This volume investigates the evolution of the American music industry throughout the nineteenth century, focusing on the intersection of technological advancement, commercial growth, and cultural shifts. The author, Russell Sanjek, provides a comprehensive examination of how the business of music transformed from localized printing and publishing into a centralized, monopolistic system. By analyzing the transition from sheet music to the early phonograph era, the text argues that the structural development of the industry was as significant as the music itself in shaping American culture.

Scholars and music historians frequently cite this work as a foundational resource for understanding the commercial infrastructure of nineteenth-century American music. Readers often note the dense, research-heavy nature of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the economic forces that defined the era.