Guerilla Guide to the Music Business [Paperback]

Sarah Davis (Author), Dave Laing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2001

A companion to the successful "Guerilla Film Maker's Handbook", this book deals with every aspect of professional music making in today's popular music industry on both sides of the Atlantic. In creating music and developing a career, almost everyone starts out "independently", that is without the support of a large company. However, independent music making can be defined in a broad sense as a particular attitude towards creating and distribution of music held by professional people. The attitude involves a commitment to retaining control over your work as far as it is practically comaptible with getting it to the larget possible relevant audience. This does not necessarily mean that the independent musician does everything him or herself. One of the most important dimensions of the book will be the checklists of questions musicians need to ask themselves in order to decide whether they need outside help from a manager, lawyer, accountant, record company, music publisher, agent, press officer, plugger etc. The book is divided into six sections, each of which includes brief interviews with key experts. The first two deal with the main areas of musical activity - live performance and recording. Section three explains other aspects of musical activity while section four gets down to the nitty-gritty of the business aspects of making music. Section five summarizes the whole area through some well-chosen real life examples of independent musical activity. Finally, a toolkit section will provide examples of key documents (recording contracts, PRS membership agreements, etc) and other relevant data.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"You too can speak the slang of the savvy in the music business with The Guerilla Guide to the Music Business, by Sarah Davis and David Laing. The duo have compiled a wealth of insider knowledge into a quick, easy read designed to help you get your foot, arm or head in the door. Intended for the absolute newbie and semi-experienced novice alike, this handy lil' manual will put you several years ahead of the game….The Guerilla Guide will stockpile your gray matter with in-the-know tidbits, giving you the confidence to talk shop over drinks with promoters, producers and DJs alike….Drawing mightily on the expertise of professionals involved in many different areas of the biz, Davis and Laing create a well-rounded mosaic of modern musicdom….Yes, GG is a sacred tome."
--BPM

About the Author

Sarah Davies has worked in most areas of the music business over the past decade - as a gigging and recording musician, as a partner in an independent record label, in public relations, and as a journalist contributing to Melody Maker, Music Weekly, Songlplugger, and Future Music. Dave Laing is the author of several books on popular music and a former editor of Music Week. Former Research Fellow at the University of Westminster where he conducted research on the music industry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (July 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826447007
• ISBN-13: 978-0826447005
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,833,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you dont live in London, dont buy this book!!!!, August 20, 2009

By 

Big Al (Atlanta, Ga United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guerilla Guide to the Music Business (Paperback)

This is a great book!!! IF you live in London!!! Most of the interviews are from people in the music business in London. The way we do things here and the way they do things there, are a lot different. You need to buy a slang book to understand the terms that they use. VERY disappointed!!!