Peter Shapiro (born 1969) is an American lawyer and music journalist. He wrote several reference works on music genres including

Disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

Hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, before moving into practice focusing on media law.

Biography

Shapiro has written for '' Spin'', '' URB'', ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'', '' Uncut'', '' Vibe'', ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. He has written a number of Rough Guide reference works focused on music genres. These include ''The Rough Guide to Drum N' Bass'' in 1999 and ''The Rough Guide to Soul and R 'n' B'', which was published in 2006. His 2005 book, ''The Rough Guide to Hip-Hop'', has been cited as an "important" reference source on the subject, with entries that are "comprehensive and commendable". After a decade in music journalism Shapiro moved into law. As of 2024 he specializes in media law and

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

, working for the BakerHostetler law firm.

Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco

In 2005 Shapiro authored the book ''Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco'' which charted the history of the

genre including from the Swingjugend of Nazi Germany and the Zazous of France, to how the repetitive beats "opened the doors to techno, house and hip-hop". It received positive critical reception, which included a review in

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

that highlighted how the book rehabilitates the "dinosaur" that is

, and Gary Lachman of

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

stated he "put down the book knowing a great deal more about disco than I ever wanted to".

Bibliography

* * * * * * *Reviews of ''Turn the Beat Around'': * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Peter Shapiro on the 'roots' of Euro-Disco
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Peter Living people 1969 births Alumni of the University of Sussex American music journalists American lawyers The Wire (magazine) writers