The Business of Music Management

The Business of Music Management

How To Survive and Thrive in Today’s

Music Industry

Tom Stein
The Business of Music Management: How To Survive and Thrive
in Today’s Music Industry

Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2021.

Cover design by Charlene Kronstedt

Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
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except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior
permission of the publisher.

First published in 2021 by

Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-966-8 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-967-5 (e-book)

Business Expert Press Sports and Entertainment Management and

Marketing Collection

Collection ISSN: 2333-8644 (print)

Collection ISSN: 2333-8652 (electronic)

First edition: 2021

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Testimonials
“By far the best current guide to help you succeed in the music industry in
2021+. Great overview, especially the specific action steps at the end of each
section. If you’re ambitious, read this and act on it now!” —Derek Sivers,
Founder, CD Baby

“Easy to digest book on how to make a living and find success in the music
industry today.” —Lauren Gehle, Berklee College of Music Student

“Tom Stein is a real shaman when it comes to the business of music. His
knowledge is vast. He writes fluently and clearly, he is thorough yet orga-
nized, and you can’t stop reading him. Most importantly, the information he
lays out for the reader of his book is overwhelmingly useful and essential for
every musician—from the wannabe to the professional and experienced—
who wants to succeed or simply do better business. Recommended—you need
this book!” —Ady Cohen, Film Composer, Professor, Speaker (Israel)

“An incredible piece of work that blends a number of different disciplines

including business, communication, psychology, leadership, interpersonal
communication, sales, marketing, and more that all point toward the music
industry and succeeding in it. Bravo.” —Bobby Borg, Author of Business
Basics for Musicians and Music Marketing for the DIY Musician

“Tom’s book provides essential, practical and real-world strategies and advice
that melds art with business that not only informs, but also inspires a level of
confidence for readers to successfully manage their own artistic journey and
career.” —Sean P. Hagon, Associate Dean of Career Education and
Services, Berklee College of Music

‘‘Tom Stein is a master of music business and planning. He is a leading

figure in management, career planning,  and the general business industry.
Mr. Stein enlightens his students and colleagues in every aspect. This book is a
vi Testimonials

masterpiece of his years of experience. It’s a brilliant must-have book for every
musician. I strongly recommend this book to my colleagues.” —Utar Artun,
Award winning composer, arranger, pianist, percussionist, and
­educator (Turkey/USA)

“Tom Stein shows a deep and profound understanding of the music business
and music industry.Through his personal teaching experience and years of
research in a field of music business, communication, psychology, leadership in
this book he covers everything that young musicians should know before enter-
ing the world of music.”—Gojko Damjanic, Educational Consultant
GDEduConsulting (USA)

“Tom Stein operates from a base of exhaustive specific knowledge and direct
experience more than most people I know. This deeply generous book not only
draws from seemingly every conceivable force connected to the business of music
business, but mentors you through some “soul searching” as you build your own
pathways to successfully navigate this maze.” —Samuel D. Skau, Senior
Consultant for Strategy and Project Management, Gaudium Artopia,
Center for the Performing and Visual Arts, Hyderabad (India)

“Growing up, we all have dreams. To be an astronaut, a firefighter, or a

rockstar. We just don’t necessarily know how to make our dreams a reality.
Tom’s book provides the blueprint for how to bring the rockstar dream into
fruition.” —Jonny Havey, CPA, MBA | Co-Founder VP Legacies
 Description
The book’s focus is on successful music entrepreneurship and career
­development in the global music and entertainment industry.

Who Is It For?

High school and college students, including graduate level, who are
embarking on careers in the global music industry. Students from abroad
seeking to study in the United States or in other Anglophile countries,
individuals preparing to enter the global entertainment industry, and
adults interested in pursuing full- or part-time careers in music, or already
working in related fields, such as event management, sports, experiential
communications, or broadcasting, will also benefit. Besides students and
careerists, the book is useful for university and college faculty, administra-
tors, or course developers seeking to establish music industry educational
programs because it highlights specific areas for curricular content and
development.

What Is It About?

The list of specialized occupations filled by musicians is lengthy, for

example, performer, producer, arranger, composer, songwriter, lyricist,
music editor, publicist, recording engineer, conductor, sound technician,
manager, entertainment lawyer, promoter, booking agent, tour manager,
music educator, vocal coach, private instructor, music supervisor, music
programmer, electronic DJ. There are also careers ancillary to music, such
as event organizer, music therapist, radio station director, art director,
advertising director, or entertainment director.
Music as an industry is multifaceted and is a subset of the broader
entertainment industry which includes sports, cinema, broadcasting, and
creative digital media. Music plays an important role in advertising, mar-
keting, video games, film, and digital media, and there are tie-ins to tour-
ism, restaurant, fashion, and the hospitality industries. The entertainment
and creative industries in aggregate are viewed as a potential growth area
viii Description

by governments and by commercial concerns and often targeted and sup-

ported as a tool for sustainable international trade, plus economic, social,
and cultural development. There is even such a thing as music diplomacy,
as a component of cultural or “soft power” diplomacy.
As with many professions, the set of skills, knowledge, and strategies
required to become successfully employed in music and its related fields
are not the same set of skills needed to do the actual jobs. Young musi-
cians and others with the ambition to work in the music industry are
often baffled by the many options available, conflicting information, and
the lack of a clear path to success. They are thirsty for balanced and reli-
able knowledge and clear direction on how to prepare for a career in the
industry. Universities, colleges, and specialty training schools offer pro-
grams designed to help individuals prepare for careers in music, leading
to certificates, diplomas, or degrees, including at the graduate level. But
the focus of the trainings and curricula are often only on the skills needed
to perform the work and not on how to access the work through care-
ful career preparation and entrepreneurial thinking. There is a dearth of
relevant information about how to access the opportunities, leverage the
training and the networks gained in school, and how to succeed through
meeting the true demands of the industry. This book aims to fill this need.
Many of the most successful people working in the field have ­benefited
from formal training, while others did not have access to specialized pro-
grams or chose to study in another field perhaps deemed more “practical,”
for example, music education, finance, technology, science, or business.
It is crucial that aspiring music professionals learn all they can about the
specialized business of music and how to prepare for entry to the field,
as many musicians ultimately become self-employed as independent
­business people, or will work in a business.

What Will the Reader Gain?

The reader of the book will gain vital and accurate knowledge about how
the music business works, how musicians get paid for their work, and
the legal framework for conducting business in the music industry. They
will learn to effectively recognize, create, and plan for leveraging real
opportunities and learn useful techniques for overcoming the inevitable
 Description
ix

obstacles to success in a rapidly changing industry sector. Readers will

gain valuable insights into the niche they might fill with their own career
and learn techniques to help them discover their unique path to success.
The reader will come away with a much better understanding of the scope
and demands of this dynamic industry sector.
Attitudes that contribute to success in the global music and entertain-
ment industries will be presented, examined, and contextualized through
illuminating case studies along with judicious storytelling. Topics will
include how to start and lead a music-related business (entrepreneurship
and executive leadership), business plan writing, social entrepreneurship,
branding and marketing music (including viral social media marketing),
technology, finance, revenue streams in the industry, and career planning.
The reader will come away better prepared to enter and to compete in
the global music industry with a slew of concrete strategies for success in
creating, marketing, and monetizing musical content.

Keywords
music; music business; music industry; music management; music careers;
music entrepreneurship; music marketing; entertainment; entertainment
business; entertainment marketing; music education; artist entrepreneur;
music artist; music production; songwriting; entertainment industry;
video game music; music composition; film music; film scoring; scoring
for visual media; music teacher; music streaming; music concerts
 Contents
Preface������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xiii
Acknowledgments�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xvii
Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xix

Chapter 1 The Business of Music Is Still Business������������������������������1

Chapter 2 Developing Your Music Career�����������������������������������������9
Chapter 3 The Artist as Entrepreneur����������������������������������������������17
Chapter 4 Business Planning and Development: Early Stages����������27
Chapter 5 How to Write a Music Business Plan������������������������������43
Chapter 6 Create Your Business Entity��������������������������������������������63
Chapter 7 Marketing, Branding, and Sales: How to
Find Your Fan Base and Promote Your Music�����������������83
Chapter 8 Music Marketing: How to Make an EPK
(Electronic Promo Kit)���������������������������������������������������97
Chapter 9 Networking in the Music Industry��������������������������������105
Chapter 10 Seven Steps to the Sale: How to Sell Your Music
and Yourself������������������������������������������������������������������115
Chapter 11 Get Paid for Your Music, Live Venue
Performance Contracts�������������������������������������������������127
Chapter 12 Industry Trends, Starting and Growing Your
Business as an Entrepreneur������������������������������������������135
Chapter 13 A&R, Streaming for Artists, How to Publish
Your Music and Get It on Spotify���������������������������������147
Chapter 14 Odds and Ends: Making Recordings, the
Sound Check, and Teaching Music�������������������������������165
Chapter 15 Entrepreneurship and Psychology: How to
Improve Your Thinking to Enhance Success������������������191

Postscript��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������201
About the Author��������������������������������������������������������������������������������209
Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������211
 Preface
If you are reading this book it is because you have an interest in how
the music industry works. You might be grappling with the prospect of
choosing or defining your future music career and have questions about
how to find your niche in the music field. The main purpose of this book
is to demystify many of the crucial parts of the music industry, so that you
can formulate some specific goals for your career, learn to identify oppor-
tunities, recognize obstacles to success, adopt strategies to get around the
obstacles, and think rationally and clearly about where you fit in both
today’s and the future music industry.
Having worked in the music industry for decades as a performer,
manager, agent, promoter, producer, tour director, conductor, arranger,
contractor, consultant, and a professor, I’ve formed well-developed ideas
about techniques and strategies that work. Over several decades of teach-
ing music industry courses to bright and talented college students, I’ve
witnessed first-hand the challenges and successes of my current and
former students who’ve applied the techniques presented in this book.
Importantly, I discovered how these techniques and strategies can be
effectively taught and learned by anyone seeking a career in music.
There are many excellent books available about the music business,
and about business in general. In writing this book I wanted to accom-
plish three things to set the book apart from all the others. First, while
the book is about the music industry, I draw from other areas of business
integrally, to help the reader better understand the business of music in
the context of other business sectors. As a subsector of entertainment,
media, advertising, and other fields, music integrates with numerous out-
side business sectors and subsectors, and I wanted readers to get a sense
of where music fits in a much larger scheme and order of things and to
learn how to strategically draw from best practices in other related and
unrelated industries.
Second, I will provide a philosophy of leadership, service, and artistry
that is directly connected to self-actualization through music as a business
xiv Preface

career. This philosophy leads to a greater understanding of music business

management and will show how music careers can be accelerated with
knowledge and application of executive leadership skills, business plan-
ning, marketing psychology, branding strategies, social entrepreneurship,
organizational behavior, and other entrepreneurial and organizational
approaches. We will address ways to adjust your own thinking to enhance
your prospects for success. This will include the cultivation of specific meta-
skills and recommended action steps to support your continued success.
These mental attitudes and skills are not exclusive to the music
business. Fledgling entrepreneurs must look beyond their own indus-
try for know-how, approaches, and inspiration. The modern contribu-
tions of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Richard Branson, Elon Musk,
Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet, and other business leaders who’ve become
­household names are well documented and have inspired the recent
generation of would-be entrepreneurs, as have business icons from
­
­previous generations.
Though they came from different industries, Andrew Carnegie,
Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Conrad Hilton, Ray Croc,
Lee Iacocca, and Jack Welch all had one thing in common besides success:
their thinking. They worked smart as well as hard. There’s been plenty of
research into how these iconic business leaders thought about their work,
their attitudes about business and life, how they dealt with inevitable fail-
ures, and the psychology which enabled their enduring success. The study
of executive leadership and the attendant psychology of success has not yet
crossed over into the music business literature, until now.
Finally, the reader will be guided through step-by-step processes and
shown methodologies to help to express a music idea as a complete busi-
ness plan. In this way, the avid reader can integrate their newly gained
knowledge of the business of music management into their own personal
musical journey. The creation of the plan should prepare you, the reader,
to confidently take the next steps in pursuit of your music and life goals.
This book will take you on an important journey of guided learning,
as you read about and assimilate not only the crucial business knowledge,
strategies, and information, but the self-knowledge, attitudes, and think-
ing that will enable you to achieve lasting success with your music. You
will gain the satisfaction and peace of mind that come from knowing you
 Preface xv

are becoming the best possible version of yourself. You will learn what
it takes to truly succeed in today’s competitive and demanding music
industry.
For the musician and artist starting a career in the music industry,
the path from idea to reality is not as complicated as it might seem.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy: It’s not. Besides a little luck, the strategies,
knowledge, encouragement, and inspiration you find in this book will
serve as useful and welcome companions on your own path to success
as a musician and artist. In summary, you are holding in your hands a
book that fuses your musical ambitions with the business reality and will
instruct you in the next concrete steps you can and should take to move
­confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Tom Stein
2021
 Acknowledgments
Writing a book on the music industry is not a solo endeavor, and there are
many people who contributed in meaningful ways to turning my goal of
writing this book into reality.
My publisher, Business Expert Press, the editors, and my “thought
partner” Deborah Ager from Radiant Media Labs worked at the early
and later stages to help this book take form, to order the content, and
to make it presentable. They kept me on point and held me accountable
to the vision I wanted to present. Thanks to Eddy Skau for creating all the
images.
My colleagues at Berklee College of Music in the Professional Music
Department all contributed important knowledge and ideas at opportune
times over many years: Department Chairs, Deans, and Professors Sean
Hagon, Kenn Brass, Chee-Ping Ho, Jes Sarin-Perry, Joe Bennett, Bob
Mulvey, Cristy Catt, Linda Gorham, Kirstie Wheeler, Jimena Bermejo,
and Erin Raber.
I’m grateful to so many other special musicians and talented music
business people I’ve learned from over the years, not only for their busi-
ness acumen, but for their musical talent which has been so inspiring,
and continues to be: Rob Rose, Donna McElroy, Ken ­Zambello, Richard
Evans, Sal DiFusco, Kevin Harris, Steve Heck, Casey Scheuerell, Wolf
Ginandes, Sam Skau, Gojko Damjanic, Fil Ramil, Tino Sanchez, Utar
Artun, Dennis Cecere, George Garzone, Hal Crook, Bobby Stanton, Ed
Tomassi, John LaPorta, Phil Wilson, Cory ­Harding, Brian Walkely, Bob
Gay, Bob Talalla, Jackie Beard, Jeff Stout, Dino G ­ ovoni, Bora Uslusoy,
Larry Watson, and many more. To be a part of such a vibrant community
of creative musicians has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.
I’m grateful to and indebted to my many outstanding students who
have kept me curious and in many cases taught me more than I taught
them. To see them achieve new heights day after day and year after year is
the greatest reward I’ve received from my career as a professor.
xviii Acknowledgments

I’d also like to thank my good friend Rick Petralia, one of the best
sales professionals I’ve ever met.
And of course I am super grateful for the enduring support of my
lovely wife Burcu and musical daughter Sara Sandra.
 Introduction
I was a small-town boy growing up with big-time dreams. Born at the
close of the 1950s, my earliest memories are from the turbulent 1960s:
the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Vietnam War,
the Hippies and then the Yippies, the Black Panthers, and the Moon
Landing. These historical events are embedded in my memory, but even
more, the music of this time and shortly after is embedded in my psy-
che. It seems like the AM radio was always on (this was before cassettes,
8-tracks, or CDs) and the popular music of the day was mesmerizing.
Our heroes were The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Monkees,
The Doors, The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Richie Havens,
Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin,
Trini Lopez, Sonny and Cher, Sly and the Family Stone, Jethro Tull, Yes,
the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Nielson, Joni Mitchell,
Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, Johnny and Edgar Winter—we were
surrounded by this incredible music all the time. What strikes me now
as interesting is that we liked the same music as our parents. My house
was filled with LP-33rpm records in the heyday of vinyl albums. As the
1960s turned into the 1970s, rock music was flowering and the airwaves
were enchanting to a young boy attracted to the music.
I also had access to a piano and a guitar. By the time I was 10 years
old I could play Beatles and Bob Dylan songs, as well as some television
theme songs from popular shows. As a young teenager I set myself to
becoming proficient on the guitar. By the time I was 16 I knew that music
would be my career choice. However, my parents were not in agreement
with this. I was told that music was only a hobby, and I should choose a
career that would provide me with a stable and secure living, like being
an architect, a doctor, or a lawyer. My mother even suggested I choose a
trade such as plumbing. ANYTHING but music. Musicians were poor,
lived off of welfare; there was no money in it.
I knew this couldn’t be true but I was influenced by these points and
hesitant to follow my musical ambitions. When the time came to decide
xx Introduction

about college, I wanted to attend music school and earn my degree in

music, but my parents pushed me into a different path. I had talents for
the visual arts so it was decided I would become a graphic designer or an
architect. This led to my spending two years at Cornell University where
I was unhappy, but I excelled in my studies. Music was pulling at me
the whole time. Years later, I did attend music school. I can see why my
parents felt the way they did, and I’m even appreciative for what they did,
because I learned valuable skills and knowledge at Cornell, while proving
my academic abilities. When it came to doing music as a career, I was
eventually forced to fight for what I believed in.
As I consider my plans at that tender age, I can see how misguided
I was about the world, and particularly about the music business. Ah, the
folly of youth! I had this idea that somehow the word “commercial” when
applied to music was bad, even evil. Music created for a commercial mar-
ket meant the artist was “selling out.” Art and commerce were mutually
exclusive. I had no idea what was really involved with making a living at
music. I had this idealistic image of myself playing on stage to thousands
of adoring fans, and that was about all I had. Looking back, I see clearly
how I was in denial that music is a business, or that a music industry exists.
My dream of being a professional musician would be miraculously fulfilled
when some magical entity swooped down and handled everything in my
life so I could just play my guitar. If only I knew then what I know now!
It seems I was not the only one who believed this. There are plenty
of stories about legendary musicians who were taken advantage of finan-
cially by their managers and record companies, signing away their future
royalties to nefarious individuals who stepped in with a contract. Musi-
cians and artists during this time were naïve, and the lawsuits sprouted
like mushrooms later on after they came to realize how badly they were
cheated. In most cases it was too late to recover any of their stolen assets.
Even Paul McCartney of The Beatles was not savvy enough to stop
his (supposed) friend Michael Jackson from snatching up the rights to
his song catalogue at an opportune moment. To put it bluntly, musicians
and bands lacked business acumen, and there were plenty of sharks ready
to eat their lunch.
Eventually, musicians started to get wise. They got tired of being
ripped off and started to take matters into their own hands. They started
 Introduction xxi

to learn about business. Today, conservatories, colleges, and universities

understand that they need to train musicians in the artistry of business.
The skills needed to get the job are not the same skills needed to do the job.
It took me some time to warm to this idea, and I experienced a series of
epiphanies that led to me fully embracing it.
Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby, musician, book author, and
TED speaker, summed it up nicely in a recent blog post (bolding is his):

Shed your money taboos.

Everyone has weird mental associations with money. They think
the only way to make money is to take it away from others. They
think that charging for your art means it was insincere, and only
for profit.
But after knowing thousands of musicians for over twenty
years, I’ve learned this:
The unhappiest musicians are the ones who avoided the
­subject of money, and are now broke or need a draining day job.
It  may sound cool to say money doesn’t matter—to say “don’t
worry about it!”—but it leads to a really hard life. Then ultimately
your music suffers, because you can’t give it the time it needs, and
you haven’t found an audience that values it.
The happiest musicians are the ones who develop their value
and confidently charge a high price. There’s a deep satisfaction
when you know how valuable you are, and the world agrees. Then
it reinforces itself, because you can focus on being the best artist
you can be, since you’ve found an audience that rewards you for it.
So never underestimate the importance of making money.
Let go of any taboos you have about it.
Money is nothing more than a neutral exchange of value.
If people give you money, it’s proof that you’re giving them
something valuable in return.
By focusing on making money with your music, you’re
making sure it’s valuable to others, not only to you.

I’ve had tremendous benefits as a result of finally embracing music as a

business. Music has provided me with a living, but perhaps equally or
xxii Introduction

more important, I get to perform with great musicians, travel the world,
and share my music with so many others. Accepting and embracing music
as a business allows me to achieve the dreams I had as a youth, with-
out having to depend on the intervention of some mythical b­ enefactor.
Ironically, I ended up teaching music industry courses at a leading music
college, where I get to pass my knowledge and experience on to future
generations of musicians.
As a music careerist, I have developed well-defined ideas about how
to succeed as a musician. My personal career matrix, which I share in this
book, relies on the foundational concept of “multiple income streams.”
There are some crucial strategies for identifying and realizing these
income streams, which I will share with you. I’ve tested and refined these
­strategies in my own career, and I’ve seen them work in the careers of
other artists, some who are now quite well known. There is a nexus where
music and business intersect, and I sincerely hope my shared experience
will help you find that nexus as it applies to your own career.
Music is a business, and the sooner one accepts and embraces this fact,
the sooner one is likely to see continued success. No matter where you
fit in, knowledge of how our business works will be a key to your future
career stability as an artist, performer, manager, marketer, writer, pro-
ducer, teacher, or whatever you see yourself doing to make your living in
the industry. This is a book about music careers, what is available, how to
prepare for it, and how to think about it. Nobody is truly unique, but our
paths are. There are no better tools than business and entrepreneurship to
define and guide your path to a music career, as I have learned firsthand.
Now, let’s shine a bright light on your path forward as a musician and
music industry career practitioner.
 CHAPTER 1

The Business of Music

Is Still Business
Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. M ­ aking
money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
—Andy Warhol, from his book The Philosophy
of Andy Warhol (1975)

Art Versus Business Art

When I visited the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, PA, I was
stopped in my tracks by the preceding quote, which is prominently dis-
played in the entry lobby which leads to the galleries filled with his works.
The idea of business as art or business art cut very close to my psyche in
light of my own musical journey. As a young man I had been terrified of
“selling out” by producing music that would be “commercial.” My ideal-
ism had pulled the wool over my eyes about what it really takes to have
a career in music. I suffered from naïve misconceptions and prejudices
about the music business and about business in general. Looking back,
I saw these misconceptions had kept me from my goals. Standing in the
lobby of Andy’s museum in Pittsburgh, I finally embraced my true calling
as a musician. I saw clearly that to create great music, I would also need
to create the business of my music. The business of music is business. There
is music, and then there is music business. They fit together like a hand
in a glove. Warhol’s quote made me see that. The music is the product,
and the business is everything else that it takes to get the product to the
consumer, like marketing, sales, management, finance, branding, prod-
ucts, services, packaging, planning, and organization. Andy Warhol was
the consummate organization man, perhaps a quirky CEO, but a CEO
nonetheless.
2 The Business of Music Management

Andy Warhol (1928–1987) came from Pittsburgh, attended Carnegie-­

Mellon University, became a successful commercial illustrator in the
1950s after moving to New York City, and then became a leading figure
in the visual arts movement known as Pop Art. He is credited with invent-
ing the slogan “15 minutes of fame” and he was also a movie director and
a music producer, producing and managing the influential psychedelic
rock group Velvet Underground during the 1960s. Today, his paintings sell
for millions of dollars.
Years before my epiphany in Pittsburgh, I picked up a copy of Spe-
cial Events: Best Practices in Modern Event Management, a textbook by
Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP) Joe Goldblatt (1997). As
I leafed through the book, I noticed there was a chapter about music.
Written from the perspective of an event planner, music was presented as
a subfield of the events business. This made perfect sense to me, since live
music is often used at all kinds of events, from weddings to award cere-
monies. I had been working as a hired musician at events for years, and it
had never occurred to me that I was in the events business. As I read the
rest of the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the other industries
that music is a part of.

Music Sectors and Subsectors

Music is everywhere—movies, video games, advertising, sporting events,
shopping malls, stores, restaurants, elevators. Every time we hear a song
in the background, some musician had to write, arrange, perform, record,
publish, and license it. Music, as an industry, has its tendrils in many
other industries. Music is not only a subsector of other fields; it also has
its own subsectors. Recorded music alone is estimated to be an $18 billion
industry globally. The live music and concerts industry is valued at around
$13 billion. Then there are music products, such as instruments, amplifi-
ers, microphones, studio recording equipment, and even band uniforms.
Music education, music publishing, sheet music, music for films and
video games, music for advertising (jingles), music for television, kara-
oke, and music streaming; music is a sizeable industry as a whole and is
incredibly diverse in all its parts. As an industry, music is also projected to
grow in the future, as the world economy also expands (See Figure 1.1).
 The Business of Music Is Still Business 3

Music industry revenue worldwide from 2012 to 2023

(In billion U.S. Dollars)
70
63.75 65.17
61.82
59.48
60 56.74
53.77
50.88
Billion U.S. Dollars

50 48.23
45.5 45 44.87 46.01

40

30

20

10

0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

PROJECTED

Figure 1.1  Global music industry revenues

Like all businesses, music is competitive. There is no easy business,

or everyone would be doing it! Everything about being in business is
difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s complicated. As we begin to describe
the music industry as a sector, and as a subsector of other industries,
and as we examine further the subsectors within our industry, you will
see the layers unfold. It’s a fascinating business, with seemingly endless
opportunities to innovate. It’s also a fun business—at least I’ve always
felt this way about it. If you love music and care about bringing music
to the world, you should also love the music business. There’s no reason
not to.

Diverse Income Streams: Music Careerism

I used this idea of sectors and subsectors to design and develop my own
professional music career. My framework is as follows. Combining my
talents and skill as a writer, performer, producer, business executive, and
educator, I earn my living by doing a combination of all these things con-
currently. Taken together, they create a stream of income to support my
living costs. While any one pursuit might not provide me with enough
total income, in combination they do. I call this concept multiple income
streams or diverse income streams. My analogy works this way: each activity
provides a stream of earnings; together the streams turn into a river (of
money) that flows into the lake, which is my bank account.
4 The Business of Music Management

This concept was useful for my own career, and would later lead me to
designing my own career matrix, as I will show you at the end of Chapter 2.
My job title, or occupation, might be listed as musician, producer, or educator
based on what I am doing at the moment. I call this concept music careerism.
I could call myself a music careerist. Since most wouldn’t understand what
this means, I normally just tell people I’m a musician.

Revenue Streams and Trends

This book helps you identify and learn how to access the many revenue
streams for musicians. Since business is characterized by rapid change and
constant upheaval, new opportunities and income streams continually
appear while others disappear. Artists must look around corners to fore-
cast new trends, adapt, and then move quickly to leverage new opportu-
nities. Since change is all-pervasive and constant, we must plan for it and
always innovate, correct course, and execute effectively in the new busi-
ness environments. This precept applies to all businesses, especially music.
As change continuously unfolds, we should study the markets and
look for patterns. For example, the use of music for visual media has been
a growth area for many years. From 1999 to 2020, sales fell from phys-
ical copies of recordings, digital downloads came and went, and finally,
streaming came into wide use, boosting revenues again.
Performing rights organizations (PROs) collect royalties from music used
in television, movies, videogames, and advertising, which is a highly complex
task. There is no central clearinghouse for collections of all royalties (yet), so
performers and composers rely on the various organizations to collect royal-
ties for the use of their music. As sales from recorded music fell, artists worked
to replace that income, from sources such as licensing and concertizing.
Recently, new legislation in the U.S. Congress sought to pro-
tect ­musicians’ rights. The Music Modernization Act of 2018 (MMA)
attempts to update copyright laws in the United States to apply to the
digital age. At the end of this chapter, I’ll discuss this further.
As far as future trends go, the use of blockchain technology holds a
promise for better tracking of music revenues, but is likely a decade or
more in the future as of this writing. It’s important to pay careful atten-
tion to the changes occurring in the music business, to discern and stay
 The Business of Music Is Still Business 5

on top of trends. Nobody can see the future, but that doesn’t prevent us
from trying to look around the corner to see what might be coming.

Monetize Your Music, Expand Your Business

Musicians find ways to monetize their music and image beyond recorded
music and performances. Like many other female artists, pop star Katy Perry
has perfume, shoes, clothes, and makeup lines, as does Rihanna. Although
Jay-Z cut his teeth as a rapper, the bulk of his income comes from non-
musical ventures. He owns a clothing line, and he’s expanded into sports
management, founding a high-end boutique agency and earning certi-
fication to represent athletes to Major League Baseball and the National
Basketball Association. On a smaller scale, independent musicians and
bands often earn the bulk of their revenues from selling merch, short for
­merchandise—T-shirts, hats, and other items—before and after their shows.
Many accomplished musicians find careers in teaching. Music educa-
tion is part of the music industry, though not everyone would immedi-
ately recognize it as such. There are celebrity music professors, and a good
number of session musicians and orchestra performers also teach privately
or at a school or university. There are online courses and subscriptions to
music tutorials. Don’t ever let anyone tell you there is no money in teach-
ing. It’s not unusual to find millionaire professors at top schools.
Then there’s the musical instruments business, music software, music
production and engineering, sound design, karaoke…when we combine
all aspects of the music business we start to see a vibrant industry offering
wonderful career opportunities for so many. Music is a sustainable engine
of economic activity which for the most part doesn’t use excessive raw
materials or degrade the environment. Music has the power to reach across
cultures, languages, and borders. As famous guitarist and composer Frank
Zappa once said: “Art is making something out of nothing, and selling it.”

Intellectual Property
The legal framework for music (in the United States) was originally
proscribed by the Constitution. Clause eight says: “Congress shall have
power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for
6 The Business of Music Management

limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respec-
tive writings and discoveries.” Over the years, Congress has passed laws
to protect these rights of creators, most recently the Music Modernization
Act of 2018, which was passed by a unanimous vote. (Disclaimer: I am
not a lawyer and therefore cannot dispense legal advice.) Musicians don’t
need to be trained in law to understand their rights to ownership of their
intellectual property (IP). These rights are covered by copyrights (literally:
the right to copy), sometimes called soft IP, versus the patents protect-
ing inventions, known as hard IP. Whether soft IP or hard IP, the laws
protecting ownership of rights to revenues from IP are very similar, and
protect creators from infringement and outright theft.
Professional musicians and others in the music industry should under-
stand how to protect their IP, register and publish a work, get a copyright,
license to others, and properly calculate and distribute earnings from their
works. While these things are not especially difficult to understand, artists
usually retain a qualified entertainment attorney to ensure that laws are
adhered to, and the application of the laws and their own understanding
of them are thorough and up to date. As with most laws, there are many
areas that are open to interpretation. As just one example, there is cur-
rently a split in the U.S. federal courts between the 6th and 9th Circuits
(Nashville and California, respectively), about how much of a previous
work from another artist can be used in a digital sample without com-
pensating the original artist. This split will eventually be settled by the
Supreme Court, but to date nobody has yet brought a case on the matter
to the highest court.
Copyright protection and payment of royalties can get a bit compli-
cated. For example, a recording or video of a work has a separate copy-
right from the composition of the work. Copyrights on recordings are
sometimes called mechanicals or master license and may be shared by the
producer, engineer, recording label, or others involved with the recording
process. Who gets what is decided by special written agreements which
are not always properly in place. Disputes over ownership of recorded
music have led to numerous legal battles which have often served mainly
to enrich entertainment attorneys. Additional layers of complexity may
come into the picture when commercialization of a work occurs globally,
as each country may be governed by a different set of laws, and there is no
 The Business of Music Is Still Business 7

central clearinghouse to keep track of all proceeds from musical works. As

mentioned earlier, blockchain technology seems to have the potential to
change this, but any solution is still years in the future.
Protecting legal rights of artists through publishing, licensing, and
syndication deals can feel daunting for the uninitiated, but what you need
to know isn’t limitless, and the knowledge is accessible. Since change is
constant, even the professionals struggle to keep on top of how things
are handled with their music rights. Performing Rights Organizations
(PROs) such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC help composers, songwriters,
arrangers, and producers understand the law and collect their royalties.
We will discuss music publishing, licensing, and syndication in more spe-
cific detail later on.

Music Modernization Act of 2018

The Music Modernization Act of 2018 was the first major legislation to
affect music royalties passed since the Copyright Act of 1976. If you con-
sider how much has changed since 1976 in how music is created, sold,
and distributed, new legislation was long overdue. It’s notable that this
law passed both houses of Congress without a single opposing vote. The
law regulates how musicians are paid from digital sales and streaming, and
sets up a clearinghouse for mechanical rights for engineers and producers.
It also affects how royalties are paid for music produced before 1972.
While there was unanimous support for the law’s passage from musicians
and creators, not all the music labels and distributors were happy, since
the law potentially impacts their revenue streams.
The new law makes it easier for songwriters to get paid for their work,
creates a clearinghouse for digital mechanical royalties called the Mechan-
ical Licensing Collective (MLC), funnels new money to older “legacy”
artists who weren’t getting paid for streaming, increases streaming roy-
alties by changing the way they are calculated, decreases the portion of
payments that never reach rightful recipients by creating a database using
new technology, expands royalty rights for producers, and helps song-
writers and composers recoup money they lost during transition from
sales to streaming. Besides the welcome fact that the law will increase
cash flows to artists and musicians, it’s remarkable that this legislation
8 The Business of Music Management

passed unanimously, as it was one of the very few policy initiatives where
a divided congress could reach bipartisan agreement.
Now that we have an idea of the scope of the music industry, and
some of the business challenges, let’s focus on how to create a viable career
in music. There are many kinds of potential music careers, as we’ve seen.
As you read, keep an open mind and consider where and how you might
fit in.

Action Step:
Write your key takeaways from this chapter:
1. What did you learn about music as a business?
2. Name some sectors of the music industry that interest you.
3. What do you want to remember or apply when it comes to your own
music business aspirations?
 Index
Ability, 194–195 Auditory nerve, 202
Accountant, 79–80 Augmented reality (AR), 140
Accounting, 78–79 Authenticity, 114
Acoustic bass, 176 Auxiliary percussion, 178
Act of God, 133 Avocation, 181–182
Aggregators, 138–139, 160
Agreements, 127–129 Balanced line out, 176
Armstrong, L., 35 Bass, 175–176
Artificial intelligence (AI), 140 Behavioral economics, 83
Artist, 129 Bio, 100–101
entrepreneur, 17, 18, 50, 52, 158 Blockchain technology, 4, 146
insights, 163 Body Language, 187
marketing, 84–85 Boilerplate, 128
profile, 161 Bond, 65
Artist and Repertoire (A&R), Bottom-up approach, 197–198
147–148 Bottom-up organizational culture, 74
building your team, 164 Brainstorming, 194
future of, 151–152 Branding, 84, 93–94, 96
game plan, 161 Branding professionals, 155
independent, 150–151 Branson, R., 75–76
intellectual property, 153–154 Bush, G. W., 38
marketing and promotion, 150 Business art, 1–2
performing rights organization, 157 Business certificate, 156
playlists and social media, 162–163 Business entity, 63–64
publishing deals, 153, 154, 156, 158 C-Corp, S-Corp, and nonprofit,
recording process and artist 66–67
development, 149–150 corporate veil, 65
roles of, 149, 152 hiring an accountant, 79–80
sole proprietor, 156–157 liability protection and managing
spotify, 159–160 risk, 81–82
spotify codes and data analytics, LLC/LLP, 66
163 sole proprietor, 64
streaming, 158–159 taxes and accounting, 78–79
uploading, 160–161 tax freedom day, 79
Artist development, 150 See also Organizational structure
consultants, 150 Business of teaching, 183
Artistry, 25 Business plan, 28–29, 43–45, 53
Art versus business art, 1–2 cover page, name, and logo,
Artwork, 100 45–46
Attitudes, 33–34 executive summary, 46
Audiologist, 201, 204–205 financial information, 52
Audiology Laboratory, 204 foundations, 47–48
212 Index

management and organizational Dalio, R., 31, 32

structure, 49–51 Dampening effect, 180
marketing and sales, 51 Day Job, 181
market, products and services, 48 d.b.a. Form (Business Certificate), 64
Business structure, 156–157 Decibel scale, 203
Buy-in, 198 Delivery, 124
Demographic profile, 85–87
Calls to Action (CTAs), 163 Demography, 85
Career matrix, 15–16 Deposit and remainder, 131
Career planning, 185–186 Desire, need, and ability (DNA), 123
Carlin, G., 32 Differentiation strategy, 31, 46, 90–92
Carnegie, D., 32, 191 Digital modeling, 177
Carter, T., 161 Direct box (DI), 175
Cause marketing, 38 Disciplined learning, 21–22
C-Corporation (C-Corp), 66–67 Disposable income, 30
Celebrity, 37 Diverse income streams, 3
Charity tie-in, 38 Do It With Others (DIWO), 89–90
Classroom teaching vs. private studio, Do It Yourself (DIY), 89
186–187 Double taxation, 67
Client Relationship Management Downloadable file (MP3), 143
(CRM), 110–112 Drive, 25
Clip-on microphones, 178 Drums (drum set), 175
Closing, 123 Duplication, 169, 170
Closing ratio, 125 Dynamic microphone, 177
Cobranding, 138
Cohen, B., 36 Ear, 202–203
Collaboration, 23 Earnest money, 123
Collins, J. C., 198 Earplugs, 205
Communication skills, 23–24 Eastwood, C., 39
Compact disc (CD), 142, 143 Education, 184–185
Comparisons, 58–59 Electronic Promo Kit (EPK), 97–99,
Compensation, 76–77 103–104
Competition, obstacle of, 30 bio, 100–101
Competitive analysis, 58–59 crowdfunding, 103
Condenser microphones, 177 photos and artwork, 100
Conscious capitalism, 198 press articles/quotes, 101–102
Constant Contact, 112 recordings, 99–100
Contract. See Performance contract social media, 102
Copyrights, 6 videos, 101
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Elevator pitch, 47, 108
36–37 Emotional intelligence, 22–23
Corporate veil, 65, 157 Employee policies, 77–78
Crowdfunding, 103 End user, 85
Cryptocurrencies, 146 Entertainment, 6, 30, 38, 58, 68, 80,
Culture, 73–74 88–90, 104, 140, 149
Customer policies, 77–78 Entertainment industry, 58, 68
Customer Relationship Management Entrepreneur, 135
(CRM), 145–146 artificial intelligence, 140
 Index 213

augmented reality, 140 Give and Take: A Revolutionary

blockchain technology, 146 Approach to Success, 112
cobranding, 138 Gladwell, M., 12, 24, 89
compact disc, 142–143 Goldblatt, J., 2
Customer Relationship Google Ads Keyword Research Tool, 141
Management, 145–146 Grant, A., 112
downloadable file, 143 Greenfield, J., 36
geofence, 139 Gross National Product (GNP),
Google Ads Keyword Research 115–116
Tool, 141 Guitar(s), 177–178
holograms, 140
horizontal expansion, 145 Hard IP, 6
inbound marketing, 142 Headphones, 206, 207
lookout for changes, 135–136 Hearing, 203–204
music aggregators, 138–139 Hearing loss, 201–203, 207
search engine marketing, 142 Hearing protection, 204, 205
search engine optimization, 141 Hip Hop, 35
social media platforms, 137–138 Holograms, 140
streaming, 137 Horizontal expansion, 145
technology and music production, Horns, 178
143–144 How to Win Friends and Influence
vertical expansion, 145 People (Carnegie), 32, 191
vinyl records, 142–143 Hsieh, T., 198
virtual reality, 140
work for hire, 144–145 Image Identity Materials (I2M),
Entrepreneurial mindset, 191 94–96
Estimate vs. quote, 119 Inbound marketing, 142
Executive leadership, 22 Independent A&R, 150–151
Executive producer, 168 Indie artist, 89
Executive summary, 46 In-ear monitors, 180, 207
Initial follow-up, 111
F.E.A.R., 199–200 Intellectual property (IP), 5–7,
Final mix, 169 153–154
Financial information, 52 Intermediaries, 90, 97–98
Fine-tuning, 180–181 Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 78
Flowthrough entities, 66 Interpersonal skills, 22–23
Focus, 24 Invoicing (billing), 131
Follow up, 124–125
Force majeure, 133 Jay-Z, 5
Ford, H., 199 Jobs, S., 29
Freemium model, 146, 159 Jurisdiction clause, 133
Front of house (FOH),
173–174, 180 K-1 (IRS Form 1065), 66
Fulfillment, 57–58 Kaepernick, C., 34
Keyboards (synths), 176–177
Game plan, 107 King, M. L. Jr., 35
Gates, B., 29
Geofence, 139 Leader, 198–199
Gig economy, 11–12 Leadership
214 Index

executive, 22, 196 Monitor system, 179

philosophy, 68–70, 196–197 Multiple income streams, 3
servant, 198 Music, 5, 35
Learning Styles, 182 aggregators, 138–139
Leveraging, 109–110 artist, 43, 137
Liability protection and managing business, 1, 3–5, 17, 18, 25, 28, 32,
risk, 81–82 34, 41, 44, 55, 56, 63, 73, 83,
Lifelong learning, 184 89, 102, 103, 105, 115, 136,
Limited liability company (LLC), 139, 145, 164, 185, 209
66, 157 careerism, 3–4
Limited Liability Partnership career planning, 9–10
(LLP), 66 concerts, 145
Line producer, 168 industry, 17, 18
LinkedIn, 108–109 pedagogy, 182–183
Listen and enjoy, 170 and politics, 38–39
production, 143–144
MailChimp, 112 publishing, 154
Management structure, 197 supervisors, 158
Market teacher, 12, 181, 182, 184
definition, 56 teaching, 181–182
location, 56 therapy, 145
products and services, 48 Musical Instrument Digital Interface
size, 56 (MIDI), 143
Marketing, 83 Musical services, 144–145
artistry, 88–89 Music Modernization Act of 2018
and promotion, 150 (MMA), 4, 6–8, 137, 153
proposal, 55–56, 59–61 Music-related careers, 10–11
relationship, 112–113 Music sectors and subsectors, 2–3
and sales, 51 Musipreneur, 17
Maslow, A., 68, 69 Myth-debunking site Snopes, 132
Mastering, 169
Master rights, 153 National Association for College
Mechanical license, 153 Activities (NACA), 151
Mechanical Licensing Collective Negative thinking, 31–33
(MLC), 7 Negotiation, 121–123
Mechanicals/master license, 6 Networking, 34, 105–106, 113
Meet and greet, 117–118 Client Relationship Management,
Mental attitudes, 191–192 110–112
Metacognition, 192, 193 game plan, 107
Meta-skills, 192 goals, system and leveraging,
Method of payment, 131 109–110
Microphone bleed, 180 LinkedIn, 108–109
Mission statement, 47, 71–72 relationship marketing, 112–113
M&Ms, 132 reliability and authenticity,
Modern Language Association (MLA) 113–114
style, 53 sourcing, 106–107
Monetization, 5 strategy, 107–108
Monitor mix, 179–180 Newman, P., 36
 Index 215

New Thought, 32 Piano, 176–177

Nonprofit, 67 Pitch deck, 54–55
Notary public, 156 Planning, 168, 172–173
Playlists and social media, 162–163
Occupational Safety and Health Politics, 38–39
Administration (known as Pop Art, 2
OSHA), 206 Positioning, 84
Open-backed speaker, 177 Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Opportunities, 29–30 (Ries and Trout), 88–89
Organizational behavior, 196 Positive mindset, 31–33
Organizational chart, 74–76 Postproduction, 169–170
Organizational structure Power poses, 187
compensation, 76–77 Preproduction, 165–166
customer and employee policies, Press articles/quotes, 101–102
77–78 Price discovery, 121
hiring, motivation, and culture, Problem solving, 20–21
72–74 Producer, 168
leadership philosophy, 68–70 Production, 167–168
organizational chart, 74–76 Products, 56–57
stakeholder alignment, 73–74 Professional music, 17
vision, mission, and strategic Professional Music Careerism, 16
imperatives, 70–72 Professional recordings, 165
Ossicular chain, 202 Pro tip, 173
Outbound marketing, 142 Psychographic profile, 87–88
Outliers: The Story of Success Publishing deals, 153, 154, 156, 158
(Gladwell), 24 Purchaser, 129

Pay per click (PPC), 142 Qualifying, 118–119

Pedagogy, 182–183
Percussion, 178 Rain date, 131
Performance contract, 127 Rap music, 35
agreements, 127–129 Recording process and artist
artist and purchaser, 129–130 development, 149–150
boilerplate, 128 Recordings, 99–100
force majeure, 133 professional, 165
jurisdiction clause, 133 Relationship marketing, 112–113
M&Ms, 132 Release Radar function, 162
rain date, 131–132 Reliability, 114
rider, 130–131 Resonance, 96
self-employment, 132–133 Responsibility, 39–40
sign and date, 133–134 Revenue streams, 4–5
Performing rights organizations Rider, 130–131
(PROs), 4, 7, 154, 156, 157 Ries, A., 89
Perry, K., 5 Right brain versus left brain, 19–20
Persistence, 25 Rihanna, 5
Personal call, 111 Risks, 39–40
Phase cancellation, 180
Photos, 100 Safety, 207–208
216 Index

Sales, 83 Stakeholder capitalism, 198

Sales and selling, 115–116 Stamina, 24
closing, 123 Standing Waves, 180
closing ratio, 125 Strategic imperatives, 72, 198
delivery, 124 Streaming, 137, 158–159
estimate vs. quote, 119 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
follow up, 124–125 and Threats (SWOT), 48,
meet and greet, 117–118 59–61
negotiation, 121–123 Strings, 178
qualifying, 118–119 Studio, 167
values, 120–121 SWOT. See Strengths, Weaknesses,
Salesperson, 116 Opportunities, and Threats
Sallid, O., 197 (SWOT)
Sandler, A., 39 Synthesizers, 143
Scaling, 188–189
Scoring for visual media Talent scout, 149
S-Corporation (S-Corp), 66–67 Taxes, 78–79
Search engine marketing (SEM), 142 Tax freedom day, 79
Search engine optimization (SEO), 141 Teaching music, 181–182
Self-assessment, 12–14 Team building, 90, 164
Self-employment, 132–133 Teamwork, 23
Self-knowledge, 12 Technology and music production,
Sequencers, 143 143–144
Service Corps of Retired Executives Thiel, P., 54
(SCORE), 44 360-deal, 149
Services, 56–57 Tickler File, 110
Sign and date, 133–134 Time management, 196
SMART goals, 14, 195 Tinnitus, 206
Social entrepreneurship, 34–36 Top-down approach, 197–198
and CSR, 36–37 Top-down organizational culture, 74
Social media, 102 Total compensation, 131
playlists and, 162–163 Trademark Electronic Search System
Social media platforms, 137–138 (TESS), 45
Soft IP, 6 Troubleshooting, 180–181
Sole proprietor, 64, 156–157 Trout, J., 89
Songwriting contests, 152 Trust, 117
Sound check, 171, 174–179 Tympanic membrane, 202
Sourcing, 106–107
Special Events: Best Practices in Ulukaya, H., 76, 198
Modern Event Management Unique selling points (USPs), 51,
(Goldblatt), 2 120–121
Special note, 173 United States Trademark and Patent
Spotify, 159–160 Office (USTPO), 45
Spotify codes, 163 Uploading, 160–161
Spotify for artists, 160 U.S. Constitution, 153
Stage fright, 187
Stage plot, 172 Value, sell, 120–121
Stakeholder alignment, 73–74 Values-led business, 198
 Index 217

Vertical expansion, 145 Vision statement, 70–71

Vestibular system, 202 Vocals, 178–179
Video game music, 144 Vocation, 181–182
Videos, 101
Vinyl records, 142 Warhol, A., 1, 2, 27
Viral, 96 Work for hire, 144–145
Virtual reality (VR), 140
Vision, 70 Yogurt, C., 198