Customer Reviews

The Musician's Handbook: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Music Business

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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This is an excellent book for someone just getting into the business. Not just for rockers, either! Easy to read and understand. The best part is, this guy's not bitter about the whole industry! It's great to read a book that doesn't just tell you how horrible everything is in this business and how you are destined to fail! He just gives you the facts along with great anecdotes.
You MUST buy this!!!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a SERIOUS musician or if you are truly serious about being in the entertainment business! I bought this book at the TAXI Music Convention in Hollywood, California after sitting through one of Bobby Borg's seminars. I thought to myself why not buy it and read it after all that is why I attended the Music Conference in the first place: to expand my knowledge about the music industry! That is exactly what this book does! In fact I like this book so much I bought 4 extra copies for my bandmates and a couple other people that I work with in the entertainment industry. This book is very easy to read and has tons of useful information in it. Once again if you are SERIOUS about being in the Music Industry you owe it to yourself to read this! Trust me you WON'T be disappointed!

Bobby Borg's book is a MUST HAVE! It's easy to read and he divides the book up in a way that you can skip around for quick references. I carry this book with me everywhere!!! His book is really a collection of facts that all artists need to know. Even if you are not an artist (exe upcoming manager) you still need to read this book. This is a step by step, no nonsense, straightforward understanding of every area in the music industry.

This book has been a tremendous help in my career as a professional musician. I have been a seasoned pro for over 20 years and I thought I knew it all, yet there is so much I didn't know which I should have known years ago. They should teach this stuff in any music school. It is written in accesable language and as far as I know this is the only book on the music business written by a professional musician instead of some lawyer or retired record executive.

From one musician to another, let me tell you - this book is fantastic. I probably own six different books on 'how to make it in the music business', and this one stands alongside only a few others as being one that I actually finished! Not only that - it is one of the only ones I read and thought: 'Okay, I can do this!'. Most books in this genre get bogged down in 'legal speak' or feel the need to go deep into explanations of situations the everyday musician is not going to find themselves in. I found this book to be a good read (the style is very direct and conversational) and full of practical advice that has helped me to navigate the music business better. Most helpful to me was getting an improved view of the 'big picture' of the music business, so that the goals I am setting for myself are now based in reality, not my own version of what I thought the music business was all about.

Bobby Borg's book, The Musicians Handbook: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Music Business, screams at you with logic and confidence. Unlike your parents' advice of having something to fall back on if the music doesnt pan out; Bobby is your encouraging uncle who says "you can do it, just watch your ass and listen up".
Pointers, suggestions, annectdotes, and accolades. Bobby put it all down in a book that any musician (even drummers) can understand and reference. A recognizable face or song and no money in your wallet is a sad fate. This one book can replace that shelf of manuals written for lawyers and suits. Be a musician, but act like a pro. Carry a tune and carry this tome.

-Pesci (Gany-Made Music Pitching) / (Performer)

Besides time with Warrant and Beggars & Thieves as well as his own band Left for Dead, Borg has a long history writing music magazine columns and method books. In this book, Borg unites his experience in working bands with his journalistic experience for an informative and detailed text on the mechanics of the music business. Along with bandmates, a musician needs a more extensive team to navigate the practical matters of a career in music. Borg details the roles of the attorney, personal manager, business manager, talent agent and record producer in this team. Borg also goes far to explain the perennially mystifying topic of royalties, advances and music publishing in the complex revenue stream generated by songs and recordings. Borg also explores different employment scenarios, like contract versus self-employment as well the approach of being a solo artist/employer. These helpful chapters are unusual in books of this type. Sections of the book are enhanced with Q&A interviews with such people as Henry Rollins, Fred Croshal (GM at Maverick Records) and Neil Gillis (VP of A&R at Warner/Chappel Music).

This is commonsense advice that could save you years of time and thousands of dollars. Drummer Bobby Borg, who worked with Warrant, Left For Dead, and Beggars & Thieves, has authored an accessible music business book, The Musician's Handbook - A Practical Guide to Understanding the Music Business, which makes it obvious he studied a lot more than cymbals and sticks during his 12 years as a major label artist.

Borg explains the nuts and bolts of the music business - like recording contracts, royalties, merchandising, publishing, managers, talent agents, and more - from his unique perspective as a signed musician. The book is not written in "legalese", but in layman's terms, allowing you to more easily understand a subject like "recording contracts". He uses many real-life examples which make complex topics easy to digest, and easy to apply to your own situation.

The book is loosely focused on bands close to signing a label deal, and includes valuable advice about contracts, financial arrangements, and how to build your professional team. However, indie bands will also find much to learn in The Musician's Handbook, because Borg has included everything you need to know to do it yourself, too.

Probably the most valuable aspect of The Musician's Handbook is the easy to understand financial information. Borg uses detailed examples of musicians' income and expenses, and then offers useful advice on how to maximize earnings and longevity. It never bogs down into complex accounting and boring contractual verbiage (save that for more formal and academic texts), but instead gives the the musician a broad-based and thorough understanding of the important aspects of the music business.

Well, I read this book cover to cover. It's a definite must read for the serious musician who wants to learn about the music business and how it works. The music business is pretty confusing but this book is written in a way that is completely understandable. It has a lot of information such as music publishing, legal topics, and agreements. It also has Q&A sections from Henry Rollins, Fred Croshal (Maverick Records) and Neil Gillis (VP of A&R at Warner/Chappel Music). Bobby Borg was my instructor and I know he knows his stuff. The music industry is an arcane language, but this book makes everything easy to understand. Everyone in our class was happy to be able to study of off such a book. Buy it! it's worth it.

If I wanted to read a book about war, I don't want the author to be a news anchor, politician, or general. I want the book to be written by a soldier in the field who can tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly about war (so I can avoid being killed). Bobby Borg is a strong soldier with plenty of knowledge about the "war" that is the music business.

As I started to read the book my first impression was "This is the drummer from Warrant?" Bobby Borg is not your typical musician. He rattles off quotes from dozens of books (so he is well read). He graduated Berklee with a BA in Professional Music (received the "Outstanding achievement in the Berklee College series) as well as UCLA (with a certificate in music business). He has been recording on major labels for 12 years. In addition to recording two albums with Warrant he has also recorded with Left for Dead, and Beggars & Thieves. Yes, our "Soldier" is WELL decorated. OK, so Bobby can play the drums and he's smart. But can he write?

If I lead a class on "being in a band" The Musician's Handbook would be required reading. In a newsletter I publish, we have been talking in the last few issues about "Planning your band." Bobby outlines this whole process THOROUGHLY. The whole book is THOROUGH. Now there are times when you could get "fact overload" with books like this, but Bobby has done a nice job of adding entertaining sidebars to keep you interested. At the point my eyes were going to roll back in my head during the discussion of taxes, Bobby throws in an interview with freelance drummer Kenwood Dennard who gives you real life knowledge, and "brings it on home."

This style of "commentary, sidebar, and interview" is used throughout the book. About half the way through the book, I noticed that not only does Bobby do a good job of making things easy to understand, but he is a really good interviewer. When he interviewed Fred Croshal (the head of Maverick Records), he was not afraid to ask the tough questions that might show a record label in a bad light (the type of questions that you would ask if you had the chance). His chat with Chris Arnstein (who has worked for um, EVERYBODY) about touring is CLASSIC.

The book covers about every aspect of the business from starting the band, choosing your management team, recording, publishing, and a whole lot more (Bobby lists the entire table of contents on his site). He shows the reality of the BUSINESS. For example, how you can obtain gold record status and still owe the record company money. If you're thinking, "Well I'm just in a cover band" this book is still for you. I can see having this in my library as a reference book (I've added it to the "Success Library" on my site). It really does a nice job of covering a large amount of topics. When I turned over the back cover to see how much this book was, I expected to see a price of at least 35 bucks (the book is 288 pages and could inflict some bodily harm with some velocity put behind it). The fact that this ... ... is amazing. ... BUY THIS BOOK.

Bobby says that he wrote this book because so many awesome musicians polish their art, only to learn about the business end one mistake at a time. He wanted to create an easily understood book that musicians could use to better understand the music business and he did a fine job. Here at the Musician's Cyber Cooler we are all about mentoring, and if we gave out medals, this solder would get pinned for a job well done.

Dave Jackson
Musician's Cyber Cooler