New York City: the music industry's commercial capital

The hip-hop birthplace

Hip-hop as a musical genre is most-often dated to August 11, 1973, when DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) DJ'd a back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx. Herc's technique of extending percussion breaks by switching between two copies of the same record (the breakbeat) is the foundational DJ technique that hip-hop is built on. The Bronx + Brooklyn + Queens of the late 1970s + early 1980s produced Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, the Sugarhill Gang, and most of the genre's first decade. New York hip-hop has continued to evolve across multiple generations (the Boom Bap era, the Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z + Notorious B.I.G., Nas + DMX + 50 Cent, A Tribe Called Quest, modern New York drill).

Punk + post-punk at CBGB

CBGB (Country, Bluegrass, and Blues, opened 1973 at 315 Bowery, closed 2006, demolished) was the canonical New York punk + post-punk venue. The club hosted the Ramones (their early residency), Television, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Blondie, the New York Dolls, and most of the bands that defined American punk. CBGB's documentation in punk history is extensive; the club's closure + demolition in 2006 was a cultural-history loss, though the venue's branding + memorabilia continue to circulate.

The post-CBGB era continued the New York rock-scene tradition through Maxwell's, the Mercury Lounge, Bowery Ballroom, the Bowery Electric, and many smaller venues; the modern Brooklyn DIY scene (Williamsburg, Bushwick, Greenpoint) is a continuation of the same lineage.

The Brill Building + Tin Pan Alley songwriter tradition

The Brill Building at 1619 Broadway housed the largest concentration of pop-songwriting offices in the world during the 1950s + early 1960s. Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach + Hal David, Doc Pomus + Mort Shuman, Barry Mann + Cynthia Weil, and many more wrote there. Earlier (1880s-1940s), Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street had been the music-publishing capital of the United States. Both districts shaped the modern song-publishing industry.

NYC fun facts

1. The Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th Street in Harlem opened in 1934 + has hosted Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, and most of the major Black-American music acts. Amateur Night at the Apollo (Wednesdays since 1934) has launched countless careers.
2. Hip-hop's birthplace at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx received historic-landmark status in 2007 + a commemorative plaque marking the August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc party that launched the genre.
3. CBGB's stage was approximately 8 feet wide + 5 feet deep; the Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Television, and Blondie all played their breakthrough sets on this small platform. The club's compact dimensions are part of its lore.
4. The Brill Building's pop-songwriting hit factory in the late 1950s + early 1960s is sometimes credited with producing more pop-music hits per square foot than any building in history; floors 5 through 11 were divided into small cubicles + each cubicle housed a songwriting team that produced full songs in single-day sessions.
5. Madison Square Garden (the current building, opened 1968) is one of the most-played live-music venues in the world by major-act concert volume; the Garden has hosted residencies by Billy Joel + extensive single-night shows by virtually every major touring rock + pop act.
6. Studio 54 (1977-1986) at 254 West 54th Street is the most-cited disco-era venue + a documented site of cross-pollination between music + fashion + film + the Andy Warhol Factory aesthetic. The club's brief operation period is inversely proportional to its cultural reach.

Related on CYS

Native + based CYS musicians. Frank Bello (Anthrax, Bronx native). Charlie Benante (Anthrax + S.O.D., Bronx native). Plus many CYS musicians have worked extensively in NYC studios across their careers.

Native bands. Profiles for the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Run-DMC, the Velvet Underground, Anthrax, KISS, Public Enemy + many others pending as the bands roster expands.

Related locations. Los Angeles (the West Coast music-industry capital). Nashville (the country-music capital). London (the global rock-and-roll capital).