Brill Building

Brill Building

The Brill Building, with is fantastically opulent gilded entryway, was built in 1931, at the start of the depression. The Brill Building derives its name from the Brill Brothers, the original owners of the building. The Brill Brothers clothing store was originally located on the bottom floor of the structure. Faced with an increasingly dire financial situation, the Brill Brothers were forced to begin renting the offices in the building to music publishing companies. More blue chip companies were choosing other locations to house their offices, and the music publishers were some of the only tenants that the Brill Brothers could find. Thus, the legend of the building as the center of sound for New York City began. At first, the building only housed three small music-publishing companies: Southern Music, Mills Music and Famous-Music. However, by the early 1960’s, the building contained over 150 music businesses. By the 60’s the Brill Building had become a fully integrated music center: the building contained recording studios, music publishers, writers, performers, and more. A recording artist never had to leave the Brill Building to get a song written, recorded and produced. The atmosphere was creative and electric. Many famous musicians were headquartered in the building at one time or another, including Burt Bacharach, Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, John Denver, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, James Taylor and Neil Diamond.