Cylinders to Spotify: The Story of the Music Business

Why did Paul Simon earn so much more than Art Garfunkel?

After he was found to have plagiarized "My Sweet Lord" from the Chiffons' "He's So Fine," how did George Harrison avoid paying damages?

Will Artificial Intelligence eventually eliminate the need for human songwriters?

In this new six-week lecture series, Dr. Mike Daley tells the story of the music business, from the sheet music hits of the early days of Tin Pan Alley through player pianos, wax cylinders, the phonograph wars, network radio, independent record labels, the digitization of music, the arrival of the Internet, file-sharing, streaming services, artificial intelligence and more. The story of the music business is dotted with rogues and geniuses, brilliant technical innovations and failed inventions, turf wars and backroom alliances.

Behind the career of an Elvis Presley, Beatles or Taylor Swift is a system of managers, record people, music publishers and promoters who often make up the rules (or break them) as they go. We’ll meet rogues and geniuses like Thomas Edison, Clarence Williams, Ralph Pace, John Hammond, Sam Phillips, Colonel Tom Parker, Brian Epstein, Duff Roman, Morris Levy, Paul White, Sylvia Robinson, Walter Yetnikoff and Shawn Fanning. And we'll track the evolution of live performance, from the vaudeville houses and juke joints of the early 20th century to the cocktail bars and coffeehouses of 1960s Toronto, to the multimedia concert events and underground venues of the present day. It’s an epic tale, told by Dr. Mike with his usual engaging style and deep research.

The lectures, an hour in length followed by questions, will take place in-person at Church of the Redeemer (Bloor and Avenue), as well as live on Zoom, and videos of the lectures will be available afterwards for unlimited viewing at any time. You're not locked into one or the other - you can choose between any of the three ways of viewing the lecture each week, whichever suits your schedule or preference. Within a day or so of the lecture, a link to the lecture video will be sent to the email address with which you purchased the series. This link will not expire.

You can purchase the series of six lectures for $84 plus tax and ticketing fee, or tickets for single lectures will be available at the door for $20, cash only.

Host or Publisher Dr. Mike Daley