Rating: 
Summary: You Will Want to Read the Sequel
Review: If you possess even a passing interest in the music industry or a general fondness for a good character story, you should run out and buy this book! Dannen tells a story that most of the public wouldn't even imagine is possible in the modern business world. The music business is clearly not for the faint of heart, and Dannen wants to make sure that we know it. This tale of rampant ambition, greed, back-stabbing, and arrogance is gripping from the opening chapter. The real miracle is how captivating the book remains while spending so little time discussing the people we normally associate with those charateristics... THE STARS! The American music buying public could be all wrong about where the entertainment lives... Everyone who reads the book will be blown away by the amount of research involved. You might find a few quotes or statements that you just won't believe, but you need only flip to the back and search for the page number to find a note regarding the real-life source. Dannen's research is meticulous, and we have to be grateful for all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into producing this work. I have only one recommendation on improving the book: Illustration! The complex web of companies that own or operate other companies... who works where and when... which lawyer worked at what firm... who waged war against who and their tactics... I wanted to take out sketch paper and start charting the history. A few illustrations for the reader to reference would have made Hit Men an even more incredible read.
Rating:
Summary: You Will Want to Read the Sequel
Review: If you possess even a passing interest in the music industry or a general fondness for a good character story, you should run out and buy this book! Dannen tells a story that most of the public wouldn't even imagine is possible in the modern business world. The music business is clearly not for the faint of heart, and Dannen wants to make sure that we know it. This tale of rampant ambition, greed, back-stabbing, and arrogance is gripping from the opening chapter. The real miracle is how captivating the book remains while spending so little time discussing the people we normally associate with those charateristics... THE STARS! The American music buying public could be all wrong about where the entertainment lives... Everyone who reads the book will be blown away by the amount of research involved. You might find a few quotes or statements that you just won't believe, but you need only flip to the back and search for the page number to find a note regarding the real-life source. Dannen's research is meticulous, and we have to be grateful for all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into producing this work. I have only one recommendation on improving the book: Illustration! The complex web of companies that own or operate other companies... who works where and when... which lawyer worked at what firm... who waged war against who and their tactics... I wanted to take out sketch paper and start charting the history. A few illustrations for the reader to reference would have made Hit Men an even more incredible read.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read, whether or not you work in the music biz.
Review: Maybe the best book ever written about the music business. It's a fast-paced and factually accurate account of the radio and record businesses from their entrepeneurial roots through their emergences as big businesses. You'll never listen to the radio or look at the charts the same way again.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun
Review: Not only is this a really fun read, but its a great history of the music business. Anyone looking to get into the industry should read this and Passmans book before they do anything else. This gives you a feel for all the players and how the game is played.
Rating:
Summary: TOUR DE FORCE!!!!!!
Review: Powerful Book&even more on Point considering what Michael Jackson is going through with Sony&TOmmy Mottola.this Book takes on many things from the past,present&future.this Book details Label heads from Past Era's to Now.Very Detailed on the Ends&Outs of this trip out Business.PAYOLA which still Runs the Radio&Video Game.this Book Details the Monopoly The Business has on different things.Very Upfront&Honest.nothing though Surprised me however.alot of GLassy-Eyed Racals in that Business.
Rating:
Summary: Very necessary for the Hip Hop Entrepreneur
Review: This book is one that we at nichemarket recommend highly in our Booklist for any Hip Hop Entrepreneur serious about a career in the music industry! True accounts of the often seedy underside of the music industry!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but can a little dull in spots
Review: This book offers an interesting look at the music industry from the mid-60s to the early 90's. Many of the characters are fairly unsavory. While fairly interesting for the most part some sections seemed to get a little bogged down in listing too many characters.
Rating:
Summary: Great insider's look at the dark underside of the music biz!
Review: This is a very eye-opening book, about how money and drugs changes hands to determine which new artists get played on the radio and who doesn't. There's really no other book out there that covers this topic. Written by an industry insider.
Rating:
Summary: Great historical log of the early years of the music busines
Review: This is a very good book if you want to know how the music business got to where it is today. As a young kid aspiring to be a record executive it helped me know what type of characters and situations I will be dealing with.
Rating:
Summary: So, we've got the Mob to "thank" for Culture Club?
Review: This is an extremely well-researched and well-documented look into the popular music business from the days of Alan Freed to the end of Walter Yentikoff's reign at Sony/Columbia. It helps that the subject is so darn entertaining and seedier than you probably would have guessed...otherwise this might have been sluggish reading, but it actually moves rather quickly. Of course the end result is to frighten anyone who might actually believe that pop hits on the radio have much to do with the actual songs themselves. The narrative ends in the early 90's and if I could rate this book 4.5 stars instead of five, I would...because it could use an update chapter in its next edition. Other than that, I'd recommend it heartily to anyone who cares about why their favorite new song never gets played on the radio.
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