The Trouble with Music

by Mat Callahan, Boff Whalley (Introduction), Iain Mackay (Introduction)

There is a crisis facing music. The signs are everywhere, from the saturation of public space by tuneful trivia to the digital downloading controversy. Quantity has replaced quality. The number of units sold is now the criteria by which music is judged and high-gloss, mass-produced, low-content music is everywhere. You can’t shop, eat, ride a bus or see a movie without hearing it as each day you are inundated with enticements to buy it. Like the replacement of essential nutriment by junk food, music lovers are expected to surrender their critical faculties and consume the phony McMusic that can be more effectively controlled and profitably sold than the genuine article. Callahan unravels and elucidates the crises facing music as well as its liberatory potential. The Trouble with Music includes discussions technology and its effects on music making and listening; superabundance and the absence of critical thought; the development of radio; music criticism; copyright; the digital domain and the Internet; labor and music making; and the special relationships among words, dance, politics and music. A large segment of the general public seeks a relationship to music and an exceptional profit for those who own and control it. Callahan provides a means of evaluating music and a powerful critique of the music industry. Whether you whistle at work, sing in the shower or conduct concertos, this book will challenge and enhance how you think about music. Includes introductions by musician and Dischord Records founder, Ian Mackaye; Rock and Rap Confidential editor, Dave Marsh; and an afterward by Boff, from the multimillion selling group Chumbawamba. Mat Callahan has been a composer, musician, engineer and producer for 40 years.

Genres: Music

200 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not written like a novel or a story. It is a well thought out thesis full of footnotes, facts, and statistical knowledge. It also includes Mat Callahan's lifetime worth of theories and personal thoughts. The conclusions and arguments Callahan presents as a solution to the trouble with the music industry offer a possibility for what the future may hold. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the challenges that confront the business aspects of the music industry and the livelihood of a current musicians. I wrote a longer review at The Wheel's Still In Spin.

[Megan Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book arrived as part of my “friends of akpress? shipment a few months ago, and is a must-read for musicians and artists seeking some analysis about the damage corporatization has done to the creation of authentic, community-driven music over the past few decades. mat callahan writes as a person with decades of experience as a musician, composer and music producer which gives his ideas about where things have gone addition emphasis.