In The Contemporary Minstrel, Louis Anthony deLise presents a first-of-its-kind organized and scholarly study of the craft of creating and marketing pop songs. He includes in this book a primer on music theory, detailed descriptions of all pop song forms, analysis of well-written songs and a complete how-to guide for navigating today"s new music business paradigm. Through thoughtful analysis of successful songs, deLise provides aspiring songwriters with the music and lyric writing tools they will need to create great new tunes. In the chapter on the business of music, deLise presents a step-by-step method for marketing the songs you create. Louis Anthony deLise is a composer, music arranger and record producer whose songwriting, arranging and producing credits include hit records with Patti LaBelle, William DeVaughn and his band, Philly Nouveau. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and has taught songwriting, music theory, arranging and film scoring at major universities.