Originally the
nickname given West 28th Street
between
Broadway and Sixth Avenue in
Manhattan
where many
popular music publishers had
their
offices. Writer Monroe Rosenfeld is credited with the term, when, walking down this
street, he heard the
sounds of
pianos from several buildings reaching him simulataneously. He described the
noise as similar to striking
tin pans.
Later it became the generic term for all
publishers of popular American sheet music, regardless of their geographic locations, and the music publishing business. Before the wide availability of phonographs, the music business measured success in the sale of sheet music, and would hire lyricists and composers to write popular songs, design snazzy covers, and later, in the 1930s, get their songs on the radio to sell not records, but more sheet music.