The Musician's Business and Legal Guide (3rd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good info on the LEGAL side of the music business
Review: But is didn't have enough information on the business aspect. It doesnt thourogly explain each aspect it covers but still a great investment for anyone entering the music business

Rating:
Summary: I Keep Coming Back to This Book
Review: I bought this book to fill out my music law library. Among the many books I have read are Passman's book "Everything You Need to Know About the Music Industry", "This Business of Music", and even Moses Avalon's more gritty book "Confessions of a Record Producer." While all of these books provide a great deal helpful information to understanding the music business, they are not really books that contain samples of what the actual contracts look like.

I bought The Musician's Business and Legal Guide a while back just because of the sample contracts. After sorting through the plentiful boilerplate contracts, I found that the information prefacing the agreements, i.e. that actual chapter contents, were even more invaluable than the contracts, which in themselves are pretty thorough. While I use my own hybrid, individualized contracts for the entertainment clients I represent through my law practice, I find myself constantly flipping back to this book as a reference since it covers such a wide range of information. In addition, the annotations in the sample contracts helps to illustrate the degrees of flexibility usually available to those contracts and what the terms actually mean.

This book is definitely not, as another reviewer stated, a book that you set out to read from cover to cover like Passman's book, but it works tremendously well as a reference to go to from time to time. My copy is highlighted and marked all up (and I'm one who normally writes in books).

The value of this book seriously exceeds its cost, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to see how the concepts discussed in other music business books play out legally.

Rating:
Summary: THE Guide to law & business in Entertainment
Review: Imagine taking a hike through a forest sans compass or trail map. One could be lost for days on end, wandering aimlessly, without any sense of direction. Unfortunately, for most musicians and aspiring industry professionals alike, that's exactly the way their career is spent. Lost in the dense woodland of the forest, unable to see the trees for what they are. If knowledge is the key to success in any career than the Musician's Guide provides the direction for understanding the complexities of the entertainment industry. Devoid of excessive legalese and business jargon, while delving deeply into the everyday issues musicians and music business-people face, Musician's Guide is a savior for everyone on any level of entertainment industry. Presented by a panel of legal and business experts and the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Musician's Guide effectively confronts a variety of legal and business issues in a clear and concise way while not skimming over any of the detail necessary to garner a strong grasp of the concepts. While not necessarily a replacement for a strong business manager or accomplished layer, it makes the time spent with both more effective and allows musicians at any level the comfort of knowing they are not being taken by the evil's common in the industry. By the same token, for anyone aspiring for a business or legal career in the industry the Musician's Guide provides a superb textbook explanation of the aspects of both, in an environment allowing for a strong understanding of the details, not just basic concepts commonly faced in the industry. On the cutting edge of current issues including sampling, new media and the Internet, copyright ownership and usage, international music issues as well as changes in the basic contractual structure and the more traditional concepts dealt with in many texts on entertainment business and law, the Musician's Guide provides more than just the basic ideals, it rips at the meat of these with a saw tooth. The depth and breath of the explanation is easily the biggest benefit of owning the book. Musician's Guide provides the opportunity for success on all levels with real world examples paired with examples of contracts and letters commonly used in the industry translated into plain and simple English without forgetting that wording is everything when working in a pure business or legal environment. Promoting the idea that understand the complexities of the music industry is important fin the success of everyone, the Musician's Guide provides a step-by-step manual of sorts, fully caring out it's own namesake in a stellar fashion.

Rating:
Summary: THE Guide to law & business in Entertainment
Review: Imagine taking a hike through a forest sans compass or trail map. One could be lost for days on end, wandering aimlessly, without any sense of direction. Unfortunately, for most musicians and aspiring industry professionals alike, that's exactly the way their career is spent. Lost in the dense woodland of the forest, unable to see the trees for what they are. If knowledge is the key to success in any career than the Musician's Guide provides the direction for understanding the complexities of the entertainment industry. Devoid of excessive legalese and business jargon, while delving deeply into the everyday issues musicians and music business-people face, Musician's Guide is a savior for everyone on any level of entertainment industry. Presented by a panel of legal and business experts and the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Musician's Guide effectively confronts a variety of legal and business issues in a clear and concise way while not skimming over any of the detail necessary to garner a strong grasp of the concepts. While not necessarily a replacement for a strong business manager or accomplished layer, it makes the time spent with both more effective and allows musicians at any level the comfort of knowing they are not being taken by the evil's common in the industry. By the same token, for anyone aspiring for a business or legal career in the industry the Musician's Guide provides a superb textbook explanation of the aspects of both, in an environment allowing for a strong understanding of the details, not just basic concepts commonly faced in the industry. On the cutting edge of current issues including sampling, new media and the Internet, copyright ownership and usage, international music issues as well as changes in the basic contractual structure and the more traditional concepts dealt with in many texts on entertainment business and law, the Musician's Guide provides more than just the basic ideals, it rips at the meat of these with a saw tooth. The depth and breath of the explanation is easily the biggest benefit of owning the book. Musician's Guide provides the opportunity for success on all levels with real world examples paired with examples of contracts and letters commonly used in the industry translated into plain and simple English without forgetting that wording is everything when working in a pure business or legal environment. Promoting the idea that understand the complexities of the music industry is important fin the success of everyone, the Musician's Guide provides a step-by-step manual of sorts, fully caring out it's own namesake in a stellar fashion.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended for the Hip Hop Entrepreneur!
Review: Success is about having the right information and then knowing how to and actually applying it! This is one of the books we recommend highly in our Hip Hop Entrepreneur Bookshelf on our website!

--Walt Goodridge, President Hip Hop Entrepreneur Association (Walt is also author of Rap: This Game of Exposure and, The Game of Artist Management, The Hip Hop Entrepreneur Lists of Exposure, The Niche Market Report, and other success tools for the Hip Hop Entrepreneur)

Rating:
Summary: Very thorough. Easy reading. Great examples.
Review: This book covers the gammit of what every working musician or artist should know. From music publishing to copyright agreements, defining a business plan to writing contracts, this book has helped to explain the basics and beyond, time and time again. Great investment.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, very insightful
Review: This book is a great find! It covers many aspects of the music industry that are not only of interest to artist, but others in the industry as well. This book is a great investment even containing sample contracts and explanations so you can understand what they are saying without having a law degree.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent content, very focused and informative.
Review: This book is a must read for anybody entering the music business, whether at the superstar level or in your home studio. It has everything you need to get started and not ripped off, from copies of record contracts to getting label artwork. Not only is this book focused and informative, it is also written in easy to understand laguage.

Rating:
Summary: Handy reference guide, but not a sit down and read book
Review: While this book is not on my required reading list on my web site, it is still a very handy reference guide to have on hand. This is not a book that I sat down and read all the way through, and I doubt that many other people would also. It is a HUGE book! This is a good book to have on hand when you need to look up something specific about the music business, and is much easier to read and use than "This Business Of Music". I still highly recommend the Donald Passman book as the first book that anyone looking for success in the music business should read, because it is a book that you can sit down and read (although it's also probably too big to read in one sitting).

-- Stephen Sherrard, owner of Music-TECH Productions...

Rating:
Summary: Handy reference guide, but not a sit down and read book
Review: While this book is not on my required reading list on my web site, it is still a very handy reference guide to have on hand. This is not a book that I sat down and read all the way through, and I doubt that many other people would also. It is a HUGE book! This is a good book to have on hand when you need to look up something specific about the music business, and is much easier to read and use than "This Business Of Music". I still highly recommend the Donald Passman book as the first book that anyone looking for success in the music business should read, because it is a book that you can sit down and read (although it's also probably too big to read in one sitting).

-- Stephen Sherrard, owner of Music-TECH Productions...