(Music Pro Guide Books & DVDs). For the first time, industry expert Moses Avalon, the author of truth-to-power tomes like Confessions of a Record Producer and Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract , answers readers' questions directly in this pointed analysis of business issues for musicians, producers, and managers. Chosen from questions submitted by readers of Avalon's popular blog, the 50 questions he addresses in this book represent the most pressing issues in the modern music business, and his no-nonsense answers make up an essential "cheat sheet" for anyone looking to break into this challenging industry.

Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract is a Hal Leonard publication.

(Music Pro Guide Books & DVDs). The Best Jobs in the Music Industry is an essential career guide for those who love music and are exploring different areas of the music industry beyond the obvious performer route. 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, including Lee Sklar (sessions and touring musician), Damon Tedesco (scoring mixer), Brian Felsen (CD Baby CEO), Mike Boris (worldwide director of music for McCann), Louis Clark (MTV/VH1 Music Supervisor), David Newman (composer), Michael Semanick (re-recording mixer), Conrad Pope (orchestrator), Todd Rundgren (musician), Gary Calamar (music supervisor), Mark Bright (producer), and Scott Matthews (producer).

B&W photos and illustrations throughout

The world loves to sing. From barbershop groups to madrigal choirs to vocal rock bands, there are tens of thousands of vocal groups in America. The success of mainstream television programs such as Glee and The Sing-Off not only demonstrates the rising popularity of vocal music; it reflects how current trends inspire others to join in. In addition, through various online and on-the-ground vocal music societies, the “a cappella market” is well defined and well connected. Like singing itself, a cappella is a global phenomenon. At the heart of every vocal group is the music it performs. This often means writing its own arrangements of popular or traditional songs. This book is the long-awaited definitive work on the subject, wide ranging both in its scope and in its target audience – which spans beginners, music students, and community groups to professional and semi-professional performers, vocal/instrumental songwriters, composers, and producers – providing genre-specific insight on a cappella writing. The tone of the book is instructive and informative, yet conversational: it is intended to stand alongside any academic publication while remaining interesting and fun. A Cappella Arranging is a good textbook – and a “good read” – for every vocal arranger, whether amateur or professional; every vocal music classroom, and any professional recording studio.

(Music Pro Guide Books & DVDs). Thousands of people try to make it as freelancers in the music and audio industries. Most of them fail, and not because they lack talent or the will to succeed. They fail because no matter how much training they've received or how hard they've practiced, they don't know how to face the challenges that await them in the "real world." No matter how much technical or musical skill aspirants may have acquired, there is always a huge gap in their understanding of how that world works. Do they understand how to behave in a professional environment? When to talk and when to listen? What about developing a personal work ethic, a support system, and a reasonable set of immediate and future plans to make goals into realities? In his dual role as a successful music and audio freelancer of over 30 years and tenured college professor, Jim Klein has not only the knowledge of what it takes to succeed as a freelancer in the competitive fields of music and audio, but also the understanding of exactly what the new aspirant needs to know to take on that world. Klein has crafted his advice into a book that is detailed, complete, and easy to understand. Welcome to the Jungle includes chapters on setting goals, networking, building a portfolio, time management, personal and professional finances, and dealing with the ups and downs downs of the freelance career. The book also includes interviews with successful music and audio freelancers, such as legendary producer Howard Benson (Kelly Clarkson, Santana, Daughtry), producer/engineer Kevin Killen (Peter Gabriel, U2, Elvis Costello), bassist Julie Slick, and others.