Tin Pan Alley (music)
Tin Pan Alley refers to a vibrant music publishing district in New York City that emerged in the late 19th century, primarily on West 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. This area became a hub for composers, musicians, and entrepreneurs who capitalized on the increasing public demand for piano and vocal sheet music. The term "Tin Pan Alley" is believed to have originated from a newspaper reporter who likened the sound of multiple pianos playing simultaneously to clanging tin pans. The peak activity in Tin Pan Alley continued from about 1885 into the 1920s, during which songwriters produced numerous popular tunes, many influenced by the rising jazz genre.
However, by the 1920s, the advent of radio and the integration of music in Hollywood films began to diminish the demand for traditional sheet music, leading to a decline in Tin Pan Alley’s significance. As consumers shifted their preferences towards these new forms of entertainment, the music publishing industry faced significant challenges. Despite its eventual decline, Tin Pan Alley played a crucial role in shaping American music culture, reflecting the changing tastes of the public and contributing to the popular music landscape of the early 20th century.
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Tin Pan Alley (music)
Sheet music publishing and sales, along with the invention of radio and the continued popularity of phonographs, created an unprecedented public demand for entertainment. The growth and development of Tin Pan Alley provided opportunities for composers, musicians, and businesses to revolutionize the music industry.
By the late nineteenth century, piano sales had radically increased. As many as 300,000 pianos were sold each year in the United States alone. As the public appetite for more piano and vocal sheet music steadily increased, entrepreneurs moved to West 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenues in New York City to set up their publishing businesses and begin promoting and selling music. New York City was already considered a cultural center by this point, so the location was ideal for the many emerging publishing firms that became established along Tin Pan Alley. It is generally believed that Tin Pan Alley was named by a local newspaper reporter assigned to write articles about the new publishing businesses. After hearing numerous metallic-toned pianos playing at the same time, the reporter compared it to the sound of clanging tin pans.
The ongoing daily routine of songwriting, publishing sheet music, and promotion through traveling pianists and singers, known as “song pluggers,” continued from about 1885 into the 1920s. In the 1920s, jazz profoundly influenced Tin Pan Alley as new sheet music melodies were composed in a jazz style, which reflected the heightened interest in this genre of music. The 1920s also marked the beginning of a downward slide for the area as sheet music sales began to plummet because radio had replaced the piano as the primary source of at-home entertainment. Hollywood movies and Broadway musicals offered composers of popular songs an entirely new venue, adding to the decline in sheet music sales to the general public. Ultimately, the end for Tin Pan Alley came after The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Incorporated waged a war that eventually prompted Hollywood companies to purchase many of the publishing companies.
Impact
Tin Pan Alley reflected the changing culture of America. It began as a sheet music empire, popularized countless songs, and kept pace with American music listeners’ insatiable appetite for entertainment. In the 1920s, however, it could not sustain itself as the popularity of radio and films grew among consumers.
Bibliography
Furia, Philip, and Michael L. Lasser. America’s Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Hischak, Thomas S. The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Jasen, David A. Tin Pan Alley. New York: Routledge, 2003.