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John Seabrook

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The Song Machine: How to Make a Hit by John Seabrook (2016-10-20) Paperback – January 1, 1750

by John Seabrook (Author)

4.4 1,166 ratings

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One night in the early 1990s, a young Swedish music producer put a demo tape into the cassette deck of his Nissan Micra to listen to on his drive home. Before he got there, Denniz PoP knew he wasn’t interested in producing the band, a bunch of unknowns called Ace of Base. But when he tried to remove the tape, it wouldn’t come out, and no amount of mashing the Eject button would dislodge it. After two weeks of listening to the song on repeat, suddenly Denniz saw a way to make the tune work. That demo became ‘All That She Wants’ and its success led to Ace of Base’s record becoming one of the best-selling debut albums ever.

From Tin Pan Alley and Motown to Rihanna and Taylor Swift, manufactured music has existed since the record industry began. But ‘All That She Wants’ heralded the arrival of a new type of hitmaker, the faceless teams behind the music who painstakingly craft tunes to tweak the brain’s delight in melody, rhythm and repetition.

Travelling from New York to Los Angeles, Stockholm to Korea, John Seabrook visits the labs that build these hits, where teams assemble hook, bridge and chorus to infuriatingly catchy effect. If you’ve ever found yourself humming a chart hit you didn’t even know you knew, this book will change the way you listen to music.

Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

January 1, 1750
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N40E3JH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (January 1, 1750)
Language ‏ : ‎ English

Customer Reviews:
4.4 1,166 ratings

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Annedyne

wow, that was fascinating and entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2022

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I cant remember what turned me on to this book. I've been mostly oblivious of and often baffled by the 'top 40' genres allure to the masses. This book has given me a fascinating mini crash course in pop, answering not only vague questions like ( who is this Rihanna character really and why do people care) but also a surprisingly thorough sense of the anatomy of a 'hit'. And an appreciation for the skills behind the most masterful confections of the "art'.

The prose is vivid and engaging. Seabrook's attitude towards his subject often affectionate, often admiring; but a clear-eyed and zingy wit acknowledges the darker aspect - like the sugar crash on the other side of the frosted doughnut - and surprised several out-loud laughs from me. Good stuff, I'm going to see what else he's got.

One person found this helpful

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Aladeen

I was pretty unaware of the change in how pop music is ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2016

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I found this book to be extremely interesting. I am a little younger than John Seabrook but my dynamic with pop music is similar. I am a huge 40-something music fan who has been thrown back into "contemporary hits radio" via my kids emerging tastes. I was pretty unaware of the change in how pop music is currently made and this book unveils it all, especially interesting are the producers who make it all happen - Dennis POP (RIP), Dr. Luke, Max Martin and on. The book does a great job of being both a history lesson, a culture study with a bit of how-to manual thrown in. Who knew that most of what we hear on pop radio is produced by a collaborative of beat makers, "topliners", hook writers, bridge writers all under the watchful eye of these genius producers who get it all ready for the high wattage star to walk into that recording booth and DELIVER. Does an instrument ever get played in these studios? Kind of, it it quickly becomes 1s and 0s in the song machine where the real magic happens. Very interesting.

6 people found this helpful

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Despina

Stellar, Informative, Awesome, and Eye-opening!

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2016

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This book has literally changed the way I will now approach my songwriting. I could not put it down. In fact, even though I work insane hours (pay the bills job - sigh), I fully intend to read it again and take copious notes. There was a little bit of everything in this book from zeroing in on why hit songs work (track and hook with toplining) to incredible background information about those people who make it all happen. I couldn't help but think how useful it would be to diagram all of these individuals to see how they are all connected. So, that is also part of what I will do when I go back through it. Why you ask would I do all of this? Because first, I am recommending this book to all of the people in my "music" circle and second, I am going to approach my former professor at school to offer what is in these pages as a class. Maybe a 1 credit course to give the students in the music courses a true understanding of how it all works. Combine it with DAW instruction. If anyone out there is using a DAW, as I am, I am now approaching it a whole new way. Thank you for this book. A real treasure!!!!

3 people found this helpful

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B. Armstrong

Fascinating take on pop music the past few decades

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2022

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This edition was updated in 2016. I hope the author continues to update over time. Max Martin’s hot streak continues.

Includes origins of hit songs by Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, and more. The only limitations of this book is that some of it already feels a bit dated. Spotify and Apple Music are both massive now but had just begun at the time of publishing. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd continue to churn out hits to this day, and unfortunately their stories are not covered (yet). Great read all around! Find the playlist on Spotify!

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AaronHNahum

Interesting overview, wished for deeper reflection

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2015

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This book is a truly excellent overview of the current "hit factory" behind today's pop music. In all of this: history, movements, immediate affects, and some juicy stories, it's fantastic.

What it isn't, really, is deeply insightful into what all this means for music as an art-form, nor for artists themselves. Each time an insight comes ('it's noticeable that Taylor Swifts 1989 is her first album that could have been sung by anyone') it passes without any real reflection on this. What does this mean? How does an artist speak in this factory and is it even possible?

Were genuine artists ever speaking in popular music? Presumably so. What made those times so different? Was it just album sales? Etc...

Also, there is really only a passing mention of what it all means for actual musicians. Of course there's the standard "this is dying" stuff - but how are people adapting? What possibilities are there? And look, are any of these guys even good musicians? Dr Luke's utterly laughable analysis of a melody: Is that really the height of what the creatives know about music? It doesn't seem so, but then there's this final thing that isn't analyses:

None of these people - not the singers, not the labels, not the producers - are actually trying to make good music. They are trying to make "hot products" that will by nature flare up temporarily and then make way for the next thing. This is the opposite of an artist, isn't it?

So, while really enjoying this book, I wish there had been a lot more along these lines...

13 people found this helpful

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Emmanuel Durán Lozano

Buen libro para saber un poco más de la historia de la música pop

Reviewed in Mexico on August 30, 2020

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El libro llegó bastante bien y sin problemas, bueno solo con uno, que fue que la portada del libro (que es muy bonita) estuviera manchada, pero de ahí en fuera el libro es bastante bueno.
Tiene información de como bandas como ace of base y demás bandas pudieron llegar a ser geniales y demás. Si quieren saber cómo se hicieron las mejores canciones pop, y te gusta el pop, este libro es bastante bueno y entretenido :D

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Richard Rogers

Great condition

Reviewed in Germany on March 11, 2021

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book in great condition and delivery time was very quick.

Alejandra Pazo

Un libro maravilloso!

Reviewed in Spain on February 3, 2021

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Me ha encantado este libro. Me lo leí en 2 días. Muy interesante si te gusta la industria musical, y quieres ganar una visión más cercana de sus entresijos. Muy bien escrito, didáctico y trabajado. Totalmente recomendable!

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Christophe F

Super !

Reviewed in France on February 3, 2020

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Merci excellent bouquin comme j'aime à les lire

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