Business

Bad Girlz 4 Life

All You Need To Know About the Music Business: 6th Edition

For fifteen years, All You Need to Know About the Music Business has been universally regarded as the definitive, essential guide to the music industry. Now in its sixth edition, it has been completely revised and updated with crucial, up-to-the-minute information on the industry's major changes in response to today's rapid technological advances and uncertain economy. Veteran music lawyer Donald Passman is in the thick of this transformation and understands that anyone involved in the music business is feeling the deep, far-reaching effects of it. This latest edition of what the Los Angeles Times called "the industry bible" will lead novices and experts alike through the fundamental practices as well as the new, uncharted territory of one of this country's most dynamic industries.

In the music business, the key to success lies in knowing how to protect yourself. To do that, you need the best and most up-to-date advice available. Whether you are -- or aspire to be -- a performer, writer, or executive, Passman's comprehensive guide to the legal and financial aspects of the music world is an indispensable tool. Drawing on his unique professional experience as one of the most trusted advisors in the industry, Passman offers authoritative information on 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

This latest edition also includes information on:

• Music downloads, webcasting, streaming-on-demand, and podcasting
• The new video streaming services
• How royalties are computed in the digital age
• The latest developments in deals with independent labels, including upstream deals
• Updates on all the traditional industry matters, such as royalties, advances, video budgets, and copyright law

In All You Need to Know About the Music Business, one of the industry's most influential figures shows you how to thrive in the most exciting business in the world. It's a book that no musician, entertainment lawyer, agent, promoter, publisher, manager, record company executive -- anyone who makes their living from music -- can afford to be without.

Losing My Virginity: How I've Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

In this autobiography, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says one of his prime business criteria is "fun." Fun made Branson a billionaire, and few business memoirs are one-billionth as fun as Branson's, nor as niftily written. Not only does it relate his side of near-death corporate experiences, it tells how the chairman literally cheated death by gun, shipwreck, and balloon crash.

Branson's empire--now encompassing interests in an airline, pop music, soda pop, e-commerce, and financial services--began when the dyslexic 16-year-old dropped out of school in 1968 to found the British magazine Student. His headmaster said, "I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire." Briefly imprisoned for dodging customs selling records, Branson got his first million by releasing Tubular Bells, a maverick recording all the stuffy executives rejected. (1998's Tubular Bells III puts the series' sales over 20 million.)

Despite wild tales of Branson's wife-swapping and Keith Richards fleeing naked from Branson's studio at gunpoint with another man's woman, the most shocking parts of the memoir concern British Airways' James Bond-like "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin Atlantic, resulting in the biggest award for damages in English history.

Though it's filled with famous names, witty quotes, and pulse-pounding accounts of lunatic balloon adventures, it is as a business thriller that the book really scores. His instinctive bet-the-ranch tactics could cost him all, or earn another billion. Either way, Branson will likely remain the most entertaining entrepreneur in Europe. --Tim Appelo

"Oh, screw it, let's do it."

That's the philosophy that has allowed Richard Branson, in slightly more than twenty-five years, to spawn so many successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), to retail (Virgin Megastores), and nearly a hundred others, ranging from financial services to bridal wear, Branson has a track record second to none.

Losing My Virginity is the unusual, frequently outrageous autobiography of one of the great business geniuses of our time. When Richard Branson started his first business, he and his friends decided that "since we're complete virgins at business, let's call it just that: Virgin." Since then, Branson has written his own "rules" for success, creating a group of companies with a global presence, but no central headquarters, no management hierarchy, and minimal bureaucracy.

Many of Richard Branson's companies--airlines, retailing, and cola are good examples--were started in the face of entrenched competition. The experts said, "Don't do it." But Branson found golden opportunities in markets in which customers have been ripped off or underserved, where confusion reigns, and the competition is complacent.
And in this stressed-out, overworked age, Richard Branson gives us a new model: a dynamic, hardworking, successful entrepreneur who lives life to the fullest. Family, friends, fun, and adventure are equally important as business in Branson's life. Losing My Virginity is a portrait of a productive, sane, balanced life, filled with rich and colorful stories:

Crash-landing his hot-air balloon in the Algerian desert, yet remaining determined to have another go at being the first to circle the globe

Signing the Sex Pistols, Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Boy George, and Phil Collins

Fighting back when British Airways took on Virgin Atlantic and successfully suing this pillar of the British business establishment

Swimming two miles to safety during a violent storm off the coast of Mexico

Selling Virgin Records to save Virgin Atlantic

Staging a rescue flight into Baghdad before the start of the Gulf War . . .

And much more. Losing My Virginity is the ultimate tale of personal and business survival from a man who combines the business prowess of Bill Gates and the promotional instincts of P. T. Barnum.

Also available in the UK from Virgin Publishing, and in Canada from General Publishing,


From the Hardcover edition.

Confessions of a Video Vixen

Part tell-all, part cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a former video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry—from the physical and emotional abuse that's rampant in the industry, and which marked her own life—to the excessive use of drugs, sex and bling.

Once the sought-after video girl, this sexy siren has helped multi-platinum artists, such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly and LL Cool J, sell millions of albums with her sensual dancing. In a word, Karrine was H-O-T. So hot that she made as much as $2500 a day in videos and was selected by well-known film director F. Gary Gray to co-star in his film, A Man Apart, starring Vin Diesel. But the film and music video sets, swanky Hollywood and New York restaurants and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only touches the surface of Karrine Steffans' life.

Her journey is filled with physical abuse, rape, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and single motherhood—all by the age of 26. By sharing her story, Steffans hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticised industry and help young women avoid the same pitfalls she encountered. If they're already in danger, she hopes to inspire them to find a way to dig themselves out of what she knows first-hand
to be a cycle of hopelessness and despair.

Tour:Smart: And Break the Band

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget (Revised & Updated)

The classic guide to independent music promotion -- now revised and updated! With this manual, you'll discover that music marketing doesn't have to be expensive or flashy to be effective. Whether you're promoting a fast-growing indie band, record label or solo act from your basement, the "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" gives you the tools you need to get the most out of your music career. Within these pages you'll find: - Dozens of simple, high-impact ways to promote yourself, your band or your new release - Tips on how to double your music sales (in 90 days or less) - 25 ways to finance your next recording project, music video or major equipment purchase - The 29 most important elements in creating sizzling music publicity materials. Don't create great music in the dark. Get the "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" today. It's already helped thousands of artists get more exposure and generate more gigs and CD sales. Now it's your turn to soak up these ideas and put them to work for you.

This Business of Music, 10th Edition (This Business of Music)

2008 Songwriter's Market

Features hundreds of listings for music publishers, record companies, managers & booking Agents, and record producers, as well as songwriter support organizations, contests, and online resources.

Includes interviews with successful pro songwriters, including Paul Simon and Kara DioGuardi (Christina Aguilera, Santana, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, plus two BMI Pop Awards in 2006).

Crucial articles inform readers about how money is made in music and how to protect themselves from the scam artists of the industry.

The 2008 Songwriter's Market is packed with information about the inner workings of the music industry that can mean the difference between success and failure. Readers will find support and encouragement through support organizations, online resources, and songwriting-related books and magazines, as well as articles and interviews with industry insiders. The reader will also find numerous listings for music industry companies and executives including their contact information, the type of music they are looking for, and how much they pay.

Songwriting: Essential Guide to Rhyming: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better Rhyming and Lyrics (Songwriting Guides)

This book has a very specific purpose: to help songwriters find better rhymes and use them more effectively. Rhyme is one of the most crucial areas of lyrics writing, and this guide will provide all of the technical information necessary to develop your skills completely. The exercises and worksheets help experienced writers take a fresh look at their techniques, and prevent novices from developing bad habits. Use this book to start writing better than ever before!

Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition)

A self-training manual as well as a classroom text, this book is a complete step-by-step course to develop the musician's ability to hear and notate any style of music. Personal training, thoery and exercises produce techniques which are combined in an integrated craft which may be applied to composition, orchestration, arranging, improvisation and performance.