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Making Music Your Business: A Guide for Young Musicians
Get the inside scoop on breaking into the music industry from the bassist of MEGADETH, David Ellefson.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
148 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2020
It's a good read. It provides an overview of the general functions of the business. I am a published musician myself, and also moved to Hollywood; when I was 18. I interned at Limelight Films: Charlie Chaplin's grandaughter Kiera's company. While I was there, however, some execs got caught doing some criminal stuff. I also was a talent scout for a week, until I worked at El Capitan with their Wurlitzer organ, and I was finally able to perform. I eventually got a publishing deal.
The book covers publishing, too. It is important to many musicians, as it is still a big business, aside from gigging, album royalties, and radio mechanicals. I especially like the parts of the book that describes how it's done traditionally, as in when finding an agent or lawyer. Good stuff.
The book covers publishing, too. It is important to many musicians, as it is still a big business, aside from gigging, album royalties, and radio mechanicals. I especially like the parts of the book that describes how it's done traditionally, as in when finding an agent or lawyer. Good stuff.
February 13, 2015
David Ellefson's "Making Music Your Business" came out in 1997. That was quite some time ago and many things in music industry has changed. That's not to say that this book is entirely irrelevant, no no no, there are still some bits in here that every musician should read.
Back in 1997 I was still in college, Bill Clinton was POTUS, and I had just started my own band, Cea Serin. This was back in the day when I would drive around with a cassette adapter coming out of my portable CD player and into my vehicle's cassette deck. I remember seeing this book advertised in some of the many Guitar and Bass player magazines I'd pick up. I've always been a big Megadeth fan and I've always wanted to do things my way--making this book an essential read to me. However, it would be 2015 that I'd finally get around to reading it.
It seems like none of the information in the book has been changed since '97, e.g. the model for album sale royalties is the cassette tape, the section on building a website is a bit out of date, and I'm pretty sure the royalty/advance stats are a bit different.
That being said, it's still an important book for musicians to read. I put this along with Janek Gwizdala's "Your A Musician, Now What?" book for the musician aspiring at a career in playing music. Gwizdala's book is far more relevant though.
Ellefson's book, however, deals with other interesting tidbits of artist info: how to act on tour, how to conduct negotiations, a rundown on copyright law, merchandising, and band dynamics (among other things).
This is coming from a great source. David Ellefson has toured the world, been nominated for several awards, and recorded several albums with his main band Megadeth.
If you're a musician and you want to learn a bit more about how the touring band works, how the record label works, and how to proceed past the next level of regional performer, then pick up this book.
Back in 1997 I was still in college, Bill Clinton was POTUS, and I had just started my own band, Cea Serin. This was back in the day when I would drive around with a cassette adapter coming out of my portable CD player and into my vehicle's cassette deck. I remember seeing this book advertised in some of the many Guitar and Bass player magazines I'd pick up. I've always been a big Megadeth fan and I've always wanted to do things my way--making this book an essential read to me. However, it would be 2015 that I'd finally get around to reading it.
It seems like none of the information in the book has been changed since '97, e.g. the model for album sale royalties is the cassette tape, the section on building a website is a bit out of date, and I'm pretty sure the royalty/advance stats are a bit different.
That being said, it's still an important book for musicians to read. I put this along with Janek Gwizdala's "Your A Musician, Now What?" book for the musician aspiring at a career in playing music. Gwizdala's book is far more relevant though.
Ellefson's book, however, deals with other interesting tidbits of artist info: how to act on tour, how to conduct negotiations, a rundown on copyright law, merchandising, and band dynamics (among other things).
This is coming from a great source. David Ellefson has toured the world, been nominated for several awards, and recorded several albums with his main band Megadeth.
If you're a musician and you want to learn a bit more about how the touring band works, how the record label works, and how to proceed past the next level of regional performer, then pick up this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews