The Brill Building

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The Brill Building is home to some of the most important music offices in Manhattan. There are many music publishers in the building, and by 1962 the Brill Building contained over 150 music related businesses. A musician could find a publisher, make a demo and find a publicist all in this one building.

The name “Brill” comes from the Brill Brothers (Samuel, Max and Maurice) who operated a men’s clothing-store chain; they acquired the building after the original developer, Abraham E. Lefcourt, ran into financial trouble.

Its location north of the main Tin Pan Alley area positioned it as a new epicenter for the music-publishing and songwriting business in the mid-20th century.

Some of the many writers that had offices, or perhaps only desks, were/are:

Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
Gerry Goffin and Carole King
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Laura Nyro
Phil Spector
Paul Anka
Jim Croce
Bobby Darin
John Denver
Billy Joel
Joni Mitchell
Neil Sedaka
Carly Simon
Paul Simon
Neil Diamond
James Taylor

The Brill Building
1619 Broadway
New York New York 10019