Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia

by William Knoedelseder

Book Overview

An expose+a7 of the role of organized crime in the music industry focuses on MCA Records, a powerful corporation with ties to the Mob and political influence to spare. 50,000 first printing. $50,000... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060924942
• ISBN13: 9780060924942
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Scary book if you've met the people.

Having known some of the people mentioned in this book it makes me want to get out of the industry, or at least go it on my own. At least now in the digital age that is possible. Hopefully the industry has been cleaned up, but I know a lot of it still goes on.

Stench of Corruption Leads To Reagan's Justice Department

Knoedelseder's "Stiffed" is the definitive book on Record/Movie Industry politics. The book reads like a mystery novel, but is all true. The book centers around a bunch of "cutouts," these are records that did not sell due to over supply and were returned to the record company. Cutouts are usually sold to a second party at a steep discount and end up on the shelves of Walmart for $2.99. The artist does not receive any money, no royalties whatsoever on these items. "Stiffed" tells the story how millions of "cutouts" were sold, by way of mafia henchmen working out of the offices of MCA records in Universal City, California. This is a story of "follow the money." And a story of how Reagan's Justice department interfered in the process of trying to prosecute MCA record executives. At one point in the book, a prosecuting attorney wonders if he is stepping on the toes of some strange alliance of some sort of MCA/Mafia/CIA/Iran Contra connection as Reagan's Justice department puts the kibosh on his investigation. Every student of politics should have this book as a reference book. You will see how "spin control" is really worked in government, and in a powerful corporation. I recommend this book highly.

Why the music business can be hazardous to your health...

The sordid story of how MCA Records got "mobbed up" during music biz mogul Irving Azoff's tenure as company president. Knoedelseder starts off with a powerful narrative, but as it shifts from an industry expose into a Mafia fetish, and then into a trial book, it starts to drag. Still, the first third tells you a lot about the underside of the record business economy, in particular, how "cutout" records and counterfeits get into the stores. After that, you'll learn that mafia strongmen and government prosecutors can both be bad for your health and livelihood, lessons which are always good to keep in mind, even though they're almost self-apparent.