Overview

In 1972 CBS Records commissioned Harvard Business School and CBS Black Music Marketing Director, Logan Westbrooks, to develop and for CBS to implement, a ""Study of the Soul Music Environment."" It was intended to be a simple, productive ""blueprint"" for Soul music. The result was CBS Records receiving decades of praise for its contributions to an era of strong music, along with employment in positions previously denied to Blacks in the music industry...all the way to astonishing charges of corporate collusion, racism, payoffs, and greed for the enrichment of White corporate America at the expense of powerful, Black-owned, self-distributed record labels like Stax and Motown. Dr. Westbrooks and next-generation Schuyler ""Sky"" Traughber, who worked at Stax, Motown and CBS Records, take us on an historical music business roller coaster ride of personal and public domain stories. It covers decades of controversial revelations of how ""The Harvard Report"" may or may not have lived up to its reputation of being both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-the Savior and the Demon-of what Black Music became during this tumultuous period culminating in the uncertain state of Black Music today. Questions...did CBS Records set the wheels in motion for the demise of smaller Black-owned record labels? Or was it an inevitability? POWER 101 offers answers and food for thought.

Full Product Details

9780998782232

Table of Contents

Reviews

Anyone interested in learning more about the development of the multi-billion Black music industry from the perspective of an insider and authoritative source, will find this gem insightful and illuminating...Power 101: The Harvard Report, Soul Music and the American Dream is an inspirational, and informative must read. DYANA WILLIAMS, Co-Founder of June, Black Music Month & CEO, influenceentertainment.com This is a must read for any enthusiast of the musical tradition desiring to learn from a trailblazer who was there when it all unfolded. Here is Westbrooks' masterclass for students of Soul. TYRON COOPER, Ph.D. Director of Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University Dr. Westbrook and his scholarly contributions to the music industry are legend! By taking a close look at Soul music and the soul of our nation, Power 101 looks backwards to remind us what we've come through and gives us context for the road that we are now traveling. H. BEECHER HICKS, III President & CEO National Museum of African American Music Nashville, TN

Author Information

Dr. Logan H. Westbrooks is one of the first African Americans to work as a major label Music Executive. He's recognized as a pioneer who paved the way for the African American Music Executives of today. He is a Memphis native who attended LeMoyne-Owen College, and graduated from Lincoln University in Missouri. In 2014, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from LeMoyne-Owen College. His career extends 50 years, and he has contributed to the success of artists such as The Jackson 5, Nancy Wilson, Elvis, Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, Nelly and many more. More at LoganWestbrooks.com Named after Harlem Renaissance concert-pianist Philippa ""Duke"" Schuyler, Sky Traughber has worked as a road musician, arranger, producer and record label executive for The Temprees (We Produce/Stax Records), CBS Records and Motown Records as well as U.S. Business Representative for King Records, Tokyo. After serving as a Music Business/Management faculty member at Berklee College of Music in Boston for 15 years, Schuyler now resides in the sea-side community of Gloucester, Massachusetts, writing screenplays and giving guest college presentations on The Harvard Report.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available