Music Business Handbook and Career Guide

The Twelfth Edition of this powerhouse best-selling text maintains its tradition as the most comprehensive, up-to-date guide to the music industry in all of its diversity. Readers new to the music business and seasoned professionals alike will find David and Tim Baskerville’s handbook the go-to source, regardless of their specialty within the music field. Music Business Handbook and Career Guide is ideal for introductory courses such as Introduction to the Music Business, Music and Media, and other survey courses as well as more specialized courses such as the record industry, music careers, artist management, and more. 

The fully updated Twelfth Edition includes a comprehensive discussion of the streaming revolution and its impact on all parts of the value chain, including composers, performing artists, publishers, and labels. The book also analyzes shifts in the competing platforms of consumption ranging from fast-shrinking physical formats and broadcasting to downloads and subscription services. This edition offers more vignettes than ever, illustrating how individuals in different industry roles advanced their careers, as well as how they’ve adjusted to the intertwining influences of technology, law, and culture.

Author David Baskerville (1918–1986) received a PhD in music from UCLA. His background included staff composer-conductor for NBC-Hollywood; arranger for Nelson Riddle, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox; television producer for BBC-London; conductor at Radio City Music Hall; trombonist with the Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and NBC-Hollywood orchestra; executive vice president of Ad-Staff, Inc., producer of award-winning broadcast commercials; executive editor of Tor Music Publishing Company; and president of Sherwood Recording Studios, North Hollywood.

He also served as a consultant to companies in the entertainment industry, such as Walt Disney Productions, and to research and marketing firms, such as Vidmar Communications in Los Angeles.

As an educator, Dr. Baskerville created and directed the music management program at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he became professor emeritus. He was a guest lecturer, consultant, or clinician at USC, UCLA, Chicago Musical College, Hartt School of Music, the Ohio State University, University of Miami, and Trebas Institute in Canada.

He was a featured speaker at national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference, College Music Society, National Association of Jazz Educators, and the National Association of Schools of Music.

 

Author Tim Baskerville has a diverse background in entertainment and media. He began his career in broadcasting after receiving a BA in theater arts from UCLA. Early affiliations included CBS and Cox Broadcasting, where he served as a staff writer-producer. The first TV documentary he created for CBS TV stations was nominated for an Emmy.

As a publisher and entrepreneur, he launched business periodicals on the home video software industry, global film distribution, multinational broadcasting, and mobile communications. He served as president of what is now a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence, the leading provider of financial analysis on the media industry, and CEO of JupiterResearch (acquired by Forrester Research), a key source of consumer research on new media.

As a consultant, Baskerville’s clients have included the Motion Picture Association of America, Variety, Time Warner, IBM, International Data Corp., Young & Rubicam, Apple, and The Rockefeller Foundation. He has been both a strategy consultant and weekly columnist for Billboard.

Baskerville was vice president of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA) and member of the Writers Guild of America, West. He has served on the boards of both public and private companies that produce business information.