About
Tom Cossie, also known as Tom Surman, is a music industry veteran with more than 50 years of experience as a 45 rpm record collector, artist manager, record producer, music and magazine publisher, and record executive. At 26, he became a senior vice president at RCA Records and later served as a Grammy Awards voting member while publishing magazines in Los Angeles. Now based in Southwest Florida, he writes books about the music business and is launching BookHighway, a marketing app created by authors for authors. Tom's current book is Music Business Stories - Book One.
Featured Work
Music Business Stories - Book One
Music Business Stories – Book One traces the music industry's growth and transformation from 1950 to 1985, focusing on the forces that shaped the business beyond the music itself. Through stories about 45 RPM singles, vinyl albums, promotion, distribution, marketing, and music sales, it offers an illuminating look at how a rapidly evolving industry turned unknown performers into hit artists.
Book One brings together varied personalities and perspectives, featuring artists such as Michael Jackson, David Bowie, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Dolly Parton, and John Denver, along with behind-the-scenes accounts of their managers: Frank DiLeo, Colonel Tom Parker, Jerry Weintraub, and Tony DeFries. These stories reveal how artistry and business interact behind the scenes.
Other chapters examine diplomacy, industry politics, and substance abuse—forces that altered many careers. Music Business Stories provides an educational, authoritative nonfiction perspective on the cultural importance of that golden era in the music business.
