Customer Reviews

This Business of Music Marketing and Promotion (This Business of Music: Marketing & Promotion)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It seems that most reviewers are quite split on whether this is a "good" book or a "lousy" one. First off, reading the book I got a distinct impression that this book is not intended for musicians, it seems to be targeted more towards those in marketing who are familiar with marketing basics, but not about how they apply to the music industry.

There are much better books about the inner workings of the music industry (see books by Donald S. Passman and Moses Avalon.) There are much better books on marketing (see the "Guerrilla" series by Levinson and Godin). This book is adequate at introducing the music biz to marketing juniors, but not marketing to musicians.

One review wrote: "...dizzying amount of extremely useful information, all within an engrossing and enjoyable text" -- I find this review extremely suspect. I've read many books on both the music biz and marketing -- but this one is so mind-crushingly boring it's difficult to read and useful info is easily forgotten.

This book is similar to KASHIF's book, EVERYTHING YOU'D BETTER KNOW ABOUT THE RECORD INDUSTRY. Both books are thorough and provide a good general overview, but Pettigrew and Lathrop are so dry and boring that they will put you to sleep, while Kashif is personable and tries to be interesting. (He doesn't always succeed). If you are in a band and you want specific, practical ideas that you can use, then Tim Sweeney may be a better choice for you.

This excellent book is worth many times the purchase price. The average would-be professional musician, songwriter, or recording entrepreneur will require several lifetimes to use all the information it contains. "You don't get what you deserve," the great jazz drummer Roy Haynes once said. "You get what you negotiate." Knowing what this book teaches, you are armed with the facts concerning every conceivable aspect of surviving in the labyrinthine -- and sometimes treacherous -- world of music. Lathrop and Pettigrew are both seasoned music-business professionals whose credits range from the World Wide Web to various colleges and universities, as well as advertising and marketing companies and publicity campaigns for such spectacularly successful acts as ZZ Top and the Allman Brothers Band. Among the topics they cover are song writing, recording, publishing, promotion, advertising, and many different approaches to marketing, including sheet music, radio, film, television, and live performance. They even tell you in detail how to set up and use a Web Site. An additional lagniappe is the book's section of interviews with such veterans as Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records, a leading blues label. Highly recommended.

When I read scathing reviews of books such as the reivew of this book, by DAVID from NYC, I wonder about two things: 1) Did they read the same book I read, and 2) What hidden agenda do they have? I found that this book provides a one-stop reference manual for music enthusiasts of all levels, including record producers, recording artists, business managers, entertainment executives, Web designers, and multimedia developers. It divulges the specifics of making and marketing music, from conceiving an idea to working with a record company to designing and distributing a finished product. I love this book! And I don't trust David of NYC. Sorry.

Mr. Lathrop and Mr. Perrigew manage to provide the reader with a dizzying amount of extremely useful information, all within an engrossing and enjoyable text. This book provides inside information about the interworkings of the big time music player's marketing techniques. It then shows how you can execute these techniques as well as others, which are more well suited to a smaller operation. Plus, if you are reading this in the year 2000 this book is very up to date and exremely relevant to the everchanging record biz. If you want to become competitive in the music marketplace, this is the book for you. I laud Lathrop and Pettigrew for their efforts, and for creating this gem of knowledge.

The book wasn't bad. It just didn't seem to have anything in it that was really a new idea to me, and it contained a number bits that made me suspect the amount of real world experience the author has. For example, the book begins describing the record company marketing process with a (fictional) story about a blues-rock band getting big in Tampa and getting signed to a national label, who then markets their record with a full blown campaign directed at 18-50+ males and females, choosing a 12-bar ballad about an African tribe forced into slavery as the single, and producing a master run of 1,000 copies of the album for national distribution. Now, I'm just a wannabe musician playing in a crappy rock band in Austin, but if that's the kind of marketing campaign that makes platinum records, I have a feeling I can revolutionize the industry.

There's some useful information to be had in the book, but nothing I hadn't already found out as an active musician who tries to keep his eyes open . I highly recommend Donald Passman's book over this one - a more detailed summary by a guy that seems to know first hand what he's talking about.

In this day and age of "YOU BETTER DO IT YOURSELF" for no one else can afford to do it with you; ie: the fear and parrelization set in by the new world music on the internet and what it's done to the slow moving, almost obsolete Biz structure of the MAJOR labels, THIS BOOK is a MUST. It's the first one I've read that covers everything you need to know to get your tunes out into the world by yourself if you have the drive to do so...It's tremendously detailed in every area of the biz ....It's my new MARKETING bible...
THANKS!!
Michael Brandmeier
http://www.michaelbrandmeier.com

This book sucked. A complete waste of time for me. Hardly any of it was about marketing & promotion. It was basically a watered down rundown of how the industry works. If you want to know how the industry works, buy the Donald Passman book about it. For a GOOD book about Marketing & Promotion buy Gurilla PR by Levine instead.

I consulted this book for its sections on promotion and publicity, which are very helpful, but found a lot more of value. Overall, a great starting point if you want to find out about the way the business works, and all the different ways music can be sold. Very clearly written and logically presented.

When I read this book, I'd already been working in music marketing for several years. Someone had asked me for recommendations on music marketing books, and I hadn't read any in quite awhile, so I read through a few. I thought the book was great. I like that it was written in a straightforward and clear-cut manner.

I have some news: Music Marketing is about as much exciting as toilet paper marketing or coffee cup marketing. You're looking at the same basic strategies of marketing and promotion. I don't expect for a book like this to be something of a great read. If I want to read something fascinating, a marketing strategy book is generally NOT the first place I go.

However, if you're trying to learn something about the real nuts and bolts of marketing, this is the place to look. It reads much like any Marketing 101 textbook with a slant toward music. That's what you need, not a 15-chapter long book on psychological strategies regarding getting your friends to hang posters for you.