I recently finished reading the book Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. I’m a little mad at myself for waiting so long to read it. It’s been in the “to read” pile for a long time and I just started reading it. It’s a fantastic look at the evolution of music over the last 20 years or so. From the rise of indie bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes, to Prince’s record label, mp3s, and the pay-what-you-want model pioneered by Radiohead and NineInch Nail’s Trent Reznor.

I can’t honestly say that I remember much about my seventh grade history class. I couldn’t even tell you my teacher’s name, let alone what we “learned” that year. The only thing I do remember is that there was a banner hanging above the blackboard. He said: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

If you’re going to be a musician today, then you need to understand how the music industry has changed so you can try to figure out where it’s headed. It sure is cool to know about the writers in Tin Pan Alley from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s; it is important to understand the role of radio in the rise of popular music and how the payola controlled that; It’s important to know that the first video to air on MTV was The Buggle’s “Video Killed The Radio Star” (think seriously about that for a minute).

In the last 20 years, the music industry has changed more than in almost its entire existence. But certainly in this century. The current music industry in which we operate is still changing at a rapid pace. There’s speculation about CDs being extinct in 2-3 years, there’s been a huge resurgence in vinyl (who saw that coming?!), major record labels as we knew them may cease to exist in 5 years , mp3s and file sharing are now a good thing and a major source of worldwide distribution (what?!).

Greg Kott’s “Ripped” is one of the most fascinating books on modern music history I’ve ever read. Jump right in with the first chapter about the big consolidation of the big 5 (there were 5 major record labels at the time, as opposed to 2 1/2 now). This was a big change in the recording industry at the time. It scared a lot of artists and put a lot of people out of work.

Greg does a great job detailing the consolidation of the majors, the rise of indie bands, the fight against and for sampling hip-hip records and new mashup records and artists, Prince’s record label, and his do-it-yourself approach. “, the rise of mp3s and the fall of Napster and the “pay what you want” model that Radiohead started with “In Rainbows”, which Trent Renzor “improved”.

I don’t want to reveal too much, because I want you to enjoy this book. It’s it isa nice book. He discusses in detail the many things that have happened in the last two decades that have drastically changed the face of the music industry.

You can read each chapter as a bullet point about each band or person or aspect of the industry. But when taken as a whole, “Ripped” reads more like a cautionary tale with a hopeful ending.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”