In "Unfree Masters," Matt Stahl examines recording artists' labor in the music industry as a form of creative work. He argues that the widespread perception of singers and musicians as free individuals doing enjoyable and fulfilling work obscures the realities of their occupation.

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Popular Music and (Creative) Labor 1
Part I: Representation 31
1. American Idol and Narratives of Meritocracy 36
2. Rockumentary and the New Model Worker 64
Part II: Regulation 101
3. Carving Out Recording Artists from California's Seven-Year Rule 105
4. Freedom, Unfreedom, and the Rhetoric of the Recording Contract 143
5. Recordings Artists, Work for Hire, Employment, and Appropriation 182
Conclusion: "I'm Free!" 226
Notes 235
Bibliography 269
Index 283