Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music [Hardcover]

Greg Kot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2009

A decade ago the vast majority of mainstream music was funneled through a handful of media conglomerates. Now, more people are listening to more music from a greater variety of sources than at any time in history. And big corporations such as Viacom, Clear Channel, and Sony are no longer the sole gatekeepers and distributors, their monopoly busted by a revolution -- an uprising led by bands and fans networking on the Internet. Ripped tells the story of how the laptop generation created a new grassroots music industry, with the fans and bands rather than the corporations in charge. In this new world, bands aren't just musicmakers but self-contained multimedia businesses; and fans aren't just consumers but distributors and even collaborators.

As the Web popularized bands and albums that previously would have been relegated to obscurity, innovative artists -- from Prince to Death Cab for Cutie -- started coming up with, and stumbling into, alternative ways of getting their music out to fans. Live music took on an even more significant role. TV shows and commercials emerged as great places to hear new tunes. Sample-based composition and mash-ups leapfrogged ahead of the industry's, and the law's, ability to keep up with them. Then, in 2007, Radiohead released an album exclusively on the Internet and allowed customers to name their own price, including $0.00. Radiohead's "it's up to you" marketing coup seized on a concept the old music industry had forgotten: the customer is always right.

National radio host and critically acclaimed music journalist Greg Kot masterfully chronicles this story of how we went from $17.99 to $0.00 in less than a decade. It's a fascinating tale of backward thinking, forward thinking, and the power of music.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In what has become a growing field, Kot's account of the music industry's massive struggles and glimmers of success in the digital age stands out for its sturdily constructed prose and command of up-to-date facts. The narrative moves chronologically from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, pivoting deftly from such subjects as the havoc deregulation wreaked on mainstream radio, the recording industry's attempted shock and awe–style crackdown on downloading and the recent pay-what-you-want online selling model pioneered by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. One of Kot's great strengths is that he is an able and passionate chronicler of the independent labels, musicians and critics whose rise in influence has been the definite upside of the old power structure's collapse. Kot gives us the first essential, critical account of the ever-expanding reach of the indie music Web site Pitchfork Media, a well informed analysis of the history and recent hyperdevelopment of sample-based music and self-contained portraits of new model artists such as Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes. The book thankfully avoids the technology and industry gossip possibilities inherent in the subject and instead focuses on the sometimes unexpectedly wonderful mutations in the way that musicians and listeners think about popular music. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Kot, venerable pop-music reviewer for the Chicago Tribune and music blogger extraordinaire, brings readers up-to-date on how the “wired generation” changed the style of modern pop (as every generation does) and the way in which the stuff gets to fans. Along the way, he describes the near-demise of the big record labels (the chapter “Consolidated to Death” is particularly pithy), the online music downloading court skirmishes with consumers and bands alike (with special attention paid to Metallica’s contretemps with Napster), the waning influence of MTV, and bands bypassing corporate players to take their music straight to the audience via the Web. Notably, Radiohead and Metallica gave Kot access, and the results constitute the best summary of the huge recent changes in the business of pop to date. It’s too bad, perhaps, that the current state of the music biz makes it incumbent on a talented critic like Kot to consider the business side of the music more deeply than the artistic side of it, but that’s the situation, and Kot is up to explaining it. --Mike Tribby

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416547274
• ISBN-13: 978-1416547273
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune since 1990. He has established a national reputation not just for his comprehensive coverage of popular music -- from hip-hop to rock -- but for enterprising reporting on music-related social, political and business issues. His Tribune-hosted blog, Turn it Up, is considered a must-read for music buffs and industry insiders alike. With his Chicago Sun-Times counterpart Jim DeRogatis, Kot cohosts Sound Opinions, "the world's only rock 'n' roll talk show," nationally syndicated in over twenty markets and avialable worldwide on the web. Kot has been a regular contributor to Rolling Stone since 1992, and has written for Details, Blender, Entertainment Weekly, Men's Journal, Guitar World, Vibe and Request. Kot's biography of Wilco, Learning How to Die, was published in June 2004. He lives on Chicago's Northwest Side with his wife, two daughters, and far too many records.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good background/analysis of the last 10 years of the music business June 18, 2009

By T. Scarillo VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Greg Kot is a good rock writer/reviewer, Chicago Tribune columnist, and is frequently published in Rolling Stone (as national magazines go), among other publications. His new book, "Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music", provides a good recap of the last ten years or so of the music industry, as concerns developments on the digital front. I found the book of particular interest, as I have worked in the music business in one capacity or another for almost 15 years and remember pretty much all of what's contained in the book. If you are not aware of, and want to learn about the music industry's recent digital developments, then this book is a very good way to get up to speed.

The chapters focus on key events/artists that were pivotal in the changing music business model over the last decade. Key events such as the rise of Napster (and the music industry's attempts to contain and destroy it, rather than embrace the technology and monetize it), Metallica's fight against Napster, the departure of established acts (Madonna, Radiohead, McCartney, Prince, NIN, et al.) from the major label system in favor of non-traditional music companies/doing it themselves, newer artists availing themselves of technology to reach their fans and `do it on their own' (such as Ani DiFranco, Bright Eyes, and others), the rise/domination of the Ipod and ITunes, and chapter bumpers of various interviewees' mindsets and insights into how they acquire music (eg. Some younger people either don't realize that they are violating a copyright/impacting someone's livelihood, with illegal downloading, or simply don't care).... Some chapters are more interesting than others (which might depend on how familiar you are with the artists that Kot covers), though the book doesn't ever get bogged down in boring narrative, and it explains more-recent industry-specific concepts in easy to understand terms for the layman (though a prior understanding, on the reader's part, of the basics of the music industry's workings helps, but is not required).

Kot hits pretty much all the key events that we've seen in the last ten years or so, that have impacted the music industry business model. I'm not convinced there are any answers in this book as to where we're going to be in ten years, which is not necessarily Kot's fault (as he's fairly objective in reporting the circumstances), as the `new model' of the music business is still being created and the kinks of the `new order' are still being worked out. But what's going to happen in the next ten years or so, if older acts come off the road for good, and new acts don't develop? We'll likely hear endless complaints about how new music sucks and no major artists are developing (which is kinda what we're hearing now and have been for a while). I'd like to have seen more speculation on where we're headed. I've also spent a long time waiting for some writer, somewhere, to point out the disingenuous stance of a band like 2008's-independent-Radiohead, for example, that rails against major labels and gives little credit for the help they received along the way, while the 1993-baby-band version of Radiohead was probably only too happy to have a record deal, able to pursue their dream with a label supporting them at the beginning with marketing efforts, so that they could eventually get to the level they're at today (and be in a position to dictate their own future, as well as bad-mouth the system). That's more or less on p. 237, finally, though that point probably needed to be made a bit sooner in the book because it seems to be a key factor present in basically ALL superstar-level career arcs, particularly as they depart labels for DIY deals. Take the labels' money when young and hungry, get into `the machine', attain huge success, get jaded, then bad-mouth the company as having somehow hindered you every step of the way. My take away from what I read was that most of the acts who were nurtured and given two or three albums to develop and became long-term successes, today would probably be done if their first album didn't hit, and looking at barista careers. Unfortunately, the economics of the business might very well not allow for 3 chances these days. Are labels still necessary? Yes, probably, if an artist wants to reach a massive audience, because that's what major labels are geared toward, and because it's hard to get traction (not to mention visibility on traditional outlets, like late-nite shows) when EVERY band out there trying to do it on their own has a myspace page, sans higher-level marketing know-how and connections. It's a double-edged sword: the technology that empowers any/every band to promote itself and possibly actually earn a living doing what they love, is the same technology that overwhelms and inundates users with almost TOO MUCH unfiltered information. Was the industry wrong in not embracing Napster and nipping the problem in the bud, and monetizing it? Probably, but we're way past that at this point, as Kot points out (and I agree with). Now that the toothpaste is out of the tube, and the economics of the business have been turned upside down, who's going to make that marketing-intensive investment, if labels aren't around? It's hard to imagine that a band, doing it on their own via a website and without a label's muscle, will be able to reach the equivalent of being a 5-million seller, but that's probably NOT the object anymore, if they're netting more per download and able to sustain a touring career and fanbase, and make a living. The model is definitely changing, toward empowering the artist, as Kot illustrates effectively over and over in the book. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything has changed June 27, 2009

By Thomas E. Davis TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Greg Kot makes his point early and often: over the past decade, greedy executives perched at the summits of rapidly-consolidating media conglomerates lost billions of dollars in a clueless and futile campaign to keep music flowing through traditional pipelines. They delayed, dithered, or flat-out refused to adapt their business models to the paradigm-shifts of digital music and peer-to-peer file sharing, and other players rushed in to fill the vacuum.

Inherently unimaginative and terminally resistant to change, the music industry has typically released dull, homogenized product, together with a few perennial blockbusters, to generate revenue. Independent companies occupied tiny niches, while the major labels relied on a lucrative pay-to-play distribution system. They put effort into developing performers who showed profit potential and dropped any artist that didn't show a quick return.

Then came the revolution. The majors got their keisters kicked by angry musicians and bored consumers who used new technology to make their lives and their culture more interesting. CD prices dropped to nearly half of what they were ten years earlier. Even giants like Paul McCartney, Madonna, U2, and the Eagles finally jumped ship from their labels.

Not just record companies got hurt: so did artists, producers, publishers, concert promoters, radio stations, and CD stores that refused to adjust to the new reality. No longer do people learn about music from radio, MTV, Tower (which went belly-up in 2006), or conventional, established taste-makers. Now YouTube, iTunes, Amazon, blogs, zines, and independent media outlets are conduits for cultural buzz and the wealth it produces....

As befits the multi-headed hydra that is music nowadays, Kot has written an unusual, non-chronological hybrid of entertainment and economics reportage. He moves briskly and authoritatively, alternating between discussing the aesthetics of the music and examining the nitty-gritty of the market. While at times waxing eloquent in his analysis of the creative process and the stories of individual bands, most of his coverage is very concrete, a product of interviews with the artists and businesspeople in the trenches.

Kot offers quotes from musicians, insiders, and fans about how the industry has changed, how it works today, and how it's likely to evolve in the future. He contrasts forward-thinking acts like Tom Petty, David Byrne, The Beastie Boys, OK Go, R.E.M., Sinéad O'Connor, Lily Allen, Ani DiFranco, Björk, and Apple founder Steve Jobs with stodgy dinosaurs like Clear Channel, the RIAA, and Metallica, who made the mistake of suing Napster and their own best customers.

Entire chapters are devoted to specific performers and their stories: Arcade Fire, Conor Oberst, Death Cab for Cutie, Girl Talk, Prince, Wilco (about whom Kot wrote a whole book), and especially Radiohead each get in-depth profiles.

For those interested in the subject of music -- and that includes most young people -- this book is a fine introduction. Those not fascinated by popular music may choose to skip a few chapters that focus on groups they don't care for, but they'll have their eyes opened as to how entertainers are making money these days and how technology is changing the world of business and the world at large. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but too narrow September 1, 2010

By carlamudpie

Format:Paperback

Greg Kot is an interesting writer and tells many good stories. I sped through this book.

But what he offers here is less than what it should be. He digresses into band vignettes that, yes, I enjoyed reading but sometimes did not lead to a larger point (even though he tried).

He ignores the influence of satellite radio, eMusic, and the opinions of any listener older than those of Generation X (unless they are in the music business).

His focus is essentially the college rock world (for lack of a better term), and what those listeners are into. Meaning: hip-hop is discussed in reference to Kanye West, rap mix tapes are ignored, and forget what someone who listens to reggaeton, dancehall, metal etc might have to say about digital technology. Even though vinyl sales are a very small percentage overall, he fails to mention how they increased almost 100% (I believe) in 2007 or 2008. He doesn't delve into the fate of independent record stores, and how some of those still standing are doing pretty well (including my local favorite, Redscroll Records in Wallingford CT). He mentions some independent labels, such as Merge, but doesn't get into what keeps them running - how exactly are they doing it?

This will be very enjoyable for a certain type of music listener, but unfortunately does not have the larger-scale reporting and research I was hoping for.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonder where all the record stores went? August 22, 2009

By Bradley F. Smith

Format:Hardcover

For those who don't understand how the recorded music industry has gone down the tubes in the last five years, this book will answer their questions: downloading, the iPod, Myspace and free music online. Now, if you want music, you must download rather crappy mp3 files. The author explains how all this happened through the rise of Napster and file sharing technology. One problem ignored here, though, is the quality of sound reproduction that's been lost. These digital downloads, though now mainly at 256kb, same as cds, are still rather hard on the ears. Also, the hardware to play back mp3 files is not audiophile quality. No matter to people who follow music on websites like Pitchfork.com. They don't mind the loss of fidelity or the playback through inferior computer systems instead of high quality amps, preamps and stereo or 5.1 speaker systems. I don't think the story of music's evolution is over yet, so this book is a good waystation documenting where we are at in late 2009. I hope there's more to come on the positive side of sound quality. Caveat: Much of this book is about how a handful of bands have cut loose from record labels and found ways to distribute their music online. Record labels deserve scorn, but what we have now is a confused hodge-podge of delivery systems that satisfies only the youngest and dumbest consumers.