Not wanting to do the age-ing rocker autobiography, David Byrne has produced a book that is a larger overview of the history of contemporary music. That said, Byrne does allow a potted history of his own career (a word you get the feeling he’d hate), and of Talking Heads. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is its attempt to explicate the nuts n bolts of making music, and making money from the music industry. Byrne’s account in enjoyably intelligent and passionate. As his been his way musically, he is intellectual without being wanky, punky without the spit and snot. At the end of the book, Byrne sets out a practical range of models that a new band might adopt in an effort to make a living from making music in this new era. How Music Works is a great read for all who love music (and art generally) and are disheartened by the unending cycle of appropriation of art and artists by corporates who apply their MBAs to art and wonder why they wreck it.
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