It's One For The Money

Essential reading for anyone who loves popular music and wants to know the real, complex story of how the music evolved; from the blues to rock, including fascinating, history-revising accounts of who really wrote what. It’s One for the Money is packed with invaluable revelations on virtually every page.

After reading Clinton Heylin’s century-wide study of musical theft and influence, it’s impossible to distinguish the criminals from the saints. His compelling narrative questions the very notions of authenticity and originality in popular music, and overturns many of the myths on which its history has been built.

With customary precision and a fine eye for detail, Heylin lifts the lid off the dustbin of Pop.

Heylin digs deep into the recesses of musical history to prove there is (almost) nothing new under the musical sun. An impressive work of research and wry commentary on the song-publishing racket.

A fascinating story of sometimes blatant theft and the power struggles for “credit” that have been a part of the music “industry” since voices were first raised in song. Heylin examines the highways and byways by which one song is transformed into another across more than a century of popular music, and how infighting over “who wrote what” would have enormous impact on the lifespan of many bands and on the track listings of some of our most revered albums in a bid for a piece of the economic windfall that is publishing royalties.

A terrific guide to the evolution of the popular song - Spectator

[A] meticulous study of music publishing, plagiarism and song ownership - Sunday Times

Fascinating stuff, intensively researched and utterly intriguing - Mojo