- Tin Pan Alley
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1. the district of a city, esp. New York City, where most of the popular music is published.2. the composers or publishers of popular music as a group.
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The name was coined by the songwriter Monroe Rosenfeld as the byname of the street on which the industry was based28th Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway in the early 20th century, around Broadway and 32nd Street in the 1920s, and ultimately on Broadway between 42nd and 50th Streets. "Tin pan" referred to the sound of pianos furiously pounded by "song pluggers" demonstrating tunes to publishers. The genre comprised the commercial music of writers of ballads, dance music, and vaudeville songs, and its name eventually became synonymous with U.S. popular music. Its demise resulted from the rise of film, audio recording, radio, and TV, which created a demand for more and different kinds of music, and the growth of commercial songwriting centres in cities such as Hollywood and Nashville.* * *
▪ musical historygenre of American popular music that arose in the late 19th century from the American song-publishing industry centred in New York City.The genre took its name from the byname of the street on which the industry was based, being on 28th Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway in the early 20th century; around Broadway and 32nd Street in the 1920s; and ultimately on Broadway between 42nd and 50th streets. The phrase tin pan referred to the sound of pianos furiously pounded by the so-called song pluggers, who demonstrated tunes to publishers. Tin Pan Alley comprised the commercial music of songwriters of ballads, dance music, and vaudeville, and its name eventually became synonymous with American popular music in general. When these genres first became prominent, the most profitable commercial product of Tin Pan Alley was sheet music for home consumption, and songwriters, lyricists, and popular performers laboured to produce music to meet the demand.The growth of film, audio recording, radio, and television created an increased demand for more and different kinds of music, and Tin Pan Alley was rendered actually and metaphorically dead as other music-publishing centres arose to supply melodies for these genres.* * *
Universalium. 2010.