Book of the week: Fortune’s Fool by Fred Goodman
Goodman has provided a “deeply researched, engagingly written portrait” of Edgar Bronfman Jr., the heir to the Seagram fortune who bought Warner Music just as the digital era started decimating the record industry.
(Simon & Schuster, $28)
This “deeply researched, engagingly written portrait” of Warner Music Group’s chief executive, Edgar Bronfman Jr., is also a sad comment on the sorry state of the music industry, said this heir to the Seagram fortune bought Warner Music Ethan Smith in The Wall Street Journal. In 2004 a private-equity team led by—just as online file sharing and 99-cent downloads started decimating record sales. Bronfman’s timing may have been off, but he’s a “strangely sympathetic character” who has actually done a better job than most at shepherding his music label into the digital era, said Devin Leonard in The New York Times. Still, “I wish that Mr. Goodman would have delved more deeply into the cultural implications of Warner Music’s tribulations.” While record labels have always put out plenty of “top 40 schlock,” they also continued to bankroll more ambitious and meaningful endeavors. Now, with profit margins dwindling, “it’s pretty much all Lady Gaga all the time.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
July 26 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include Joe Biden's memoir, PBS funding, and an Obama-Trump comparison
-
5 low ratings cartoons about the Late Show cancellation
Cartoons Artists take on early warning signs, the Gen Z stare, and more
-
Connie Francis: Superstar of the early 1960s pop scene
In the Spotlight The 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Stupid Cupid' singer has died aged 87