How Music Works by David Byrne
This is the second book I've read this year by a musician. The first, by Pete Townshend, was mostly a memoir. Townshend was already a musical superstar by the time I was becoming acquainted with pop music. David Byrne however, saw his star rise when my interest in pop music was at its climax -- late teens, early 20's. As someone more from "my generation," I've maintained a strong affinity for Byrne and others of this era.
That's not to say I wallow in nostalgia for days of Talking Heads gone by. Byrne, like Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, has remained very active in music, even though the days of large stadium shows has long passed him by. If your tastes venture beyond Top-40 or American Idol, then when David Bryne talks, it's worth taking the time to listen.
How Music Works is a chimera of a book. In parts, Bryne does explain the evolution of music from primitive man, and how it functions on a subconscious level. This ground has already been recently covered by Alex Ross in his excellent book "The Rest is Noise," which is duly credited by Bryne. But of greatest interest to me was how the industry works -- and how it evolved from a label-centric distribution model to today's internet free-for-all. Bryne tells us about the finance of the business -- how in the day of the label, bands might be courted with private planes and mountains of cocaine, but all of that expense was applied against advances given to artists, and in many cases, blockbuster albums could net little or no profit. The real money is in song credits that could provide perpetual income. In this, Byrne has done quite well for himself, well enough to eke out a career in music with the resources to conduct his own financial experiments in music distribution. He has discovered the label no longer plays a pivotal role for artists seeking a profit. A label can create greater exposure, but at greater cost. When the artist can keep a majority of profits from the get-go, as long as he has some following, a decent wage can be earned. Byrne explains that today, the means to create a top-notch recording are within the means of anyone so inclined with a PC and skills. This also cuts down or eliminates recording studio expense (many famous studios have been shuttering their doors of late).
And of course, we get anecdotes from Byrne's colorful career. We learn about the inner-workings of that magical New York nightclub, CBGB, and how the likes of The Ramones, Blondie, Patty Smith, and The Talking Heads all rose from neighborhood rats to international prominence, ostensibly on the wave of punk rock, although in the case of The Talking Heads, they never really fit the canonical punk motif.
While I'd often pick up a new David Byrne CD when I noticed one was out, I never closely followed his career. One thing I found interesting was that three years ago (2010) he released a double-CD set (recorded with Fat Boy Slim) where the lyrics were based on the testimony of former Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos wife Imelda during their corruption trials It was intended to be the soundtrack to a musical, which apparently will be put on in New York sometime this year. Might be a good excuse for a road trip.