总统经济顾问委员会前主席艾伦·克鲁格（Alan Krueger）利用音乐产业，从摇滚艺术家到音乐高管，从经理到发起人，作为解释经济学原理和塑造经济生活的力量的一种方式。

正如经济学家所认识到的那样，音乐产业往往是当今经济的领先指标;它是**被最新一波技术打乱的人之一，并研究了音乐家如何制作和销售新歌并策划巡回演唱会的细节，为其他行业的企业和员工提供了宝贵的经验教训。努力适应。

通过对领先的乐队成员，音乐高管，经理，推广人员的采访，以及使用收入，版税，旅行日期和商品的最新数据，Rockonomicstakes读者在后台展示音乐行业的真正运作方式 - 谁赚钱和赚钱多少，以及音乐产业的经济在过去二十年中如何经历了彻底的变革。

在数字化和通过互联网传播音乐的能力之前，摇滚音乐家的大部分收入来自创纪录的销售额。今天，即使像泰勒斯威夫特这样的超级巨星，销售歌曲的收入也大幅下降;如今真钱来自音乐会销售。例如，在2016年，Billy Joel从他的现场表演中获得了2.124亿美元，而从创纪录的销售和流媒体中获得的收入不到100万美元。即使保罗·麦卡特尼（Paul McCartney）今天在音乐史上创作的**首歌也比其他人都多，他的收入中有93％来自现场音乐会。克鲁格解决了一个常见问题：一首歌如何变得流行？一个新的艺术家如何在今天的赢家通吃经济中脱颖而出？Alan Krueger, the former chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, uses the music industry, from rock artists to music executives, from managers to promoters, as a way in to explain the principles of economics, and the forces shaping our economic lives.

As economists recognize, the music industry is often a leading indicator of today's economy; it is among the first to be disrupted by the latest wave of technology, and examining the ins and outs of how musicians create and sell new songs and plan concert tours offers valuable lessons for what is in store for businesses and employees in other industries that are struggling to adapt.

Drawing on interviews with leading band members, music executives, managers, promoters, and using the latest data on revenues, royalties, tour dates, and merchandise, Rockonomicstakes readers backstage to show how the music industry really works--who makes money and how much, and how the economics of the music industry has undergone a radical transformation during the last twenty years.

Before digitalization and the ability to stream music over the Internet, rock musicians made the bulk of their income from record sales. Today, income from selling songs has plummeted, even for superstars like Taylor Swift; the real money nowadays is derived from concert sales. In 2016, for example, Billy Joel earned $212.4 million from his live performances, and less than $1 million from record sales and streaming. Even Paul McCartney, who has written and recorded more number one songs than anyone in music history, today, earns 93 percent of his income from live concerts. Krueger tackles common questions: How does a song become popular? And how does a new artist break out in today's winner-take-all economy?