What was Tin Pan Alley?

This episode dives into Tin Pan Alley, the legendary New York City block that became the birthplace of American popular music in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Josh and Chuck explore how sheet music became the first major music commodity, why immigrant Jewish publishers and African-American songwriters flocked to 28th Street, and how clever marketing tactics like song pluggers and "booming" (planting audience members to sing along) helped turn tunes into hits. They trace some of the era's biggest standards like "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and explain how technology like radio eventually killed the sheet music industry, while also discussing the complicated legacy of how Tin Pan Alley both elevated and appropriated African-American musical genres like ragtime.