Chris Dalla Riva
Musician and data analyst; writes Can't Get Much Higher, working through the history of popular music from the charts and the recordings.
Death Discs by Alan Clayson
Unless you are deeply interested in how we sing about death, this probably isn’t the book for you.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty by Ben Ratliff
It was mostly a collection of essays. I might have enjoyed it more if I knew what I was getting into.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Glass Century by Ross Barkan
A compelling saga that traces a New York City family from the 1970s through today.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business by Fredric Dannen
Though it was written in the 1990s, this account of the rise and fall of payola remains as relevant as ever.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt
You would think that every detail about how Napster upended the music industry has been written. Stephen Witt proves that’s not the case.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly
Liz Pelly’s account of how Spotify does things to hurt artists is well-researched and compelling. The second half of the book where she proposes solutions to these digital problems left me wanting more, though.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Music: A Subversive History by Ted Gioia
I’ve come to expect nothing but the best from Ted Gioia, but this book even outdid those expectations.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Because of that, the book feels somewhat disjointed. It is beautifully written, though.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction to Its Own Past by Simon Reynolds
Critic Simon Reynolds was early on the trend. He wrote a book-length treatise on the topic in 2011.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
See Friendship by Jeremy Gordon
A reporter attempts to make a podcast investigating the death of his high school buddy. A tale that is both contemporary and affecting.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song by Ben Yagoda
An incredible history detailing the tumultuous changes that shaped the music industry in the late-1940s and early-1950s.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
this is the third book that I read by the Japanese master. It made me realize that I might just not be a fan.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness by Steven Levy
Though it lacks the hindsight of the last two decades and borders on hagiography, it does capture both how innovative and popular the iPod was.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Top Eight: How MySpace Changed Music by Michael Tedder
An exhaustive oral history of the MySpace era. If you were on the internet at this time, this is the book for you.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
A novella by a master, Johnson’s Train Dreams follows a man in the early 20th century whose life is transformed by tragedy and dramatically evolving technology.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves by Chris Dalla Riva
Of course, I read my own book this year. It’s fantastic. You should buy it.
on cantgetmuchhigher.com · 14 Dec 2025 · Report
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