An Industry Beneath Their Feet

Structure of Music Exploitation

Black Music Month presentation delivered by writer, editor, and documentarian, Norman Kelley.

This June, celebrate Black Music Month at West End Library!

In this fascinating historical presentation, Norman Kelley builds on his first presentation in April, this time focusing on the "Structure of Music Exploitation (S.O.M.E)":

Structure of Music Exploitation (aka the "structure of stealing") examines the various methods used to extract wealth from black talent and music. Drawing on Norman Kelley's unpublished work, An Industry Beneath Their Feet: The Mismanagement and Exploitation of Black Music, Kelley will examine "Blind Tom" Wiggins; Black Swan Records; Motown; Action Intellectuals vs. Soul Power; The "Harvard Report" vs. The NAACP's "Discordant Sound of Music."

In each case, Kelley will argue how the structure of exploitation within the music recording industry made it possible for black music and black talent to be exploited with impunity.

About our Presenter:

Norman Kelley is the author of The Head Negro in Charge Syndrome: The Dead End of Black Politics (Nation Books, 2004). In 2013, he produced and directed the documentary How Washington Really Works: Charlie Peters and the Washington Monthly. He also wrote Black Heat (Amistad, 2001; Cool Grove, 1997), The Big Mango (Akashic Books, 2002), and A Phat Death (Akashic Books, 2003). He was also a contributing writer to That’s the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader (Routledge, 2005) and Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs at the Turn of the Millennium (Random House 2000).

He edited and contributed to R&B (Rhythm and Business): The Political Economy of Black Music (Akashic Books, 2005; 2002). Mr. Kelley has also appeared on numerous radio shows, including Tavis Smiley (NPR), and on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.” He’s also the creator of the pod series From Black Power to Black Trauma (2023).

Norman Kelley also appeared as an interviewee in Paid In Full: The Battle for Black Music, a three-part documentary series about black music and the music recording industry. Executive produced by Idris Elba in conjunction with the BBC and CBC.

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