Off the Charts: Ruthless Days and Reckless Nights Inside the Music Industry [Hardcover]

Bruce Haring (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

This explosive expose examines the music industry from 1981 to the present, offering insights into the ways in which, despite the introduction of modern marketing techniques and corporate imaging, the music industry has remained, for the most part, a shell game played by hustlers. of photos.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr; First Printing edition (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559723165
• ISBN-13: 978-1559723169
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,011,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, invaluable source of hard info on the biz, December 19, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Off the Charts: Ruthless Days and Reckless Nights Inside the Music Industry (Hardcover)

Haring has brought the music business into a chilling new light with Off The Charts. Even people in the business 10+ years will be astonished at the scams and politics running rampant in the upper echelons of the music industry. Haring details key episodes in the evolution of music as big business, many with retrospective commentary from the big players themselves and from those close to the action. While the book may leave you stunned and disillusioned, it is encumbent on the reader to arm him/herself with this blood and guts reality before planning a strategy to reach the difficult goal of acheiving success in the music business. Great book, especially for independent label owners and independent artists.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard-To-Believe Stories of Inside the Music Bix, October 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Off the Charts: Ruthless Days and Reckless Nights Inside the Music Industry (Hardcover)

This book sure makes the record biz look crooked!! Chief culprits appear to be moguls like Charles Koppeman, who inflated the "value" of their companies before selling them at incredible profit and political-animal/corporate types who never gave a hang about the music, but only the bottom line. If all Bruce Haring writes is true, it's one heck of a cesspool filled with sharks - no wonder I don't get anywhere near the royalties to which I'm entitled!! This book chronicles a VERY sick industry! Makes putting out your own CD on your own label seem like the only sensible thing to do, if you don't want to get eaten alive!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Limited in its scope, November 22, 2001

By 

Thaddeus Wert (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Off the Charts: Ruthless Days and Reckless Nights Inside the Music Industry (Hardcover)

I was expecting a book that examined the faults and failings of the music business in general. While this is an excellent example of reporting the business deals that went down in the mid to late 80s, it focuses on EMI primarily. I would have liked learning more about David Geffen's dealings, and the CBS/Sony merger. However, Haring shines some much-needed light on a shady business. Given the notorious secretiveness of the industry, this is probably the best we can hope for.