The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory

by John Seabrook

As a drummer he had started playing on records when he was thirteen, and planned to be a session musician. But Mary Ann convinced her son to learn music production, because the horizons were higher. (Good call, Mom—producers would put session drummers out of business.)

A producer is vulnerable to changing fashions in pop music in a way the topliners are not. A great melody is timeless.

Rihanna, radiant in a floor-length Gucci gown, rose to acknowledge the industry crowd’s warm applause, while Brown, handsome as sin in a black leather jacket and tie, beamed up at the beautiful face he was about to beat to a pulp.

Part of the problem was her breasts. As a girl, she had prayed for big ones, and when He generously bestowed on her a splendid pair, she had briefly considered breast reduction. But eventually she decided to display them proudly onstage (after all, they were His), in tight tops that probably caused some single guys in the audience to regret their promise rings.

single. It didn’t sell, but the song generated a lot of controversy, both from Perry’s former fans in the Christian music world, and from gay groups (offending two such philosophically opposed communities with the same song takes some doing) and the publicity helped Perry get noticed.

The buzz over the controversy gave “Brave” a second chance on the charts, and it became a much bigger hit than it was the first time, featured in Microsoft tablet commercials, presumably because it took real bravery to purchase hardware from the creators of the Windows Phone and the Zune.

Apple Music, of course, might not be sustainable either, but it is hardly more than a rounding error for Apple.

“I sort of wish you hadn’t told me this stuff,” he said, when we talked after the book came out. “It’s kind of disillusioning.”