About the Author

John Seabrook has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993. The author of several books including Nobrow, he has taught narrative nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

"Through immersive anecdotes and witty observations, Seabrook explores questions of ownership and taste, and about the music business as a whole, as we learn it’s not just the ‘song machine’ that’s brilliant but also the people churning the gears."
*Isabella Biedenharn - Entertainment Weekly*

"Well researched…. Seabrook…takes us inside the troubled modern music business."
*Touré - New York Times Book Review*

"Fascinating…. The Song Machine is lively, entertaining and often insightful, of interest both to pop mavens and to those who couldn’t imagine caring about the latest hits."
*Christopher Carroll - Wall Street Journal*

"Fascinating…. Copy editors will rejoice at Seabrook’s well-written and deeply researched book. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker and his book fits into that magazine’s penchant for telling very detailed stories about things you might not notice about pop culture."
*Charles R. Cross - Seattle Times*

"Seabrook spins a fascinating history, one that encompasses everything from the Brill Building and Phil Spector to Afrika Bambaataa to ‘American Idol.’ Running underneath the human stories like a bassline is the inexorable flow of technology."
*Kate Tuttle - Boston Globe*

"Invaluable."
*Louis Bayard - Washington Post*

"A revelatory ear-opener."
*Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review*

"An immersive, reflective, and utterly satisfying examination of the business of popular music."
*Nathaniel Rich - The Atlantic*

"Eminently readable and important…. Seabrook's in-depth interviews with an army of songwriters, producers, performers and others make for series of profiles that document a revolution in the music business."
*Shelf Awareness*

"Brilliant."
*Michael Hann - The Guardian*