Originally Posted by Guitarhacker
I don't know the first book but I have a copy of This Business of Music by Shemel & Krasilovsky 4th Edition. Not sure if it's the same book as you're referring too. That is a book everyone who's serious about this business should have on their shelves and should have read at least once, to get a good understanding of the basic business practices in the music industry. It's handy to refer back to it on occasion as well. I actually had 2 copies at one time but gave one of my copies to a young musician who was asking me a lot of questions so I figured he would benefit from the book and I didn't need two copies on my shelf.

I think This Business of Music is out of print now.

I know the book and many others. My problem with This Business of Music by Shemel & Krasilovsky is that the 5th Edition was published in 1985 and the 10th Edition was 2007.

Everything about the music business has changed except for the merch table. Even what was once consiidered bedrock info about Copyright registration and the PROs no longer applies.

For years, my #1 recommendation was Making It With Music: Kenny Rogers' Guide to the Music Business written after his bands broke up and before his solo career took off. It's still a good book on how to manage the business end of a band and not blow through all of your money and songwriting credits but as a guide to anything outside that bubble, it's useless. It's still entertaining and he told some great stories about long ago and far away.

The Brabecs' (2018) and my distant cousin's (2017) are far newer but still beyond obsolete. Peter Thall's What They'll Never Tell You About the Music Business: The Myths, the Secrets, the Lies (And a Few Truths), while a good read, hasn't been updated since 2017.

No, I can't recommend any of them except the Passman which is too bad. I hope he puts out a supplement in the fall instead of waiting a few years to do a major update.

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