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Does anyone know where I can learn more about this microcosm?

• tomcam 3y ago
  That’s a great question. I had to learn about it indirectly, gathering bits and pieces from novels of the time and offhand mentions in Beatles biographies.
• TheOtherHobbes 3y ago
  Search for Vaudeville and Music Hall. They were the Victorian precursors of pop, with their own superstars, top-selling writers, and classic songs - now mostly forgotten. There's quite a bit of Music Hall in McCartney's songs. (Lennon called it "That granny crap.") One of the reasons copyright exists in the form it does is because many Victorian houses had pianos. Without recording technology there was a huge, incredibly profitable market for sheet music of light classics and music hall hits that could be played at home. There's also a series of books by Simon Napier-Bell, who used to be a famous (notorious) pop manager in the 70s to 90s. Three of them are hilarious and frequently disturbing autobiographies and comments on the business. The fourth is Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay, an almost academic account of the music business from the early 18th century. There are some real surprises, and also a lot that's surprisingly familiar.
  • tomcam 3y ago
    Can't wait to read these, thanks. Your answer was so much better than mine!
  • acqq 3y ago
    > The fourth is Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay, an almost academic account of the music business from the early 18th century. https://unbound.com/books/ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay/ https://unbound.com/books/ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay/ As much as 44 Chapters, where Chapter 1 starts in 1710 ("a law protecting an author’s rights in his written work – the Statute of Anne") and Chapter 2 is already 19th Century ("The Beginning Of Records")
    • tomcam 3y ago
      Reading Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay. Thrilling, and all of $4 to purchase on Unbound.