All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Ninth Edition

“The industry bible” (Los Angeles Times), now updated, essential for anyone in the music business—musicians, songwriters, lawyers, agents, promoters, publishers, executives, and managers—trying to navigate the rapid transformation of the industry.

For more than twenty years, All You Need to Know About the Music Business has been universally regarded as the definitive guide to the music industry. Now in its ninth edition, this latest edition leads novices and experts alike through the crucial, up-to-the-minute information on the industry’s major changes in response to today’s rapid technological advances and uncertain economy.

Whether you are—or aspire to be—a performer, writer, or executive, veteran music lawyer Donald Passman’s comprehensive guide is an indispensable tool. He offers timely, authoritative information from how to select and hire a winning team of advisors and structure their commissions and fees; navigate the ins and outs of record deals, songwriting, publishing, and copyrights; maximize concert, touring, and merchandising deals; understand the digital streaming services; and how to take a comprehensive look at the rapidly transforming landscape of the music business as a whole.

The music industry is in the eye of the storm, when everyone in the business is scrambling to figure out what’s going to happen to the major labels and what it will mean for the careers of artists and business professionals. No musician, songwriter, entertainment lawyer, agent, promoter, publisher, manager, or record company executive—anyone who makes their living from music—can afford to be without All You Need to Know About the Music Business. As Adam Levine, lead singer and guitarist of Maroon 5, says, “If you want to be in music, you have to read this book.”

Donald S. Passman practices law in California and has specialized in the music business for more than thirty years, primarily representing talent. The author of All You Need to Know About the Music Business, he lives in Los Angeles.