"hit song writing business," 1907, from tin pan, slang for "a decrepit piano" (1882). The original one was "that little section of Twenty-eighth Street, Manhattan, that lies between Broadway and Sixth Avenue," home to many music publishing houses.
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Definitions of Tin Pan Alley from WordNet
Tin Pan Alley (n.)
a city district (originally in New York) where composers and publishers of popular music do business;