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Making It In The Music Business
The Business and Legal Guide for Songwriters and Performers
by
Lee Wilson
Reviewed by Jace Carlton
Originally published in
The Songwriter's Connection - December 2002
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It's about time that a legal and
business handbook came along to help us
“creative types” out! I mean, I’d MUCH rather spend my time
performing or writing or studying something that will help me improve
my craft, but if I have to know and understand the business side of a
career as a
songwriter then I need the right resources. I’ve tried reading
similar books in the past,
only to be turned off by too much of the typical legal and business
jargon before I could get
past the first few pages. Perhaps they offered some truly helpful
information that songwriters and performers need to
know, but just like a songwriter who’s trying to pitch a song has a
very limited
amount of time to hook a potential publisher before he or she decides
to listen
a little longer or stop the song in mid-verse, those authors failed to
deliver
in those few, critical first pages.
Time Well Spent
I put Lee Wilson’s “Making It In The Music Business”
under
the same scrutiny as those that came before. After making it
through the first few pages I
thought, “Hmmm, this book might finally pass the test.” I
proceeded
through the early chapters on copyrights and found myself gaining a
much better
understanding than ever before, and that’s VERY helpful for those of us
who
have very strong creative minds and not so strong technical / business
minds. Lee chose to break down the variety of
elements involved in the business into digestible sections, rather than
trying
to cram too much information down our throats all at once. My
time was becoming time well spent.
Throughout his book, Lee offers a variety of helpful tips to keep in
mind as we proceed with our careers
so that we can avoid what he likes to call “The Abyss of
Ignorance”. Knowledge isn’t power; it’s only potential
power. We must use what we learn in order to protect
ourselves. What
good does it do to apply all that we learn about developing our craft,
writing
songs that have the potential of being hits and thus carry with them
the
potential of earning us money, and also residual income for our future
and our
family’s future security, if we end up blowing it all on bad business
decisions
due to ignorance?
It's Our Future!
The foundation for our careers MUST be made up of equally strong
amounts of creativity and business
savvy. The stronger the foundation, the better our potential for
success. The
goal, of course, is to reach that point when we can hire our own
business
manager and lawyer to handle these things for us, but in the meantime
it’s up to us. AND … when we DO reach that
point in our careers when we can afford those helping hands, we need to
have
enough knowledge and understanding of their fields of expertise to
carry on
intelligent conversations with them AND ferret out any weasels that
might
otherwise take unfair advantage (financial and otherwise) of a less
learned client. It’s our future! It’s up to US to protect
it!
One word of advisement, of course (and Lee makes it very clear
throughout his book), “Making
It …” is not to be seen as the final word in case law or
procedure. It’s a guide to help us
understand the business side of our industry. When it comes
time to needing specific advise, we need to find our own
entertainment attorney to guide us through our own specific minefield …
and Lee even offer tips and resources on how to accomplish that, as
well.
A Definite
Guide For Our Success
Whether you’re a songwriter or a performer, whether you’re solo or in a
band, whether you’ve been around
the block a few times or you’re just getting started, whether your
looking at your
first copyright or ready to sign a recording contract, Lee Wilson’s “Making It In The Music Business” is a
MUST guide to read and keep handy. Granted, it may not be as
“fun” to read as a
more songwriting craft-oriented book, but it’s equally as important if
we want to have
successful careers in the music industry.
Copyright
© 2002 by Jace
Carlton
Jace
Carlton
lives in the Nashville, TN area and is a member of NSAI. A
Freelance Writer /
Photographer, Poet, Author, and former Radio DJ, he now enjoys a career
as a Songwriter, and a
collaborator much in demand predominantly in the Country genre, but
also enjoys occasionally writing for A/C, Pop, R&B, Smooth Jazz,
and
Cabaret.
As a Freelance Writer he has contributed reviews on new CD's to online
newsletters and regularly contributed book and concert reviews along
with personal commentary on the music industry to Nashville's Songwriter's
Connection e-Zine.
Jace is also the creator of the Change Your Stars! website
and its
companion daily motivational / inspirational e-mail message that's read
by over 14,000 people all over the world. For a free subscription
click here
and you'll be added within 24 hours. Privacy Statement
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