The subtitle reads "How Everything They Touched Turned to Gold." But this book makes it obvious the subtitle should continue, "and how they got almost none of it." The back cover, continuing the cheerful hype, states that The Beatles ended up "pioneering much of what we now recognize as the modern music business." The implication is that they got it all right, figured it all out. Instead, it would be more accurate to say that they invented the modern music business by negative example. That is, they got everything wrong, and thereby showed the bands which followed what to do and what not to do.
Beatles for Sale is an in depth exploration of the business side of the Beatles, from their earliest management through recording contracts, merchandising agreements, to Apple Records vs. Apple Computers. It does not, in any way, examine their artistic side, either its origins or its effects. This book takes the Beatles' musical genius as a given; it is instead solely concerned with their business smarts. Which, it makes clear, were not nearly as great as their musical talent.
This lack of business acumen became especially clear in the areas of music publishing and merchandising. Most people are at least vaguely aware that, in the mid-1980's Michael Jackson managed to buy the rights to all the Beatles's songs. Most do not understand how this could even happen. Beatles for Sale describes the combination of innovation and error which made it possible. When they were first starting out, nobody, least of all the Beatles themselves, realized just how valuable their songwriting rights would be. The Beatles got it half-right, by setting up a separate company to handle their copyrights. But even from the beginning, the Beatles were (collectively) minority shareholders in the company, making it possible for the whole company was sold out from underneath them a few years later. The company, Northern Songs Ltd., passed through various hands before Jackson finally got a hold of it.
But even that was business genius compared to their arrangement for selling Beatles merchandise in America. Astonishingly, they gave the man in charge, one Nicky Byrnes, 90% of the proceeds from sales of Beatles' dolls, clothes, games, wigs, etc. Poor bookkeeping makes it hard to determine just how much the Beatles lost here, but it was surely millions of dollars.
Beatles for Sale argues that, again and again, through a combination of ignorance and indifference, the Beatles, and their manager Brian Epstein, gave away control of the fortunes their fame and art produced. They eventually tried to recapture that control by forming Apple, their company which would control all aspects of their business. But even that was doomed to failure, because of their inability to decide whether it was, at heart, an artistic endeavor or a business one. Beatles for Sale backs up this argument with a wealth of financial, legal and historical detail. It is thoroughly researched and a fascinating read.
However, I did have some problems with the organization of the book. Beatles for Sale is organized by topic—a chapter on management, a chapter on recording contracts, a chapter on merchandising, etc. While this is useful, and perhaps necessary, for telling all the aspects of the story, it does prevent a chronological flow through. This is a minor problem, but the book does jump around a lot in time; the reader never gets a full sense of what was going on at any given point in the Beatles' career.
There are also some seeming gaps in the chronology. For example, the chapter on image ends in the moptop era, as if Sgt. Pepper wasn't as much about (redoing their) image as it was about music. Further, their various solo careers are introduced or ignored on an almost arbitrary basis.
More important is the lack of thematic follow through. While the theme of the book seems obvious to me—the Beatles loss of control of their financial matters, and subsequent attempts to regain that control—Blaney never explicitly claims that as his theme. As a result, he misses the opportunity to organize the book around the theme. That attempt to regain control would have made a perfect line to hang his various topics on.
This is especially true with the final chapter, a lengthy telling of the Beatles' legal wrangling with Apple Computers. As it is, the chapter feels almost tacked on, only peripherally related to the rest of the book. However, it does actually fit clearly into that theme. Having learned too late the importance of control over their art, the remaining Beatles now attempt to establish and maintain control whenever possible. An explicit telling of the theme would make that clear.
But this is a minor quibble about a fascinating book. Beatles for Sale would make interesting reading not only for the serious Beatles fan, but for anyone interested in the business side of music. It is an illuminating lesson in how not to run your band's business.
More Information:
www.jawbonepress.com
Book:
Beatles for Sale is available now. Buy it on Amazon.
