Appetite for Self-Destruction

Hardcover, 301 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2009 by Free Press.

ISBN:: 978-1-4165-5215-4

(2 reviews)

For the first time, Appetite for Self-Destruction recounts the epic story of the precipitous rise and fall of the recording industry over the past three decades, when the incredible success of the CD turned the music business into one of the most glamorous, high-profile industries in the world—and the advent of file sharing brought it to its knees.

In a comprehensive, fast-paced account full of larger-than-life personalities, Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper shows that, after the incredible wealth and excess of the '80s and '90s, Sony, Warner, and the other big players brought about their own downfall through years of denial and bad decisions in the face of dramatic advances in technology.

Big Music has been asleep at the wheel ever since Napster revolutionized the way music was distributed in the 1990s. Now, because powerful people like Doug Morris and Tommy Mottola failed to recognize the incredible potential of …

For the first time, Appetite for Self-Destruction recounts the epic story of the precipitous rise and fall of the recording industry over the past three decades, when the incredible success of the CD turned the music business into one of the most glamorous, high-profile industries in the world—and the advent of file sharing brought it to its knees.

In a comprehensive, fast-paced account full of larger-than-life personalities, Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper shows that, after the incredible wealth and excess of the '80s and '90s, Sony, Warner, and the other big players brought about their own downfall through years of denial and bad decisions in the face of dramatic advances in technology.

Big Music has been asleep at the wheel ever since Napster revolutionized the way music was distributed in the 1990s. Now, because powerful people like Doug Morris and Tommy Mottola failed to recognize the incredible potential of file-sharing technology, the labels are in danger of becoming completely obsolete. Knopper, who has been writing about the industry for more than ten years, has unparalleled access to those intimately involved in the music world's highs and lows. Based on interviews with more than two hundred music industry sources—from Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. to renegade Napster creator Shawn Fanning—Knopper is the first to offer such a detailed and sweeping contemporary history of the industry's wild ride through the past three decades. From the birth of the compact disc, through the explosion of CD sales in the '80s and '90s, the emergence of Napster, and the secret talks that led to iTunes, to the current collapse of the industry as CD sales plummet, Knopper takes us inside the boardrooms, recording studios, private estates, garage computer labs, company jets, corporate infighting, and secret deals of the big names and behind-the-scenes players who made it all happen.

With unforgettable portraits of the music world's mighty and formerly mighty; detailed accounts of both brilliant and stupid ideas brought to fruition or left on the cutting-room floor; the dish on backroom schemes, negotiations, and brawls; and several previously unreported stories, Appetite for Self-Destruction is a riveting, informative, and highly entertaining read. It offers a broad perspective on the current state of Big Music, how it got into these dire straits, and where it's going from here—and a cautionary tale for the digital age.

1 edition

mothlight reviewed Appetite for Self-Destruction by Steve Knopper

Review of 'Appetite for Self-Destruction' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Yes, at times this gets pretty heavy into how deals were made, but overall it is a pretty fascinating look at how the record industry has imploded over the last few decades. Not so much the music industry, which seems to be chugging along pretty well, but the industry which counted on nearly exponential growth forever.

He traces the initial fall, the death of disco nearly killing off the industry until MTV and CDs (both fought against by the industry) save them. CDs allow them to resell the same stuff all over again just in a new format and because it is shiny, they set the prices sky high (to recoop the retooling, suspiciously the prices never drop once the CD factories are built) and further screw over the artists with new contracts. Meanwhile, the record industry is floating sky high, which their faces buried in mountains of coke. Singles …

Yes, at times this gets pretty heavy into how deals were made, but overall it is a pretty fascinating look at how the record industry has imploded over the last few decades. Not so much the music industry, which seems to be chugging along pretty well, but the industry which counted on nearly exponential growth forever.

He traces the initial fall, the death of disco nearly killing off the industry until MTV and CDs (both fought against by the industry) save them. CDs allow them to resell the same stuff all over again just in a new format and because it is shiny, they set the prices sky high (to recoop the retooling, suspiciously the prices never drop once the CD factories are built) and further screw over the artists with new contracts. Meanwhile, the record industry is floating sky high, which their faces buried in mountains of coke. Singles are abandoned, forcing listeners to buy a $16 CD to get the one good song on it. Clear Channel raises its ugly head, turning radio into a wasteland of payola garbage.

Setting the stage for Napster and its unofficial repackaging of CDs into singles again. And mountains of lawsuits against their own customers. And so on. It is a fairly sad story, leaving the artists continually screwed over, first by the record industry then by Apple screwing everybody over with iTunes.

There are some rays of hope though. Artists learn that the record industry isn't always necessary, going directly to your fans might just be a good way to support yourself. The book ends in 2009 with change still in the air and an uncertain future. Likely music will survive but the record industry, with its unwillingness to accept a changing world, might not.

satyajit

rated it

Jan. 26, 2015

Subjects

Nonfiction
Music
History
Business