Five Upcoming Music Business Books You Need To Know About

HHere at Dotted Music we like to keep an eye on all things related to the music business. Having published our own ebook, we’d also like to draw to your attention five music industry books that you, our readers, will love to read this summer – just don’t forget to read Dotted Music in the meantime!

The Music Industries: From Conception to Consumption – Dr Michael L. Jones

Dr Mike Jones is a renowned figure in academia, especially in light of his work at the University of Liverpool where he is the director of the Music Industry Studies MA.

With works on both Bob Dylan and country blues under his belt, Jones’ forthcoming book, The Music Industries: From Conception to Consumption, looks to be his most ambitious work to date.

With a focus on the music industry as a process, Jones will discuss brand conscious stars – like Jay-Z and Beyonce – of the modern industry, after providing a historical context.

The Music Industries: From Conception to Consumption will be released on 31 May 2012.

How To Make it in the Music Business – Siân Pattenden

Okay, okay, so I’m cheating here. Siân Pattenden’s How to Make it in the Music Business was actually released in 2007, but the book is finally coming to Kindle format this summer. We all know about Pattenden’s success as a novelist, but this is the real deal: a book of real worth.

It has even been updated for its digital release – and we know that, in our fast-paced industry, every update is necessary. The best part about this book is that it isn’t just for musicians (Siân knows that this business is more than just the artist) – it’s for journalists, lawyers and publishers too. Rumors that the Kindle edition includes a chapter specifically for groupies are most probably untrue.

How to Make it in the Music Business [Kindle] will be released on 31 May 2012.

The Sounds of Capitalism: Advertising, Music, and the Conquest of Culture – Timothy Taylor

Here’s a book that is right in the field of Dotted Music’s interest.

Taylor is taking a huge gamble in discussing advertising in the modern music business – it’s more complex than at any other time in history.

This kind of book is vital reading and if Taylor’s line of chess books is anything to go by, The Sounds of Capitalism: Advertising, Music, and the Conquest of Culture will be a tour de force of considering the music industry in a strategic and controlled manner. This is going to be immense!

The Sounds of Capitalism: Advertising, Music, and the Conquest of Culture will be released on 1 June 2012.

Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music – Mark Baumgarten

If you’d like a change from the macro-trends in music, why not read all about K Records, the independent label home to legendary artists like Modest Mouse, Beat Happening, and The Gossip.

Mark Baumgarten documents the story from K Records inception in the ’80s.

With over 10 years’ worth of covering music, Baumgarten is a safe bet for an ambitious read.

Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music will be released on 10 July 2012.

Climbing the Charts: What Radio Airplay Tells Us about the Diffusion of Innovation – Gabriel Rossman

This is a book that is perhaps too technical for a summer read, but that’s not to say that you shouldn’t try. Rossman is an esteemed author, and you should take him seriously – after all, this book is published by Princeton University Press.

The book is a take on the importance of radio stations in creating chart hits; according to Rossman, there are many misconceptions about the process: he sets out to debunk them. Moreover, Rossman shows how major labels support their artists on air – there’s controversy in this, as Rossman discusses the practice of paying your way onto the airwaves. It’s clear that this could be the most hotly debated music book of the summer. I can’t wait.

Climbing the Charts: What Radio Airplay Tells Us about the Diffusion of Innovation will be released on 8 July 2012, but the Kindle release date is 6 days earlier (2 July). If you’re desperate to get your hands on this, be sure to take advantage of that availability!

BONUS: Music Is Your Business: The Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success – Christopher Knab

Although I’ve so far covered books with a definite publication date, I thought I’d include Christopher Knab and Bartley F. Day’s Music Is Your Business, a terrific book whose fourth edition promises to be even better. Knab’s involvement in the music industry is almost ubiquitous. He has worked in radio, selling music, and as a consultant.

The true merit in Music Is Your Business is Knab’s expertise in covering both traditional methods of marketing and the new, internet-based methods. Balancing these two methods is an extremely trying process, but Knab’s experience pulls him through. The chapter on how to sell music online is compulsory reading for musicians, and I can’t wait to see how it is updated in the forthcoming edition.

Samuel Agini is the Editor of Andrew Apanov’s Dotted Music.