It has been one year since my music history book, MUSIC TITANS – 250 GREATEST RECORDING ARTISTS OF THE PAST 100 YEARS, released in eBook format (the paperback came out in March 2024). I am not a best-selling author (not close), and it would be a huge stretch, even, to call my book a hit. Still, MUSIC TITANS has remained fairly consistently among Amazon’s Top 5% selling titles (there are millions of books out there). It is well regarded (4.4 on Amazon and 4.73 on Goodreads), and has even been picked up by several library systems.

For those who don’t know, I looked at 100 years of recorded music (1923 to 2023), artists from all genres, and three broad metrics (Popularity- total records sold; live music or concert attraction; longevity as a consequential artist. The second metric was Influence- musical and cultural, both in their own time and long-term. The third metric was major Awards and Honors won). Using a point system, I then came up with my ranked list of the 250 “greatest”- Not necessarily my favorites. I let the three criteria and the total number of points define who is on the list. Of course, people can and do and should disagree with who is on and who is not on the list. I don’t pretend that this is a definitive or scientific ranking. I often have second guessed myself, feeling like I undervalued or over valued certain artists. I did, though, do a lot of reading and research, as well as listening, and I assure you that all the true, no doubt about it, giants are here- Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Miles, Hank, Elvis, Streisand, the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Willie, Dolly, Aretha, Michael, Marley, Madonna, Eminem, and so-on. MUSIC TITANS is meant to be educational, but it is also meant to be fun, to provoke discussion and debate, but also to promote listening.

I hope you read it (if you haven’t already), tell your friends about it, and let me know your thoughts. It is still widely available at Amazon, BookBaby, Barnes & Noble, etc. Thanks!