Now in its tenth edition and its biggest revise ever, Donald Passman’s classic guide returns with the most changes in the book’s and music’s history, due to how streaming has turned the industry upside down. This is a must read to navigate those changes and thrive in the rapidly changing music industry.
Nobody knows the music business like Don Passman. The first edition of ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS was released in 1991, quickly being dubbed the “industry bible” by the Los Angeles Times. Over the next 28 years and many editions, Donald Passman’s roadmap on how to succeed in music has only become sharper and more insightful. Now, in its tenth and most comprehensive update yet, Passman guides readers once more through the constantly shifting landscape of the music industry—through all the digital and streaming jungles and mystifying legalese and royalties—to teach music-loving hopefuls everything they could possibly need to know to not only survive, but to strike it big.
But this book isn’t only for those just starting out. Whether you’re a novice taking your first look into the music world or you’ve been in the business for a while but are mystified by the massive upheaval around you, you will find that the newest update to Passman’s guide offers the same gold-standard of timely, trustworthy guidance from a universally respected veteran of the industry. He teaches new talent how to choose a winning team of advisors; how to structure their commissions and fees; and how to navigate the ins and outs of record deals. Higher-ups can find authoritative advice on maximizing profits through concerts, touring, and merchandising deals. But most importantly, while this tenth revamp of Passman’s indispensable guidebook retains the sage lessons from past editions, it also indicates how professionals can navigate the biggest shift the industry has faced since the phonograph: teaching us all how to play the game even after the streaming revolution completely changed the rules.
The music industry has gone through a period of unprecedented upheaval in the last twenty years. The advent of streaming threw the musical ecosystem completely on its head. Suddenly, musicians don’t earn money through the number of units they sell, but rather by how many times their audiences listen to their songs. Now that this major transformation has occurred, changing everything we thought we knew about how the industry operates, the only question left to ask yourself is: how do I make streaming work for me? The tenth edition of ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS definitively answers this question—and so many more.
