Hal Leonard Corporation is now shipping two new music business titles by top-selling author Moses Avalon.
100 Answers to 50 Questions on the Music Business and Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract are must-reads for any musician, band, or industry professional.
Avalon, author of the best-selling music business title Confessions of a Record Producer is back with 100 Answers to 50 Questions on the Music Business, a pointed analysis of business issues for musicians, producers, and managers.
Chosen from questions submitted by readers of Avalon’s popular blog, the 50 questions he addresses in this book represent the most pressing issues in the modern music business. Avalon takes the provocative (but realistic) stance that there’s usually more than one valid answer to an important question, so he addresses each question from multiple viewpoints.
His no-nonsense 100 answers make up an essential “cheat sheet” for anyone looking to break into this challenging industry.
What is a producer, and why do I need one? When do I need a manager? What is a copyright, and do I really need one in the Internet age?
What social networks are worth joining to get more fans and sell more music? Am I too old for a record deal? Should I work with a publishing company or just start my own? These are just a few of the many tough questions Avalon tackles in the book.
In his newly revised edition of Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract, Avalon exposes the record companies’ hidden agendas by picking apart the language of actual recording agreements written by major-label lawyers.
By showing what’s really going on in a typical record contract, Avalon puts power back into the hands of those who make the music. Focusing on artists’ issues such as advances, royalties, and distribution, Avalon explains the purpose of each clause, offers negotiating advice, and outlines alternatives for developing new contracts that protect artists.
User-friendly and featuring entertaining inside stories, the book clarifies common terms as they are used by the music industry, reveals over 100 key loopholes that will cost artists money, and includes a glossary of major label recording-contract jargon.
Avalon also introduces the concept of the “360 deal” in which labels participate in revenue from multiple areas of an artist’s career. For the first time, the label and artist are partners. Advances and royalties are higher, deals more complex, and yes, the potential for rip-offs increase as well.
This new edition illuminates the pros and cons of the 360 deal components: website rights, fan-club rights, publishing rights, touring, and all the new areas that the label is hoping to encroach upon.
Whether you’re about to sign a new record contract, or you’re chomping at the bit for the chance, 100 Answers to 50 Questions on the Music Business and Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract are two books no musician should be without.
