Bibliograph

Pop song piracy, disobedient music distribution since 1929, Barry Kernfeld

Type

Label

Pop song piracy, disobedient music distribution since 1929, Barry Kernfeld

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-263) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Pop song piracy

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

672300127

Responsibility statement

Barry Kernfeld

Sub title

disobedient music distribution since 1929

Summary

"The music industry's ongoing battle against digital piracy is just the latest skirmish in a long conflict over who has the right to distribute music. Starting with music publishers' efforts to stamp out bootleg compilations of lyric sheets in 1929, Barry Kernfeld's Pop Song Piracy details nearly a century of disobedient music distribution from song sheets to MP3s. In the 1940s and '50s, Kernfeld reveals, song sheets were succeeded by fake books, unofficial volumes of melodies and lyrics for popular songs that were a key tool for musicians. Music publishers attempted to wipe out fake books, but after their efforts proved unsuccessful they published their own. Pop Song Piracy shows that this pattern of disobedience, prohibition, and assimilation recurred in each conflict over unauthorized music distribution, from European pirate radio stations to bootlegged live shows. Beneath this pattern, Kernfeld argues, there exists a complex give and take between distribution methods that merely copy existing songs (such as counterfeit CDs) and ones that transform songs into new products (such as file sharing). Ultimately, he contends, it was the music industry's persistent lagging behind in creating innovative products that led to the very piracy it sought to eliminate"--Provided by publisher

Table Of Contents

Printed music. Tin Pan Alley's near-perfect distribution system -- Bootlegging song sheets -- The content and uses of song sheets -- Fake books and music photocopying -- Broadcasting. Pirate radio in Northwestern Europe -- Recordings. Illegal copying of phonograph records -- Illegal copying of tapes -- Bootleg albums as unauthorized new releases -- Illegal copying of compact discs -- Song sharing

resource.variantTitle

Disobedient music distribution since 1929

Classification