthened this production. However, most will walk away from this audiobook impressed by Knopper's work. [Audio clip available through brillianceaudio.com.-Ed.]-Lance Eaton, Peabody, MA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

"[A] stark accounting of the mistakes major record labels have made since the end of the LP era and the arrival of digital music . . . A wide-angled, morally complicated view of the current state of the music business . . . [Knopper] suggests that with even a little foresight, record companies could have adapted to the Internet's brutish and quizzical new realities and thrived . . . He paints a devastating picture of the industry's fumbling, corruption, greed and bad faith over the decades." "--The New York Times"
"Knopper, a "Rolling Stone" music business writer, thoughtfully reports on the record racket's slow, painful march into financial ruin and irrelevance, starting with the near-catastrophic sales slump that began in 1979 after the demise of disco. Though the labels persevered, they finally lost control of their product when they chose to ignore the possibilities of the Internet . . . Knopper piles on examples of incompetence, making a convincing case that the industry'sc