MU 1040 - Careers in Music

Michael Redman boils down the job requirements, skill sets, potential revenue, longevity, benefits, and challenges of a variety of music careers both direct and indirect, spanning from performer to label executive to recording engineer and music producer. Each description of a job starts with a short summary designed to help you decide right off the bat whether this might be something you want to explore further, followed by the real stories, paths to success, and challenges you may confront all in the words of real pros. Read and learn from people who have lived the music industry, navigated it well, and been successful. Redman interviewed over 70 pros in the business.

Are you interested in beginning a career in the music industry? Great! You probably already know that talent and determination aren't enough by themselves-- you need a comprehensive plan of action to follow so you can proactively make your career dreams a reality. And as you probably also know, in the 21st century, the old rules about breaking into the industry no longer apply -- the music business is changing rapidly, and you need the most current career information possible. Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career provides the plan of attack that professional and aspiring musicians, songwriters, producers, DJs, and managers need to make their dream of making music into a career come true. It looks at how to proactively develop a sustainable and rewarding music career within the realities dictated by the new 21st century marketplace, beginning with a look at the changes the music industry has faced in the last few years, which have broken the conventional 20th century music industry thinking -- iTunes, the collapse of the CD market, cheap home recording, and so on -- and the new opportunities that these changes have introduced. It then moves on to how to build and keep a fan base, and how to translate that into making money or getting a deal. Publicity, product development, finances, the benefits and drawbacks of signing a record deal, and much more are covered in detail. This book is the most thorough and up-to-date guide to starting and maintaining a music career-- a must for every musician's bookshelf.

Interested in promoting, selling, and distributing music online? Have the website but not sure what to do next? Web Marketing for the Music Business is designed to help develop the essential internet presence you want and need. Looking at how the web has developed, providing instructions on how to set up a website as well as how to use the internet to promote the artist and the website. The book includes information on maximizing websites to increase traffic, online grassroots marketing tactics that will advance an artist's career and social networking sites such as MySpace. There is also a dedicated website with online resources for web support to give the information needed to confidently market music online.

Authors Gary and Simone Hiebner provides comprehensive information about how Sound Cloud and how one can use it to boost a music career. Soundcloud offers great playback utilities and allows fans to communicate with artists, building the all-important bond between performer and audience.

Sound designer, producer, and teacher Gary Hiebner tells you everything you need to know to put YouTube to work for your music career, including creating your own YouTube channel, uploading content, communicating with your audience, and much more. You'll learn how to maximize your exposure and build your fan base—and you'll even learn how to make money from your videos.

Now in its fourth edition, The Art of Music Production has established itself as the definitive guide to the art and business of music production and a primary teaching tool for college programs. It is the first book to comprehensively analyze and describe the non-technical role of the musicproducer. Author Richard James Burgess lays out the complex field of music production by defining the several distinct roles that fall under the rubric of music producer. In this completely updated and revised fourth edition of a book already lauded as "the most comprehensive guide to record production everpublished," Burgess has expanded and refined the types of producers, bringing them fully up to date. The first part of the book outlines the underlying theory of the art of music production. The second part focuses on the practical aspects of the job including training, getting into the business,day-to-day responsibilities, potential earnings, managers, lawyers, and - most importantly - the musical, financial, and interpersonal relationships producers have with artists and their labels.The book is packed with insights from the most successful music producers ranging from today's chart-toppers to the beginnings of recorded sound, including mainstream and many niche genres. The book also features many revealing anecdotes about the business, including the stars and the challenges(from daily to career-related) a producer faces. Burgess addresses the changes in the nature of music production that have been brought about by technology and, in particular, the paradigmatic millennial shift that has occurred with digital recording and distribution. Burgess's lifelong experiencein the recording industry as a studio musician, artist, producer, manager, and marketer combined with his extensive academic research in the field brings a unique breadth and depth of understanding to the topic.

Allen prepares you for the realities of successfully directing the careers of talented performers in the high-risk, high-reward music business. You will learn to prepare yourself for a career in artist management - and then learn the tools to coach, lead, organize time, manage finances, market an artist, and carve out a successful career path for both yourself and your clients.The book features profiles of artist managers, an exclusive and detailed template for an artist career plan, and samples of major contract sections for artist management and record deals. Updated information including a directory of artist management companies is available at the book's companion website.A peer reviewer for Artist Management for the Music Business proclaimed ."this is going to be an excellent text. It contains many unique insights and lots of valuable information. This is essential reading for managers, students, and artists in the music business."