How the Beatles Went Viral in ’64

Billboard Magazine ran a 10,000 word excerpt from the ebook How The Beatles Went Viral in '64 this past week.  It was the longest excerpt ever run as a cover store in 120 years.  That says something about this ebook.

Steve Greenberg wrote the book and I can't think of a more perfect person to write about it.  In the days of old when you found your roommates on boards in college centers is how Steve came into our lives.  He was a UPenn getting his masters in something and Fred was getting his MBA.  Steve was a lover of music the minute we met him and he turned us on to something great musicians and a lot of interesting tracks.  He went on to start his own label, discover some amazing artists including Hanson, Baha Men, Jonas Brothers, Diane Birch and Joss Stone.  Steve was the President of Columbia Records at one point. He has co-written songs with many of these artists including producing their albums.  

The thing that makes Steve unique among his music industry peers is that he has always been an entrepreneur succeeding by being scrappy, finding talent and doing it his own way.  President of Columbia Records was random.  He has also been into technology and social media from the get go figuring out how to build a Diane Birch audience with Mommy bloggers at SXSW.  It was not surprising to me that Steve would write a book that is only being published as an ebook, no hard copies.   

This book focuses on a period of time when the Beatles landed on American soil the Christmas of 1963 and six weeks later were on the Ed Sullivan show drawing 73 million viewers.  It was a cultural phenomena.  Certainly the music is timeless but how did they become the biggest pop band of all time?  

The book is available on Amazon.   Here is Ringo and Steve talking about the book on the Today show this week.