Tin Pan Alley

noun

: a district that is a center for composers and publishers of popular music

also : the body of such composers and publishers

Examples of Tin Pan Alley in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Set underneath a skylight, an antique piano in the center of the dining room pays homage to the location’s former identity as Tin Pan Alley, the center of the city’s music industry in the height of the Jazz Age. —Kristen Tauer, WWD, 20 Sep. 2024

Much of the music was religious or classical, but sheet music for secular, popular songs grew increasingly available over time, thanks in part to the emergence of publishing district Tin Pan Alley. —Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 20 June 2024

Morgan Spurlock, 'Super Size Me' director and documentarian, dead at 53: Reports The earworm quality of Sherman’s work can be attributed to his upbringing with a songwriter father, Al, a famed Tin Pan Alley name. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 26 May 2024

Margo’s mother, Evelyn, was a radiologist; her stay-at-home dad, Seymour, was forever playing Tin Pan Alley standards on their grand piano. —Will Hermes, New York Times, 4 June 2024

Blessed with a glorious soprano and the ability to make any song her own, McDonald shines equally bright whether singing musical theater favorites, bluesy laments, Tin Pan Alley chestnuts or jazz standards that sound anything but standard in her gifted hands. —George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2024

Catt sings in a jingly Tin Pan Alley curtain-raiser, eager to make men comfortable with the idea of extending the franchise. —Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 2 May 2024

Hints of Cuban clave rhythms, Tin Pan Alley harmonies, Jewish melodies and piano licks swim through its overarching Romantic theme. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 14 Feb. 2024

The first date on Canal’s U.K. tour was at the Lower Third, an industrial-chic venue on Denmark Street—a street that was once London’s version of Tin Pan Alley and still has a residual, slightly beleaguered music-industry presence. —Hugh Morris, The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Tin Pan Alley

• alli
• bally
• calli
• challis
• dally
• galley
• galli
• lally
• mallee
• mally
• rally
• salley