For those wanting to get into the music industry at any level/position, already getting their feet wet, or even seasoned veterans with/without a fortune, this is my humble message: If you don’t have the time and roughly $20 to spend on Peter M. Thall‘s third edition of What They’ll Never Tell You About the Music Business: The Complete Guide for Musicians, Songwriters, Producers, Managers, Industry Executives, Attorneys, Investors, and Accountants, then you don’t understand what the industry will take from you and you’ll spend much, much more later.
The manner in which the text is written is indicative of Thall’s profession as a lawyer: it’s extensive, thorough, and dense—even the font size is similar to the proverbial “fine print” of a contract. It is, however, generally accessible for, say, a high school graduate, although dictionary may be necessary for unfamiliar jargon. Besides, one of many potential contracts negotiated for a single project in the industry will likely be at least a quarter of its length and much less comprehensible. Seriously. So, don’t be intimidated by this text’s overwhelming breadth and depth; one need not understand or have direct applicability with every section in order to benefit. You may never be a manager, producer, or attorney, but the more you know, especially in this industry, the better you off you’ll be; so, don’t skip that stuff by picking and choosing the chapters you think will help you right where you are. This will be money and time well spent, and will save even more.
So, go ahead. Buy it. Really. Unless you plan on keeping your musical career to simply buying other people’s music for listening purposes (those buying music for other purposes continue on to the next statement), there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be rushing to your local bookstore and/or placing your order today.
*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
