Tin Pan Alley

English

Etymology

Purported to be a reference to the constant sound of pianos as songwriters worked out their tunes.

Proper noun

Tin Pan Alley

1. The district in New York City centered on 28th Street from the late 19th to the early 20th century, wherein thousands of popular songs were commercially written.
2. (metonymically, music) The songwriting and publishing industry which was built around the songs produced in Tin Pan Alley; the style of popular music produced by this industry.
   • 2003, Kathleen E. R. Smith, God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 81:

     From its inception the OWI framed directives that offered guidelines for songwriters to aid them in the composition of “proper” war songs, and, in the public press, the OWI rebuked Tin Pan Alley for its uninterrupted production of “nostalgic” hit songs.

   • 2009, Tighe E. Zimmers, Tin Pan Alley Girl: A Biography of Ann Ronell, McFarland, →ISBN, page 11:

     At the time, almost all Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songs had two parts.

See also

• Brill Building
• Denmark Street

References

• 2001. The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: North America. Garland Publishing. Ellen Koskoff (Ed.). Pg. 194.

Further reading

• Tin Pan Alley on Wikipedia.Wikipedia