Playback

by Coleman, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780306809842
• ISBN10: 0306809842
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-07
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr

Summary

Suddenly, popular music resembles an alien landscape. The great common ground of 45s, LPs, and even compact discs is rapidly falling by the wayside to be replaced by binary bits of sound. In the 21st century, radical advances in music technology threaten to overshadow the music itself. Indeed, today the generations divide over how they listen to the music, not what kinds of music they enjoy.Playback is the first book to place the staggering history of sound reproduction within its larger social and cultural context. Concisely told via a narrative arc that begins with Edison's cylinder and ends with digital music, this is a history that we have all directly experienced in one way or another. From the Victrola to the 78 to the 45 to the 33 1/3 to the 8track to the cassette to the compact disc to MP3 and beyond (not to mention everyone from Thomas Edison to Enrico Caruso to Dick Clark to Grandmaster Flash to Napster CEO Shawn Fanning), the story of Playback is also the story of music, and the music business, in the 20th century.

Author Biography

Mark Coleman is a journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, Details, New York Newsday, the Village Voice, and Mojo, among others. He was a contributor to The Rolling Stone Album Guide and lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xiii
Magic in a Tin Can	p. 1
War on Canned Music	p. 29
Low Road to High Fidelity	p. 51
Ponytail Ribbons, Popsicles, and Peanut Brittle	p. 71
Dreaming in Stereo	p. 93
Last Dance	p. 115
Adventures on Wheels of Steel	p. 135
Sudden Death of the Record	p. 155
Canned Music's Last Stand	p. 177
Select Bibliography	p. 209
Index	p. 223
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