Riding the Rollercoaster: How artists survive the music business to become the legends we love

Riding the Rollercoaster tells the story of how artists and bands carve out long and successful careers in the music business, despite the numerous pitfalls and pratfalls.

Who lasts in the music industry — and why?

The music business is defined by volatility. For every artist who sustains a career, many more fall away, despite talent, acclaim, or early success. Riding the Rollercoaster examines why some musicians endure while others fade away.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than seventy artists and industry insiders, Keith Jopling provides a clear-eyed, behind-the-scenes account of how careers in music are built, tested, and sustained. These are artists who have been dropped by labels, lost bandmates, experienced both commercial failure and success, broken up and re-formed — and still found ways to continue.

Looking beyond individual stories, Riding the Rollercoaster situates artistic longevity within the wider structures of the modern music industry, from the attention economy to the growing concentration of power among platforms and corporations. Why do so few musicians retain control over long-term careers in a global industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars?

An insider’s guide to survival in modern music, Rollercoaster offers a grounded, accessible account of what it really takes to last.