MUSC 200 Lecture 1 Outline of Current Lecture I. TPAII. TPA & Its Social Contexta. Early Marketingb. Start of the Music IndustryIII. TPA & New Media TechnologyCurrent LectureTin Pan Alley: group of publishing companies in NYC; published sheet music in early 1890’s-1920o These companies shaped how we think about music; definition of “owning” music; influenced music circulationo Intellectual property: copyrighting is a part of this…one owns & can sell music, an idea, etc.o TPA is at the center of this at the starto 1890’s-1940’s: music industry dominated by TPA publishing houses (sold sheet music)TPA & Its Social Contexto Tin Pan Alley did NOT directly lead to rock & rollo TPA was actually against blues & rock music b/c they thought they were dumb & simplistic But there are elements of TPA in rocksome musical link Cause of some social turmoilo America in 1890’s:o Agrarianurban/industrial economy Growth in the middle & working classes (white & blue collar), esp. in urban areas (specialization; assembly line)o Technological changes, esp. communication technology Cylinder recordings, radios, music Music industry followed suit w/ industrializationo *Marketing was a fairly new concept Hired people to GENERATE NEED for a particular product TPA heavily marketed to middle & working class in cities Manipulated individuals for industry use- Government aided music industry in juxtaposition to other industries- Government & industry tightly intertwined w/ development of capitalismo Music is turned into an industry w/ the boom of capitalism Industrialization of music – intuitive or not?- Makes sense w/ modernization & capitalism; the wealthy were those who had access to “good” music originally Late 19th Century: emergence of industrial capitalism- Shaped music & gave rise to TPA (1890’s – 1st emergence)o NYC emerges as nation’s financial capital in mid-1890’s Manhattan Island (floating in the Hudson River)- Mid-town (residential) at the middle of the island- Southernmost point of the island was Wall Street- North of Mid-town used to be open land w/ farms; housing developed as NYC grew financiallyinstallation of trains & subways Mid-town converted into offices of music publishing companies (b/c of TPA)- NYC now has an entertainment industry Name origin: musicians in hot cubicles were banging away at pianos & silencing them w/ threads & papers- “It sounds like 1,000 people banging on tin pans!”o Music publishers scattered throughout the country; TPA was located in NYC TPA decided to focus on selling single-piece music sheets w/ a certain style b/c they decided that was the most profitable practice- TPA made sure their houses dominated scales & became music powerhouseso *TPA rose to power w/ kickass marketing Publishers had artists write songs that targeted the middle class Piano ownership became a mark of affluence- Reed organ = the next best thing! *TPA chose a specific audience (the middle class) & solely, intensely targeted them- Sentimental songs, romantic songs (pure love), general morality songs, cheerful songs, weepy ballad (occasionally)- *Music reflects PART of the time; made for PART of the populationo TPA targeted a BROAD audienceo *Vaudeville: dominant form of entertainment in 19th century; people who did outlandish (variety) performances in large, inexpensive theatres Big chunk of Vaudeville was comprised of singers- Controlled by:1. Keith Alby on E. Coast2. Orpheum on W. Coasto Both groups controlled Vaudeville operation across the U.S. TPA saw the need for a deal w/ these big dogs- Locked TPA into control by distributing songs- Still cranked out parlor music, but also started racier, lower class o *Song plugging: “plug” from TPAto push/promote/market Full-time song pluggers were aggressive & ruthless about getting their music out there (literally pulled people off the streets; went to bars, stores, houses, etc. as well; paid people to play their music; paid shills: people paid to “like” music & show their enthusiasm); handed out sheets w/ song lyrics to promote music (catchy jingle) Deceptive plugging CREATED a market- The popular songs were the result of careful industrial marketingTPA & New Media Technologyo Tension between old-school publishers & new mediao TPA made sure they dominated New Mediao W/ emergence of new technologies for distributing music came TPA’s need to dominate that as wello Sound recording technology developed End of 19th century: records made (cylinders)- Turn of century: quality “eh, ok…”o TPA did not use cylinders for awhile…until they saw the market for cylinders Nobody else can make money off music when TPA is around!o 1909: Congress passed copyright law saying every time a record is manufactured, 2¢ must be paid to the PUBLISHER of the songo No rational basis for thiso Money flowed to the