Song Machine Audiobook By John Seabrook cover art

Song Machine

Inside the Hit Factory

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Song Machine

By: John Seabrook
Narrated by: Dion Graham
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Over the last two decades, a new type of song has emerged. Today's hits bristle with "hooks", musical burrs designed to snag your ear every seven seconds. Painstakingly crafted to tweak the brain's delight in melody, rhythm, and repetition, these songs are industrial-strength products made for malls, casinos, the gym, and the Super Bowl halftime show. The tracks are so catchy and so potent that you can't not listen to them.

Traveling from New York to Los Angeles, Stockholm to Korea, John Seabrook visits specialized teams composing songs in digital labs with novel techniques, and he traces the growth of these contagious hits from their origins in early '90s Sweden to their ubiquity on today's charts. Featuring the stories of artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Rihanna as well as expert songsmiths like Max Martin, Ester Dean, and Dr. Luke, The Song Machine will change the way you listen to music.

©2015 John Seabrook. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Business Aspects Entertainment & Performing Arts Music Popular Culture Social Sciences Thought-Provoking Business
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Critic reviews

"This is a fascinating tale about an amazing phenomenon: how hits get made. John Seabrook combines a love of music and an appreciation for personalities to take us on a starry journey from Stockholm and London to New York and Orlando showing how creativity gets discovered, polished, and packaged. His book is a triumph of great writing and reporting, and the lessons reverberate far beyond the world of music." (Walter Isaacson, author of The Innovators and Steve Jobs)
"Beneath the surface of today's pop music lies an industrial process as rigorous and bizarre as the one perfected by McDonald's. Seabrook shows what it takes to make a hit in a book that's beautifully written, revelatory, funny, and full of almost unbelievable details." (Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Command and Control)
"Anyone who wants to understand how the clash of cultures has shaped what we listen to should read this important book. John Seabrook has a marvelous ear for language - and perfect pitch when it comes to music journalism." (Bob Spitz, author of The Beatles: The Biography)

Featured Article: Turn Up the Volume—These Are the Best Listens for Music Fans


There’s nothing quite like the electricity that flows through the crowd at a concert: from the moment the lights come up on stage to the amazing sense of communal energy, it’s an experience unlike any other. So it's been a painful few months for fans, musicians, and venues as the pandemic upended album releases, festivals, concert tours, and other events. These listens offer a much-needed dose of the rhythm, artistry, and melodies you might be missing.

Featured Article Turn Up the Volume These Are the Best Listens for Music Fans
Fascinating Industry Insights • Comprehensive Music History • Excellent Narration • Engaging Storytelling • Natural Tone

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Very captivating book about the people behind pop hits. An excellent read if you find songwriting and the process behind hit making interesting.

Loved it!

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I know it is probably hard due to the rights, but this books with song snippets would be just perfect. Otherwise great story and read very nicely. Although sometimes when the narrator was doing women voices it was a bit much.

Imagine this book, but with real songs

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Lots of great info here told in a journalistic way. I am an artist/songwriter and I found the information here very enlightening in confirming my own beliefs and experiences in the music industry. Although some parts lagged, there are some truly engaging parts in the book such as the anecdotes about the rise of boy bands and the Swedish pop takeover.

I would highly recommend it as a good resource for up and coming songwriters to get them familiar with the history of the industry they are about to embark upon. It is also a good read for the casual music fan, but might be a lacking in excitement for the non-technical music lay person.

Music history in a nutshell

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A great book for anyone who is interested in the Pop music industry.
very interesting stories and good story telling.

Great book!

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I've read several books on the music industry and on hit songwriting, but none has ever provided as many real world examples, valuable insights into the lives of the people who are actually out there leading this industry, meaningful stories involving important personalities, and above all... Tying them into the context of each chapter and extracting the useful points to be learned from each. I will be listening to this book many more times from now, because now i feel like I understand the industry better than ever, and find myself empowered on this knowledge. This is also my first audiobook review here. After so many books I finally struck gold with this one.

Best

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