Money for Nothing

Music journalist Garfield, who writes for London's Time Out, charges that the music industry likes dumb chatter about its product but not public knowledge of chart fixing, profits, artist rip-offs and the true nature of the company-artist and artist-management relationship. His subjects range from management (the legendary lawsuits that involved the Beatles, the Who and the Kinks in litigation for years) and music publishing to the ""promoters' twilight world'' of manipulation of live entertainment. In a chapter titled ``Hype,'' he explains practices used to boost records to the Top 40 and the ``image creation'' of the Sex Pistols. The stand-out is a lengthy piece on the career of Hazel O'Connor (Breaking Glass, detailing the economics and legal flak behind her ``starry rise and crashing fall.'' This is an illuminating and illusion-shattering book. (August)