The Song Machine

August 10, 2015
Traveling from Sweden and South Korea to Los Angeles and New York for interviews with a wide array of songwriters, producers, and artists, New Yorker writer Seabrook tunefully delivers a soulful refrain on the multilayered process of building hit songs today. He profiles Soo-Man Lee, founder of SM Entertainment and architect of K-pop, who created a manual detailing steps necessary to establish a winning artist: which chord progressions to use in songs, which camera angles for videos, and when to import foreign producers or choreographers. Denniz Pop’s vision of making the hits involves using a factory of Swedish songwriters who would create hits for British and American acts, combining the beat-driven music people danced to in clubs with the pop music people listened to on the radio. Seabrook also profiles Lou Pearlman, who engineered the Backstreet Boys and mismanaged their careers, and Britney Spears and Rhianna, examining the formulas for their pop successes. Seabrook almost giddily explores the ways that hit songs hook the listener when the “rhythm, sound, melody, and harmony converge to create a single ecstatic moment, felt more in the body than in the head.”

September 15, 2015

New Yorker staff writer Seabrook (Nobrow) presents an engaging narrative of modern pop music, documenting the highs and lows of the industry, its artists, and how hits become hits. With a focus on the American charts, he delves into songwriting teams and the way they--rather than artists--have driven creative vision. These hitmakers include Cheiron, Stargate, and Dr. Luke, as well as Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin, whose impact on the last two decades of pop music is indisputable (with over 20 U.S. Billboard No. 1 songs to his name). Seabrook also documents the rise of specific artists, such as Rihanna and Katy Perry, in fantastic detail. The scandals are there, too, including Lou Pearlman's troubles with the Backstreet Boys (their contract named him as manager and sixth member), the conflict between Kelly Clarkson and Clive Davis over her songwriting, and Ke$ha and Dr. Luke's falling-out (she accused him of sexual assault). It's big business as well--Seabrook notes that "ninety percent of the revenues in the record business come from ten percent of the songs." He further examines the evolving nature of singles artists as songs replace albums in importance; the still-important place of radio in hit making; and the future with streaming music. VERDICT This clever, lively, and well-researched book is essential for pop fans. [See Prepub Alert, 5/4/15; also featured in "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/15, p. 32]--Amanda Mastrull, Library Journal

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