This volume investigates the origins and early development of the American popular music industry, tracing its roots from Elizabethan England to the late eighteenth century. The late Russell Sanjek, a respected authority on music industry history, utilizes extensive archival research to document the intersection of creative output and commercial enterprise. He argues that the foundations of American music publishing were inextricably linked to British traditions, copyright evolution, and the specific socio-religious climate of the colonial era.

Experts recognize this work as a foundational, comprehensive resource for understanding the economic history of music. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the business structures that enabled the growth of popular song.