Rating: 
Summary: Passman Rocks!
Review: If you're interested in working in the music business, or just follow it as a hobby, BUY THIS BOOK! Passman's a high-powered industry lawyer, who breaks down the complexities of the business and expresses them in simple, but not simplistic, terms. After reading Passman's book, you can throw that other book, "This Business of Music", in the trash - you won't need it.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely A Get This!
Review: The title's got it! The Music Industry is a Business. Okay, some of us like to think it's about art, culture, the aspirations of humanity, the beauty found in a voice singing unto the Heavens. But, there's a ton of pre-packaged stuff out there that makes my grocery store look like it sells stuff only on the same day it gets them. I really enjoyed this book. It really helps lay out a plan for how to do it, and who couldn't use some help? But, I didn't think it was as strong in the whole pr area that it is in others. Another book, Guerilla PR: Wired, really came through there, especially with the 'Net--Blair Witch, remember? It's gotta help to have total strangers know who you are.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T Put It Off !!! ... Read it NOW, before it's too late!
Review: ... "Listen-Up, Spuds!" - as DEVO and Neil Young would say - and heed this advice: DON'T Put It Off !!! ... Read it NOW, before it's too late! ... Yeah, it's a HARDCOVER. ... Yeah, it's kind of COSTLY. ... Yeah, it's a BIG book with a lot of legal jargon and business mumbo-jumbo. ... TOO BAD! ... Ignore it at your own peril! ... Read this book now - NOW! - before you get in so deep into the deep water in the deep end of the pool, and don't know what happened, how to deal with it, or what you can do to get out of it without having to hire a lawyer for THOUSANDS of dollars to save you from economic ruin! ... Trust me: just buy it, read it, and make everyone else in your band read it, too! ... You will NEVER regret it - NEVER! ... Besides, Donald Passman writes like a real pro and makes it interesting and fun to read. You WILL get a number of laughs out of this book, too. It's THAT good... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid
Rating:
Summary: Music business 101 for artists
Review: A highly entertaining, extremely thorough music business book. Passman discusses everything from record royalties to music publishing, managers and attorneys and much more. This book is a must have if you are new to the music business and written in a very engaging manner. The author successfully simplifies what is often thought of as a complex business...
Rating:
Summary: Meet your very best friend...
Review: First of all, let me tell you that being a fairly new band manager in this business, you can never learn or read too much. I have read nearly everything out there, online and offline.
"All You Need to Know About the Music Business" is BY FAR the best book related to the business of music I have read thus far. You will find yourself muttering, "God, thank you for this man" at the end of almost every page. I mean it. I did. This fantastic book is written in such a way that only other similar books could attempt. Mixing solid business information with a personality that will carry you from page to page. Once you have picked up this book, you will suddenly realize hours later you just missed an important meeting, but you will also know damn near everything you need to get you started in this business. Simply put, if you don't have this book, you have no idea what you really don't know.
Rating: 
Summary: Get Me Rewrite!
Review: Frequent arithmetic, grammatic and typographical errors mar this perennial favorite of the musically-inclined who dream of superstardom, or at least a hefty advance and escalating royalties. Operating upon the principle that "forewarned is forearmed", Passman covers in fair detail the myriad ways in which recording artists, songwriters, and assorted little people get thoroughly shafted by the parasitic entities in charge of the industry, ie. record companies, distributors, publishers, and everyone else who can't write or play music. The bulk of the book is devoted to walkthroughs of various royalty calcuations and deal points in standard contracts between individual artists and record companies and publishers; smaller sections are devoted to copyright/intellectual property, group issues and film music. Cyberlaw issues are touched on, but receive only cursory treatment. On balance, there's enough useful information here to justify the purchase, but I'd like to offer the prospective purchaser the following caveats. One, "All You Need To Know", while intended for the layman (or layperson, as the author would have it), is dense with information; only the obsessive will be able to read it from cover to cover. Two, Passman employs second-person voice throughout. Frequently, it is impossible to tell whether the "you" he addresses is intended to be a recording artist, a writer, a publisher or a record company. This is worrisome, insofar as Passman may be espousing a position that is intended for one audience but might be mistaken by the reader as advice for another. ("So, should I negotiate for ownership of copyright as a writer or a co-publisher?") Three, there are mistakes in a large proportion of the numerical examples. Get out a calculator and redline them when you spot them. Four, Passman's brand of humor, such as it is, seems to have just hobbled out of a '50s Catskills resort. Be prepared to roll your eyes. Fifth and finally, this book may spur a great deal of righteous indignation about the state of the industry and its incredibly poor treatment of its most valuable assets. For those of you who still believe that being a musician in the United States amounts to something better than indentured servitude, "All You Need To Know" will be an eye opener.
Rating:
Summary: #2 on my Required Reading list for Music Biz Success
Review: This book used to be at #1 on my required reading list until I recently read "Confessions Of A Record Producer" by Moses Avalon (also available here on Amazon.Com). The two books compliment each other very well, and they really should be tied for #1 on my list. This book is written by a music biz attorney, Donald Passman, but it doesn't read like it was written by an attorney. Easy enough to read and follow that you will want to read the whole book. I won't bother detailing what the book talks about, since you can find that through the description. I will say that it is very comprehensive and doesn't leave anything out. It's a practical guide to how the music business works that no musician should be without. Combine this with "Confessions Of a Record Producer" to learn all about the bad side of the biz, and you will have a very strong foundation to get you started!
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Genre
Review: Passman knows his stuff. Not only is this book a comprehensive guide to all the twists, turns and pitfalls of making a living as a musician, but it is very user friendly, to boot. Heck, even musicians can understand what he is talking about. Passman might earn a bit of criticism for his 'pro-lawyer' bias, but he is also just being honest that without a good lawyer any reasonably successful musician is going to be eaten alive by record company contractual permutations. Finally, Passman deserves credit for being such a smooth and downright funny author. A rare thing in what appears to be a nuts-and-bolts guide. Bottom line? IF YOU ARE A MUSICIAN YOU NEED TO BUY THIS BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: All You Need to Know is to purchace this book
Review: Wandering through the dark catacombs of the music industry without a flashlight and compass would be a pretty ludicrous effort, and yet many an musician and aspiring industry professional attempt to do just that. Breaking down the wall between the darkness of confusion and the light of understanding All You Need to Know... delves into the basics which make up the foundation of the entertainment industry. Everything you have ever heard about the business is true, it is a cat fight, sucker punch of a risk with as huge of a reward as the possibility of complete failure. With those kind of odds one can only imagine the complexities of its nature, spanning from the legal to the business to the creative to the social and everything in between. Grappling the bigger picture in understanding this web of structure which eludes most in defining the entertainment industry, All You Need To Know... maintains a balance of depth and simplicity throughout. Using easy to follow details of real life examples coupled with in-depth explanations of a multitude of entertainment obstacles from understanding the team of artist, manager, lawyer, agent, label artist relations to the basics of releasing a recording independently or through a label deal to copyrights, trademarks and ownership to touring and merchandising to digital media and beyond, All You Need to Know... thoroughly covers the bases in an understandable nature. Although, like most publications of this nature it is no substitute for common sense, a well versed manager, lawyer or teacher on hand, All You Need to Know... does do more than significantly lay the groundwork for understanding and subsequently conquering many of the normal trials associated with succeeding in the music industry in any fashion. In general All You Need to Know... spans the need for both a general reference guide to the industry and a readable, comprehensible book in its ability to possess both staggering
detail and simplistic, well versed writing. It works as easily for the musician just beginning to plan their music business endeavors as it does the more seasoned industry businessman and everyone in-between enduring the often confusing aspects of this world. Chapters are laid out with a multitude of subheads and than grouped into larger parts in the book making it easy to follow a point as it grows from simple to more complex. It has the flow at times of a real-life story, rather than a dry over-detailed reference, while never forgetting it is an educational tool. All You Need to Know... never fails to deliver the field of music with crystal clear insight and thought provoking depth, providing a beacon of light for anyone who wants to better find their way in the complex maze of the music industry.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for anyone interested in the business!!
Review: I originally read the previous version of this book, and found it to be extremely helpful. This version goes even further with it's up to date information on the new aspects of the business. If you are interested in being a professional artist, or are in the business of making your money working with them, you have to read this book.
|
