What would make you read a book about music?

starrykitten

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I have been doing music journalism for many years now and feel like in addition to developing helpful contacts, I know what makes for a good and distinctive interview. I am working on an outline and pitch for a book I'd like to write about certain musicians (yes, they do have some things in common, though not necessarily genre). Most of these musicians are ones that I have interviewed at least once in the past before, and I am on good standing with their pulicists/PR/labels/etc.

I have been racking my brain trying to make this transcend being just a book of interviews. I have some ideas but I would love to hear more. Especially for those of you who might not otherwise feel compelled to read a book containing a lot of musician interviews, what angle would you really like to see? I really appreciate your feedback.
 

Siri Kirpal

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For me, it would depend on genre. Pop musicians, no thanks. Opera singers, yes please!

But that aside, I think if the interviews went deeper than most...and if the musicians were well-known enough...people might want it.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Maryn

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For me, it's going to be a hard sell. Either I have to care a lot about the musicians, which I don't, or you're going to have to present to me some insight on the lives, the musical creative process, the personality types, whatever might tie such a book together, which has not occurred to me or most other reasonably intelligent people who've known a few musicians.

I'd have greatest interest in collections of musicians with clear parallels--say, percussionists in classical, jazz, new age, metal, pop, arena rock, country, etc.--or a bunch of musicians from a narrow sub-genre, such as viking metal.

Maryn, tough to please
 

shakeysix

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I'd read it in a heartbeat. Maybe something like one of those Oxford Anecdotes books--lots of short pieces covering all genres-- starryk's book of musical oddities?
 

WeaselFire

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Especially for those of you who might not otherwise feel compelled to read a book containing a lot of musician interviews, what angle would you really like to see?
Obviously, hot, sexy pictures of their backstage orgies! :)

Seriously, if I'm not heavily into music/musicians (I'm not) then the slant would have to be something I'm interested in. And that slant might not be what someone else is interested in reading. So you're not exactly on the right track with your question.

Now, for the hook that gets your proposal noticed, how about these:


  • How they got to be where they are, and why
  • Sacrifices made for stardom
  • Analyze what makes them not famous.
  • Beginner's guide to the music business
  • Musicians who got rich doing other people's session work or backups
  • Christian musicians facing a life of temptation on the road
  • Favorite road foods of musicians (Actually, pitch that to the Food Network)
Likely none of these would get me to read it anyway, but these are examples of how to tie cross-genre (and cross-generation) musicians together in something that's not just another set of interviews.

Jeff
 

onesecondglance

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I'd be more inclined to read a book that had its own distinct premise, illustrated by all these interviews, rather than just a book of interviews.
 

Fictional Cowboy

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A music book would be a tough sell for me because music isn't that big of a part of my life. I realize I'm in the massive minority on that one but, there is one thing that would get me to read a music book. If it were a biography about the person who wrote a song that means a lot to me.

I love the old hymns passionately. What a Friend We Have in Jesus is my favorite song and was written by Joseph Scriven. I wanted to know the story behind the song and, my gosh, it's a remarkable, inspiring story that makes the song a million times more powerful and precious to me.

So, if I were to read a music book, it would have to be a biography about a specific musician/artist that I really wanted to know more about. Or a collection of stories about the story behind the music.
 

Relic37

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For me it would have to approach the subject like Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" where you are told some amazing facts and only at the end are you surprised with the person the facts belong to. The key is having unusual and remarkable facts, and then a person you would not have guessed to be connected with them. Obviously the person has to be a well known figure or somehow connected to a well known thing, event, person, etc.
 

benbradley

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I might buy it, as I have a moderate interest in such things.

I recently read Noah Adams' "Piano Lessons" which is "mostly" about him buying a piano and taking a year of piano lessons. The book is 20 years old, but I still found it interesting (okay, I'm an amateur musician, that probably helps my interest). It also informally includes a few short interviews with famous/popular pianists that he had interviewed as part of his work at NPR.

Of course, he was already known for being an NPR reporter, and that apparently was his "platform."
 

jari_k

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I'd buy it if I liked the musicians, or if there were an interesting angle such as all the artists being from one region, from a single period in history, or connected to a certain political movement, such as civil rights. Some tie to put it in a larger context.
 

meangene01

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That's a tough topic because of all the different genres and personal likes. I would read anything on musical theory right now.
 

LupineMoon

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I've read a few music books, namely "The Holy or the Broken" about Leonard Cohen, mostly about his song "Hallelujah" and I took a music history course in college and thoroughly enjoyed "Never Without A Song" which reminded me of the movie "Songcatcher." I enjoyed them because the songs were familiar.
 

frimble3

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I am not the audience for this book. Those musician's interviews that I've read in magazines tend to be very similar: what made you want to get into music, what are your influences, how do you get on with your band, favourite song, best known scandal, what's the home-life like? This is stuff I don't want to know about people I don't care about.
The best book on music I've read is 'How the Beatles Destroyed Rock 'n' Roll' by Elijah Wald. It had the most interesting information on how broadcasting and recording music shaped music and our relationship with it.
I guess if I were looking for a book on music, that would be what I'm looking for: something to make me think about something I hadn't considered, or to make me think differently.
 

HeavyAirship

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Bono talked recently about how strange it is that in most professions the more you do it the better you are able to produce something of quality, but with musicians you'd be hard pressed to find examples of people producing their best work after the age of 40. - I'd be interested to see an in-depth discussion on that from different musicians.

You could also talk about dream of "Getting a record deal" versus the reality of it. - From what I've heard record labels are extremely underhanded with new artists, especially those who don't have a smart manager.

As a musician myself I also like to hear about the relationship musicians have with their instruments.

You could also ask them their views on piracy. Some musicians obviously hate it but some would say that the public should determine the value of the music not the industry.

You could also ask them about their other talents and passions. Rod Stewart is a beast at building model train sets for instance.
 

onesecondglance

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You could also talk about dream of "Getting a record deal" versus the reality of it. - From what I've heard record labels are extremely underhanded with new artists, especially those who don't have a smart manager.

If you do touch on this, try to present a realistic view. Just as in publishing, most people working in the music business are there because they love it - they love music, and they love bands. There are lots of stories of majors screwing over artists, but there are also lots of (unreported) times when things are just fine.

Not getting at you, HeavyAirship, just pointing out that the general perception that's out there is far from a universal truth.