Tin Pan Alley was the publishing center for popular music in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Many of the country’s music publishers had offices on 28th Street in New York City. 28th Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway was Tin Pan Alley. It was home to many of the greats like Robbins Music Corp, Shapiro and even Irving Berlin, Inc.The name Tin Pan Alley was attributed to a newspaper writer, who, in several articles wrote that there were so many pianos being played in the publishers offices that it sounded like they were pounding on tin pans. The name Tin Pan Alley was born!
“By the late 1800s, over a half million youngsters were taking piano lessons. Piano’s popularity created demand for sheet music. As the demand grew so did the number of music publishers”
Music publishers contracted composers to compose original sheet music in a specific style. They would then test market the newly composed songs to determine which would be published. When they published one of the new songs, they hired performers (song pluggers) to play it, creating demand.
A song really became popular if a vaudeville act incorporated it into their show. The potential for making “big bucks” was great. An example of a success was After The Ball which ultimately sold 5 million copies!
As collectors of sheet music, the music publishers of Tin Pan Alley deserve our gratitude. Every time I find a piece of vintage sheet music I hadn’t seen before, I silently say “Thank You”!
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