Download or read book Star-making Machinery written by Geoffrey Stokes and published by Vintage Books USA. This book was released on 1977 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " Star Making Machinery chronicles the history of one rock band, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, to penetrate the myths and glamour of a business that grosses over four billion dollars annually. Geoffrey Stokes goes behind the scenes to view the almost infinite cast of characters involved in the producing and selling of a "hit" record. It is a world rife with record-company power plays, scandals, payola, and the inevitable clash of egos. Striking a critical balance between music as art and music as commodity, it is a valuable study of the economics of mass culture"--Cover.