All You Need to Know about the Music Business » (Revised & Updated Edition)

Donald Passman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas and a Cum Laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He is a prominent entertainment lawyer with the firm Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown, and his clients include such major entertainers as Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, Don Henley, Tom Waits, and Randy Newman. In addition, he represents many music publishers, producers, record companies, songwriters, industry executives, and film companies. He is frequently listed as one of the fifty most influential people in the entertainment industry, and is commonly credited with having won Janet Jackson her $40 million megadeal with Virgin Records. He has taught and lectured extensively, and has been teaching a course on the music industry at the University of Southern California Law School’s Advanced Professional Program since 1978. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and family.

Since the advent of file-sharing technology in the late 1990s, the music industry has been challenged to reinvent itself. What has it done? How have the record labels repositioned themselves to cope with these massive changes? How does all this affect creative artists?

No one understands the music industry -- from the technology, to the legalities, to the new industry practices -- better than veteran music lawyer Donald Passman. In this completely revised and updated seventh edition of All You Need to Know About the Music Business, which the Los Angeles Times called "the industry bible" and which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies over the last eighteen years, Passman offers executives and artists, experts and novices alike the essential information they need not only to survive in these volatile and exciting times, but also to thrive.

Drawing on his unique, up-to-the-minute experience as one of the most trusted advisors in the industry, Passman offers new information on:

- The new 360 model of record deals, wherein record companies share in nonrecord revenue

- The Copyright Royalty Board's latest decisions regarding online transmissions

- The developing customs on new technologies such as streaming on demand, ringtones, and digital downloads

- Updates on recording and publishing deals, as well as film music

He also gives guidance on fundamental issues, such as how to:

- Select and hire a winning team of advisors -- personal and business managers, agents, and attorneys -- and structure their commissions, percentages, and fees in a way that will protect you and maximize these relationships

- Master the big picture and the finer points of record deals

- Navigate the ins and outs of songwriting, music publishing, and copyrights

- Maximize concert, touring, and merchandising deals

Everyone in the business -- musicians, songwriters, entertainment lawyers, agents, promoters, publishers, managers, record company executives -- is scrambling to figure out what's going to happen in the future, and Passman is in the thick of these changes. Anyone interested in a music career will need this comprehensive and crucial guide to making it in one of the world's most dynamic industries.

Library Journal

An entertainment lawyer whose clients include many from the top of the music charts, Passman has written a book that sets out to give musicians, performers, and songwriters the tools to hire advisers, market their careers, protect their creative works, and generally cope with a complex industry in a state of flux. Passman explains boilerplate language, the complexities of royalties and advances, and label and distribution deals; a section on record deals begins with an overview of the business and works through all the steps. The "Adventures in Cyberspace" chapter is a helpful summary of the way CD-ROMs and the Internet are affecting the business. Included here is information on recent legislation and a look at how digitizing music delivery will continue to change things. Packed with illustrations, sample calculations, and definitions, All You Need To Know is humorous and accessible enough for those who just want to understand the business while being detailed and documented enough for those who make a living from it. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\