1619 Broadway

In the 1960s, more than 150 music companies were located in the unimposing Brill Building on Broadway. These companies composed, advertised, and sold the majority of popular music ruling the commercial airwaves during that decade. Songwriters Neil Diamond, Carole King, Mike Stoller, and Burt Bacharach all worked here, many of them employed by the influential Don Kirshner. Writers, composers, marketers, and recording companies worked together with unprecedented efficiency, and this music machine churned out pop hit after pop hit along formulaic lines. Songwriters and producers were the unofficial stars, and some songwriters, such as Paul Simon, become well–known performers in their own right.