All You Need to Know About the Music Business—Tenth Edition
By Donald S. Passman
528 pp.
$35
Simon & Schuster

So kid, ya think ya got some talent and ya wanna break into the music biz? Yer momma and all your Facebook Friends tell you your signing is tops and nobody plunks a piano key or pens musical poetry like you? Sure! Sign right here!

Oh, and by the way, I’m sure you’ve already picked out a personal manager, business manager, lawyer, agent, and PR team, right? And you know the difference between U.S. and foreign royalty configurations? Along with the meanings of phrases and business concepts like a controlled composition clause, deal points, double commissions, net tour take after deductions, advances against royalties, merchandising cuts, song copyright, and group provisions – just in case your bassist quits in a huff. You know all that, right?

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