Ever Want to Get Your Own Music Out?

Hey gang,

Chris French here from Modern Midwest Entertainment. Over the last months, I've been taking classes in Entertainment Business through Full Sail University's Online Campus. I have learned an extraordinary amount of information and skills that I did not have before. Two things that have been dreams of mine is to start a record label and to have my own successful entertainment company. A few years ago, I bought two books that I thought might help me. Recently, I dusted off those books again. I'm going to tell you a little bit about them.

The first book I'm going to talk a bit about is Start and Run Your Own Record Label (1998) by Daylle Deanna Schwartz. This book is a very well put together compendium of what to do to put together a record label from the ground up. The only problem I find with this book, at present, is that it was published in 1998. Unless there has been edition updates since the first printing, some of the information in the book is out of date. In this particular book, there is no mention of social media, as social media did not exist in 1998. Most of the book, however, is a very straight forward compendium of what to do to get started on whatever budget you have. Chapters such as Setting Up Your Business, Financing Your Business, Getting Your Legal Affairs in Order, and Preparing to Market and Promote Your Product, are all very straight forward and to the point. Ms Schwartz also uses industry insiders to give real world examples of what can and does happen in the music industry.

The second book, How to Make and Sell Your Own Recording: 5th Edition (1999), written by Diane Sward Rapaport, deals with the independent music scene, and getting started the way most bands do: on their own. Like Schwartz's book, this book also covers business set up and financing. Unlike Schwartz's book, however, this book covers the technical aspects of recording a song, such as equipment specifications, recording options, and the graphic design used for the album. Another good chapter of this particular book covers the IP of the music, along with using public domain and copyright infringement.

I know I have only scratched the surface of what these two books are, but I would personally recommend these two books to anyone that is looking to get into the music industry. I am going to use these books myself, along with all the other resources I have, in order to make myself successful in this business we call entertainment. Until next time gang,

SEE YA!

References:

Rapaport, D. S. (1999). How to Make and Sell Your Own Recording (5th Ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Schwartz, D. D. (1998). Start and Run Your Own Record Label. New York, NY: Billboard Books.