Overview

Cowboys and Indies is the definitive record-business bible, chronicling the pioneers who set the stylus on the most important labels and musical discoveries of the last century. The narrative follows all the musical trends and developments from the phonograph to the Internet age as it delves behind the big business of corporate hit machines and the diligent industry of small, curated labels. Drawing from memoirs, archives, and over one hundred exclusive interviews with legends of the record industry-including the founders and CEOs of Virgin, United Artists, Atlantic, and A&M Records-this book reveals the secrets behind the hit-making craft. Cowboys and Indies focuses on the game changers-the indie founders, talent scouts, legendary A&R men-believers who understood the music business was two distinct parts: first music, then business. An industry insider himself, Gareth Murphy culls numerous behind-the-scenes anecdotes to bring together a clear genealogical map of the record industry's 130-year international history. Among its revelations, Cowboys and Indies highlights the remarkable similarities between the industry crash of the 1920s and '30s and the recent CD crash. Witty and evocative, Cowboys and Indies offers a fresh panoramic view of the cycles and grooves of pop music and is sure to top the charts with music industry classics like Hitmaker and The Mansion on the Hill.

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9781483020600

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Reviews

Just when you thought the record label beast was dead and buried, along comes Gareth Murphy with a tour de force that makes you almost want to dance with that devil again. Through Cowboys and Indies, new artists will get a sense of history that will enlighten their success and lessen the pain of being ripped off! -- Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones producer and founder of Immediate Records Thought I knew everything about the music business. Must admit, I learned quite a bit inside these pages. Highly recommended! -- Seymour Stein, cofounder and chairman of Sire Records In his first book, freelance writer and record producer Murphy captures the ever-changing nature of the record industry as it ebbs and flows with trends, technology, and time...Through setting out to document the lineage of the record industry, which he's done, Murphy has as well created a history of popular music told from the inside out to give music fans and historians a new and dynamic perspective of this oft-covered topic. -- Publishers Weekly This is a straight-ahead chronological history of the record business-the performers and 'record men' in America and the UK-from early innovations in sound technology to the present...There are enough gems and oddities (a brawl between the burly Grossman and Alan Lomax; the Beatles first experiences smoking marijuana, when meeting Dylan; and, apparently unrelatedly, a quite funny misunderstanding of Beatles' lyrics by Dylan) to make the book an enjoyable...addition to the musical bookshelf. -- Booklist Record labels, at their best, are invariably driven by the taste, the personality, and the ambition of one man, or woman-this book fascinatingly charts their course, their perversity, their bloody-mindedness. It's those men, those labels, that found and broke the artists who have created our musical world. -- Martin Mills, founder of the Beggars Group Spectacular, compelling, evocative-this book places you at the heart of the record industry's defining moments. Far more than recounting the history, it's an artful and long-overdue look at the fantastic characters, companies, and shifting cultures that have given birth to the soundtrack of modern life. Essential reading. -- Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records Cowboys and Indies passionately tells the story of those driven individuals who trusted their own taste and instincts and, in turning a deaf ear to the commonplace, gave shape to the world of modern music. Essential reading! -- Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records If this book was a group, I would definitely sign them. It is that good. -- Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade Records

If this book was a group, I would definitely sign them. It is that good. -- Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade Records Cowboys and Indies passionately tells the story of those driven individuals who trusted their own taste and instincts and, in turning a deaf ear to the commonplace, gave shape to the world of modern music. Essential reading! -- Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records Spectacular, compelling, evocative-this book places you at the heart of the record industry's defining moments. Far more than recounting the history, it's an artful and long-overdue look at the fantastic characters, companies, and shifting cultures that have given birth to the soundtrack of modern life. Essential reading. -- Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records Record labels, at their best, are invariably driven by the taste, the personality, and the ambition of one man, or woman-this book fascinatingly charts their course, their perversity, their bloody-mindedness. It's those men, those labels, that found and broke the artists who have created our musical world. -- Martin Mills, founder of the Beggars Group This is a straight-ahead chronological history of the record business-the performers and 'record men' in America and the UK-from early innovations in sound technology to the present...There are enough gems and oddities (a brawl between the burly Grossman and Alan Lomax; the Beatles first experiences smoking marijuana, when meeting Dylan; and, apparently unrelatedly, a quite funny misunderstanding of Beatles' lyrics by Dylan) to make the book an enjoyable...addition to the musical bookshelf. -- Booklist In his first book, freelance writer and record producer Murphy captures the ever-changing nature of the record industry as it ebbs and flows with trends, technology, and time...Through setting out to document the lineage of the record industry, which he's done, Murphy has as well created a history of popular music told from the inside out to give music fans and historians a new and dynamic perspective of this oft-covered topic. -- Publishers Weekly Thought I knew everything about the music business. Must admit, I learned quite a bit inside these pages. Highly recommended! -- Seymour Stein, cofounder and chairman of Sire Records Just when you thought the record label beast was dead and buried, along comes Gareth Murphy with a tour de force that makes you almost want to dance with that devil again. Through Cowboys and Indies, new artists will get a sense of history that will enlighten their success and lessen the pain of being ripped off! -- Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones producer and founder of Immediate Records

"Cowboys and Indies passionately tells the story of those driven individuals who trusted their own taste and instincts and, in turning a deaf ear to the commonplace, gave shape to the world of modern music. Essential reading! -- ""Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records"" If this book was a group, I would definitely sign them. It is that good. -- ""Geoff Travis, founder of Rough Trade Records"" In his first book, freelance writer and record producer Murphy captures the ever-changing nature of the record industry as it ebbs and flows with trends, technology, and time...Through setting out to document the lineage of the record industry, which he's done, Murphy has as well created a history of popular music told from the inside out to give music fans and historians a new and dynamic perspective of this oft-covered topic. -- ""Publishers Weekly"" Just when you thought the record label beast was dead and buried, along comes Gareth Murphy with a tour de force that makes you almost want to dance with that devil again. Through Cowboys and Indies, new artists will get a sense of history that will enlighten their success and lessen the pain of being ripped off! -- ""Andrew Loog Oldham, Rolling Stones producer and founder of Immediate Records"" Record labels, at their best, are invariably driven by the taste, the personality, and the ambition of one man, or woman-this book fascinatingly charts their course, their perversity, their bloody-mindedness. It's those men, those labels, that found and broke the artists who have created our musical world. -- ""Martin Mills, founder of the Beggars Group"" Spectacular, compelling, evocative-this book places you at the heart of the record industry's defining moments. Far more than recounting the history, it's an artful and long-overdue look at the fantastic characters, companies, and shifting cultures that have given birth to the soundtrack of modern life. Essential reading. -- ""Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records"" This is a straight-ahead chronological history of the record business-the performers and 'record men' in America and the UK-from early innovations in sound technology to the present...There are enough gems and oddities (a brawl between the burly Grossman and Alan Lomax; the Beatles first experiences smoking marijuana, when meeting Dylan; and, apparently unrelatedly, a quite funny misunderstanding of Beatles' lyrics by Dylan) to make the book an enjoyable...addition to the musical bookshelf. -- ""Booklist"" Thought I knew everything about the music business. Must admit, I learned quite a bit inside these pages. Highly recommended! -- ""Seymour Stein, cofounder and chairman of Sire Records"""

Author Information

Gareth Murphy was raised in Dublin surrounded by music and the musicians his father worked with as a concert promoter. A graduate of University College Dublin, Murphy has worked at various record companies and has produced thirty electronic compilations. Composing and producing original music, he is a freelance writer and researcher for journals and think tanks. He lives in Paris with his wife and son. Ralph Lister is an actor, voice actor, and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. He spent fifteen years in London theater before moving to the United States to focus on film and television. He has held numerous roles in Shakespeare and modern dramas, as well as starring roles in independent films. His voice and character work can be heard in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearland 13 Going On 30. He lives in Los Angeles.

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