Tin Pan Alley existed to make money. IT organized and rationalized an embryonic music industry for the mutual benefit of these who did the organizing.
Tin Pan Alley brought to popular music a collective sense of purpose. Songs were no longer the creative prerogative of a few gifted, composers. They could be written to order, in ten minutes, for all combinations of instruments and voices. Its organization included pluggers, copyists, demonstrators and arrangers. Songs were written by committee, by number, and by role. There were “product”, and the greater the “product”, the greater the profit.
featuring
Al Jolson
Bing Crosby
Bob Wills
E. Y. Harburg
George Gershwin
Hoagy Carmichael
Irving Berlin
Irving Caesar
Perry Como
Rudy Vallee
The Carter Family
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Ready to Watch All You Need Is Love The Story of Popular Music, Season 1, Episode 7?