Kennedy, a lifelong music enthusiast, finally realizes his professional ambition when he becomes a marketing director for a smaller music label that is part of the Time Warner Music Group in the mid-2000s. However, all is not just hanging out with musicians and writing great PR bits and receiving recognition when "your band" goes platinum. In fact, it becomes a game of survival and professional backstabbing in an industry where being able to say "I discovered Led Zeppelin" might not even guarantee you'll still have a job the next day.

While still protecting himself by using clever nicknames for his coworkers, Kennedy delves into his life with the recording industry, but only so far. And that is the problem I have with this book... it doesn't go far enough. Instead of spending a chapter describing the picture frames you're buying, spend a bit more time on the failed projects, the bureaucratic red tape, and the betrayals that you seem to only glance at.

With just a little more flourish, this book could be fantastic, and a wonderful insight into an industry far too shrouded in secrecy.

I don't really know what to say about this. I thought this book was going to give some kind of insight into the inner workings of music industry, but it turned out to be 200 pages of whining, basically.

It was reasonably entertaining from the point of view that there were some humourous scenes; it certainly had its moments, but I really couldn't get past the fact that the author comes across as such a douchebag. We get it, you're ~not a corporate guy~ and everyone is so ~blinded by greed~ that they're not ~feeling~ the music anymore. (This coming from the guy who spent about $2000 on picture frames so he would look 'successful'?) As much as the author is bemoaning the fact that everyone in the music industry is ~selling out~ and ~cashing in~ and all whatever, he seems pretty oblivious to the fact that he is one of the people he spends the whole book scoffing at. He may not think he is because of his ~passion~ for the music, but he IS. So the whole thing falls a bit flat, really.
Maybe I didn't enjoy this book because I don't ""get"" it; I'm a music lover but I love it for what it is and what it could be, and I don't really care that the "golden age" of rock is over because I know that things can't stay the same forever, and also all the music is still there. New music and trends don't erase what came before, and I'm sick of middle-aged white guys who won't stop moaning about pop music.

Readable, but not really for me.

Excellent. Very funny. And as much as i liked "Loser Goes First" this is much better. The organizing element of the job at the label provides a better structure. Plus, it's just plain funny. Really. Go buy it. Right now. I'll wait.

[You can also see a longer review here: http://theagencyreview.wordpress.com/rock-on/]

Very funny collection of essays about the pre-iTunes record industry. Worth a read.

Very funny, very sharp, very insightful book about Kennedy's 18 months in the major label music industry in 2001 and 2002 -- recommended for anyone who loves music, hates the major labels, or both.

I’ve noticed an alarming trend in the want ads lately. It seems “rock star” is the adjective du jour when describing the employees that companies want to hire. Even Hell, Inc. is looking for “rock stars” now that they got rid of all of us mid-tempo balladeers.

It’s an interesting choice of words, and maybe only a nerdy copywriter would think so. When I think rock star I think moody, substance-user/abuser, works odd hours, doesn’t practice good hygiene or moral judgment. I fit that bill. But when I got into an interview I try to hide that. I don’t mention it on my resume. Especially because the substance I choose to abuse is Dawson’s Creek.

These aren’t exactly the traits that most corporate HR borgs look for in an employee. So exactly what is “rock star” supposed to mean in this context? I can’t figure it out.

Anyway, this all reminds me of a book I just finished called Rock On: An Office Power Ballad by Dan Kennedy. This is a memoir of Kennedy’s 18 or so months working at a marketing/creative wonk at Atlantic Records.

read the rest

The first 2/3 of this book made me want to stop reading it. It sounded so in my wheelhouse (a humorous inside telling of working in the music business from a McSweeney's contributor) but ended up vacillating between the self-loathing of someone with a huge case of Imposter Syndrome; barely contained disdain for the "suits" in middle management and above; pity on the newly signed artists who don't know how they're going to get screwed yet; and contempt for the artists who sold out.

The last 1/3 of the book was a brutal window into the reality of the music biz in the mid-aughts, with digital music causing the suits to lose control, and money hungry acquisitions that had nothing to do with the music and everything to do with $$$. A telling anecdote involving Jimmy Page coming out of the NYSE made me sad but not surprised.

All in all, I'm glad I finished it, but the author's tone was a little too (jaded? smug? conflicted?) for me.

Dan Kennedy is a very funny man. Serious literature this ain't, but I went through the pages like popcorn.

I listened to Kennedy do a terrific story on The Moth and wanted to hear more from him. Unfortunately, this ain't it. While the premise is inviting and there were a few entertaining moments, overall I found it bland and generic. It's really a run-of-the-mill office memoir with a (very) thin glaze of (very) occasional commentary that is either humorous or specific to the music industry or both. A quick search and replace could adjust this memoir to reflect many other industries. A disappointment.

Funny look at how the corporate world of rock and roll kind of sucks just as much as any other corporate world.

Great for anyone who loves the world of rock and roll and was honestly surprised they didn't grown up to be a rock star, despite the fact they can't sing or play an instrument.

I was hoping for more name dropping of the rock star type, but the scene with Jimmy Page in Starbucks kind of fills that need.