jeff chang's just-published (and deservedly celebrated) "can't stop won't stop" will go down as an absolutely essential hip-hop history, which in turn makes it an absolutely essential history of modern pop.

fredric dannen's "hitmen" remains the definitive book on the sordid business of promoting records and making hits. even though the book is 15 years old and a lot of the details have changed, the general principles are exactly the same.

chuck klosterman's hair-metal memoir "fargo rock city" is a fascinating (and quite funny) look at how music that's not supposed to matter to ordinary people actually does matter to them, very much, which makes it an essential pop document itself.

as for recent changes in the industry, i might recommend lawrence lessig's "the future of ideas," which isn't about music at all, but rather about the ongoing clash of copyright and creativity, which to me is essential to an understanding of the music biz today.

m@tty