Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584855 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-15
• Released on: 2008-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780823099702
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Customer Reviews

The Musician's Handbook - An Excellent Guide to the Music Industry!
Bobby Borg has penned an excellent guide to the music industry. The 288 page soft cover book, "The Musician's Handbook" is jam packed with clear information on what you need to do to accomplish your goals.

Building from Chapter 1: Important Tips to Consider On Your Path to Success to the Afterword: The Future of the Music Business, Bobby lays out the tips, techniques and tools to help you build your career and avoid many of the pitfalls of the music industry.

While there are a number of music industry books that describe how to deal with copyrites, finding the key players in your career, what to look for in a record deal etc Bobby takes it a step further. In the first chapter, Bobby shares dozens of tips to help you get started - the basics. For the new musician starting out Chapter 1 is a true gift that can save literally hours of time. When my singer/songwriter daughter was making her first demo we felt showing her range and diversity was key. Even though she knew she wanted to sing pop, we spent hours looking for songs that would show how she could "sing everything". We weren't sure how many songs to include on her CD, what her press kit should include etc. We figured this out through trial and error and asking lots of questions, had we had Bobby's book we could have saved a lot of time. My daughter has been approached with tons of offers both real and fake. We have learned to not take things at face value, to check everything out, to get things in writing. We spent a lot of time that you can save by reading the first chapter. This first chapter also includes info on what makes a song a hit, networking and more.

Though the book explains some pretty complex information, Bobby writes in a clear, easy to read style and includes lots of anecdotes to spice up the text. Each chapter covers the topic in great detail. The chapter on Live Performing and Touring for example, covers the nitty gritty of the costs and realities of live performing. Information runs the gamut from the early stages of touring to touring in the big leagues, different ways you can be paid, contracts and riders, getting the gigs and more. And it includes fascinating little sidenotes like the Top Ten Rider Countdown (Iggy Pop requested a Bob Hope impersonator be backstage!)

Chapters include Chapter 1: Important Tips to Consider on Your Path to Success Chapter 2: Band Membership Chapter 3: Contract Employment and Self-Employment Chapter 4: Solo Artist and Employer Chapter 5: Your Attorney Chapter 6: Your Personal Manager Chapter 7: Your Business Manager Chapter 8: Your Talent Agent Chapter 9: Your Record Producer Chapter 10: Record Royalties, Advances and Deals Chapter11: Music Publishing Chapter 12: Live Performing and Touring Chapter 13: Merchandising Afterword: The Future of the Music Business. Borg also includes an index at the back, so you can access the information you need quickly. A number of resources are given throughout the text; where to share your music for podcast purposes, unions, performining rights organizations, recommended books etc.

Overall an outstanding resource for the new musician and an excellent guide and sourcebook for the accomplished artist. Highly recommended!

~ Lee Mellott

The First and Last Music Business Book You'll Ever Need
There are hundreds of books available on the business of music. Most of them are impossible to read because:

1) They're either so dull, they'll put you in a coma.
2) They are so unintelligible as to require a law degree to comprehend.
3) They pass on information that is either wrong or misleading.

And this is precisely why you must pick up Bobby Borg's THE MUSICIAN'S HANDBOOK: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE MUSIC BUSINESS. It is written in a light and literate style and won't bore you or tax your brain cells. It deals with key aspects of the music business - everything from touring/performing live to publishing, royalties, management, agents, and producers.

The chapters are laid simply with big, bold titles. Everything is explained; everything is broken down to its simplest parts.

The recently published Revised Edition encompasses all the elements of the original book and a lot more.

Borg was a working musician and he well understands what it means to be down in the trenches. He pulls no punches and highlights various aspects with anecdotal tales and little vignettes involving recognizable artists.

In less than 300 pages, this provides a lifeline for any musician who has felt like he/she was drowning in the vast ocean of the music business. Read this and avoid the sharks. Read this and arm yourself with the information and knowledge you'll require to make it as a professional working musician.

I am a 30-year veteran music journalist and this is the first book I turn to whenever I have a question about anything music.

It needs to be on your bookshelf. Buy it right now.

Steven Rosen

A MUST for any independent musician!
I first read this book in its original edition and thought it was so well and smart written. After reading so many books about the music industry, this was truly one of very few which was musician-oriented. The book is organized in chapters such as "The Producer", "The Manager", "The Booking Agent" so you can truly understand each role, and why and when would YOU need one to formulate your team of success.

This edition is like a whole new book, catering to the changing industry as musicians are turning to the "do it yourself" system more than ever before. It focuses less on the big record company, a vanishing creature in our time, and more on the vital things needed for an independent musician to success in today music business.

I also noticed that although this book is written by a successful musician for musicians, it can also help producers, managers and many other key people in the industry understanding the NEW music industry.

In today's new indie world, it is books like these and companies like LAFAMOS that give the independent musician more power than ever before. GO BORG!