The Music Business Resource?Guide
Karl Fowlkes, Esq.
Entrepreneur. Internationally Recognized Entertainment Attorney. Professor.
The music business in 2019 looks a lot different than it has in the past because there are more resources than ever. These resources come in a variety of modes including audio, video, text, graphics, etc, in addition to organizations looking to fill the gap that artists, producers, engineers, and music business professionals have lacked in the past. These days it is no longer acceptable for anyone looking to get into the music business to come in without a foundation. Musicians have an incredible amount of information at their disposal to form the requisite knowledge to get better deals and create longevity in a tough industry. With that being said the industry is ever-changing, and certain sources do a great job of dropping gems, providing knowledge and sharing stories that will ensure that you are engaging in proactive thinking about the music industry.
I have decided to put together a guide that highlights the top music business resources in the game including podcasts, newsletters, websites, social media accounts, organizations, and lawyers.
If you are an artist, producer, engineer and/or other music business professional I suggest you bookmark, follow and use the resources provided below. The resources below combine an extremely useful variety of music business news related to law, tech, streaming, royalties, intellectual property, history, events, daily motivation along with other music industry nuggets.
These are the same sources, I gather my daily foundation of music industry news and insight from. The purpose of this list is to provide artists, creatives and other aspiring or current music business professionals the go-to places for the best and most knowledgeable content related to their careers and the business itself.
Podcasts
Producergrind Podcast— The Atlanta based podcast is so important to the landscape of Podcasts because of its emphasis on educating the underpaid and underrepresented music producer. Guests have included Zaytoven, Sonny Digital and many more.
Apple Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/producergrind-podcast/id1198178787?mt=2
The Combat Jack Show — RIP Entertainment Mogul and Attorney Reggie Osse, who always exuded a wealth of knowledge on listeners but was also one of the true pioneers of Podcasts. The undisputed #1 HipHop podcast, the Combat Jack Show featured interviews with HipHop icons & the most in-depth conversations about music, news, culture & race. Listen to Russell Simmons, Chuck D, Damon Dash, Rza, Scarface, D-Nice and more share personal stories and talk exclusively about their journeys, philosophies and viewpoints. This is a necessary rewind for everyone.
Apple Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-combat-jack-show/id412308823?mt=2
The Music Industry Blueprint Podcast — Industry Veteran and Taylor Swift's former Manager, Rick Barker teaches artists how to treat their art as a business and become an attractive partner to a record label.
Apple Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-music-industry-blueprint-podcast/id1350576424?mt=2
Creative Juice — Creative Juice, brought to you by Indepreneur, is a weekly 1-hour podcast dedicated to enabling you to pursue your creative passion. Each week they interview successful independent musicians, music industry professionals, and music marketers to give you an inside look at what it’s like to treat your “dream” like your “fallback”. This is a soul searching and beneficial podcast for the up and comer.
Apple Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-juice/id1216865479?mt=2
And The Writer Is…With Ross Golan — Produced by Joe London & Ross Golan in association with Big Deal Music & Mega House Music. This podcast sat down with an acclaimed and venerable songwriter every week to intimately discuss what happened behind closed doors in the music industry.
Apple Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan/id1197924737?mt=2
Newsletters
Penny Fractions — David Turner the producer of Penny Fraction says it best, the newsletter is a “ Weekly analysis of the music streaming business.” With 2066 subscribers and counting, this is one of the true hidden gems of the music business. This newsletter also takes an approach that most music information sources aren’t at the moment.
Subscribe Here: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/pennyfractions
Trapital — Trapital founder Dan Runcie describes it best “ Each story breaks down the strategic moves that shape the industry. As hip-hop’s influence grows on society, we need a reliable source to explain the moves that drive the culture.” This is truly a thought-provoking newsletter at the edge of music, culture, and tech.
Subscribe Here: https://trapital.substack.com/
Platform & Stream — This newsletter is focused on relaying news and business information related to the music business in particular streaming and music tech news. Add this to your rotation so you don’t miss out on the news surrounding the major music companies making crucial pivots and offerings in business.
Subscribe Here: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/platformstream
Hypebot — While Hypebot can be a bit scattered, their daily summary highlights some of the most crucial music business events of the day. While other newsletters can focus more on the creative stuff, Hypebot is business-centric and for that, it's super important.
Subscribe Here: https://www.hypebot.com/
AWAL — AWAL Weekly does a good job of creating a newsletter geared toward culture and tech trends changing the industry, special artists breaking ground, and all-you-can-read pointers to win on social platforms and streaming services. AWAL is also an alternative to a traditional record label for independent artists.
Subscribe Here: https://www.awal.com/blog/tag/news
Websites
Billboard Biz — Billboard Biz is probably the most important resource for daily news and updates involving streaming, law, business, and charting news. I am on it every day and they have a tremendous mix of power player lists, chart news, legal articles and more. This site should be bookmarked and checked daily. Billboard Biz is the core reputable music business resource.
Link: https://www.billboard.com/biz
Pitchfork — You are probably already familiar with Pitchfork but if you are not, this is another core resource. While Pitchfork focuses a lot on the music itself, there are tons of editorials that explore the music business. Another important bookmark.
Link: https://pitchfork.com/
TuneCore Blog — I'm sure you have heard of TuneCore for its distribution efforts but they really do a great job of educating as well. The TuneCore Blog is a key website for updating yourself on publishing, distribution and other key artist tools.
Link: https://www.tunecore.com/blog
Social Media Accounts
Jonathan Masters, SamePlate— Sony Music Entertainment and former Empire A&R/marketing entrepreneur Jonathan Master partnered up on a new joint venture, SamePlate. This is another master example of Jon Masters brilliance in the industry however I highlight him here because all this man does on Twitter is educate about the music business. He's a must follow.
Jonathan Master (@jonathanmaster) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Jonathan Master (@jonathanmaster). @sameplate. New York City
Chase N Cashe — Platinum record producer Chase N. Cashe is certainly more than a producer as he also raps and is a successful entrepreneur in his own right. While not every tweet Cashe lets go of is about the music industry, his knowledge on the game and the creative space itself is important. Another must follow.
Chase N. Cashe (@ChaseNCashe) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Chase N. Cashe (@ChaseNCashe). | Can't Buy Respect. | Business E-Mail…
Pat “The Manager” Corcoran — Known first for managing Chance The Rapper, Pat has grown into quite the music entrepreneur. No one champions independence and truth like Pat. Pat drops some really important gems on Twitter.
slay king (@patthemanager) | Twitter
Digital Music News — They dub themselves “The authority for music industry professionals worldwide.” and they are honestly not that far off. If you follow them on Twitter they tweet out crucial music business stories on the daily. Easy follow.
Digital Music News (@digitalmusicnws) | Twitter
Ari Herstand — Ari is an author and true educator in the music business space. Ari’s “Ari Takes” account is important because he drops gems all of the time and he announces speaking engagements and book drops. A true music business influencer.
Ari's Take (@ArisTake) | Twitter
Organizations
Rec Philly — Rec’s Tagline “Independent Doesn't Mean Alone,” says everything you need to know about this organization. Based in Philadelphia, Rec Philly makes it easier for creatives to do more of what they love by offering structure, guidance, and tools for your success. This includes workshops, newsletters, events, studio time, coworking space and more. The future of the music industry will almost certainly include more organizations like Rec. The organization's presence on Social Media can also not be understated.
https://www.instagram.com/recphilly/
TasteCreators — Another Philly based organization TasteCreators is focused on turning artists into entrepreneurs. You can see already how valuable that proposition is as artists have been underpaid for a long time. For artists, they provide customized marketing plans, public relations strategies, engaging visual content, and much more. True innovators in the music space.
www.tastecreators.comTaste Creators (@tastecreators) * Instagram photos and videos
UnitedMasters — Industry veteran, Steve Stoute introduced UnitedMasters to the world in 2018 and has hit the ground running. UnitedMasters serves as a distribution platform but has also begun to sign Artists to help with advertising, marketing and etc. They are also extremely active on Instagram where the company has caused quite the commotion in prioritizing Artist education and owning intellectual property. In a short time, the company has made an impact but time will tell if UM can be a true disrupter.
UnitedMasters (@unitedmasters) * Instagram photos and videos
www.instagram.comUnitedMasters | Music services and brand opportunities for artists
SoundExchange — SoundExchange is a non-profit collective rights management organization. The organization collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of nearly 175,000 recording artists and master rights owners accounts and administers direct agreements on behalf of rights owners and licensees. Additionally, SoundExchange has a great newsletter. If you haven’t signed up for SoundExchange it is worth doing so ASAP. It’s important to remember nonetheless that SoundExchange collects for the rights owner who owns the “master” to recorded artistic content which can be a record label or an artist who owns their own masters.
Songtrust — Songtrust is a global digital rights management platform which allows songwriters and artists to manage their music publishing and related rights. Besides the fact that they are a digital rights platform, they also are a leader in industry education. They have a free downloadable primer on publishing fundamentals entitled The Modern Guide to Music Publishing. It's great. Also, their blog is phenomenal.
Songtrust Blog | The Top Source for Music Publishing Knowledge
Create Music Group — Create is another distribution service that dubs itself as a company “Trusted by the world’s largest artists, labels and brands to collect more royalties, pay out more quickly and with more transparency than anyone else.” One of the early highlights was finding over $60 million in unclaimed revenue for Artists. As you look to partner with companies that have your best interest, look at Create.
Create Music Group | Trusted By Artists
Lawyers
Steve Gordon — Steve Gordon is an entertainment attorney with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, including 10 years as Director of Business Affairs for Sony Music, attorney at a law firm representing Atlantic and Elektra Records, and in-house music counsel for a Hollywood Studio. Steve is also the author of The Future of the Music Business (Hal Leonard 4th ed. 2015). The book provides a legal and business roadmap to artists, entrepreneurs and music industry professionals for success in today’s music business. The 4th Edition is updated at www.futureofthemusicbusiness.com. Also the author of one of the most important music industry books ever written, The 11 Contracts That Every Artist, Songwriter and Producer Should Know. You can buy a copy at a discounted price by clicking here, or from Amazon.
Peter Kaufman
Peter Kaufman is an entertainment lawyer and partner at Kaufman Abdel-Aal LLP. He specializes in finance, production and distribution of film, television, music, publishing, digital and internet-based matters. Peter is a great follow on Twitter as he actively retweets important news in the entertainment business and legal realm.
Peter Kaufman (@Dealfatigue) | Twitter
Adam Freedman — Adam is a younger entertainment attorney bringing energy, using his social platform to educate. Operating his own solo practice in NYC, Adam is not only one to work with but also a great follow. Everyone loves talking the music business online, yet some do it better. Adam drops some great legal gems for producers and artists alike.
Adam Freedman (@acfreedmanlaw) | Twitter
Karl Fowlkes — I'm cheating here by putting myself but I also view myself as an important resource online and off for artists, producers and creatives. Based in NJ and NY, I have successfully navigated some important traps for clients and host workshops throughout the region to push the conversation forward. I am solely committed to educating and helping Artists get ownership and better deals. I’m also a great follow on Twitter. #ProtectTheCulture
Karl Fowlkes, Esq. (@esqfowlkes) | Twitter
Book
How to Make It in the New Music Business by Ari Herstand —
How to Make It in the New Music Business covers every facet of the “new” business, including how to:
- Build a grass-roots fan base―and understand the modern fan
- Book a profitable tour, and tips for playing live, such as opening vs. headlining etiquette, and putting on a memorable show
- Become popular on YouTube, Spotify and SoundCloud
- Get songs placed in film and television
- Earn royalties you didn’t know existed and reach your crowdfunding goals
This book is a must purchase in 2019.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-New-Music-Business/dp/1631491504
All You Need To Know About the Music Business 9th Edition by Donald Passman — Another key read in 2019. “This book offers timely, authoritative information from how to select and hire a winning team of advisors and structure their commissions and fees; navigate the ins and outs of record deals, songwriting, publishing, and copyrights; maximize concert, touring, and merchandising deals; understand the digital streaming services; and how to take a comprehensive look at the rapidly transforming landscape of the music business as a whole.”
https://www.amazon.com/Need-Know-About-Music-Business/dp/1501104896
Streaming, Sharing, Stealing; Big Data and The Future of Entertainment by Michael Smith and Rahul Telang— Michael Smith and Rahul Telang, experts on entertainment analytics, write about how Apple, Amazon and others are shaping the entertainment industry. This book is certainly more technology based than the others on this list and for that reason I think it is a must purchase. We’re living through a period of unprecedented technological disruption in the entertainment industries. Just about everything is affected: pricing, production, distribution, piracy.
https://www.amazon.com/Streaming-Sharing-Stealing-Future-Entertainment/dp/0262034794
Music Money and Success 8th Edition: The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business by Jeffrey and Todd Brabec —
This invaluable book tells you how the business works, what you must know to succeed, and how much money you can make in films, television, video games, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, record sales, downloads and streams, advertising, ringtones and ringbacks, interactive toys and dolls, Broadway, new media, scoring contracts and synch licenses, music publishing, foreign countries, and much more.
Todd Brabec is an Educator, Entertainment Law Attorney and former ASCAP Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Membership, and Jeff Brabec is Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, BMG. Two heavyweights and true insiders wrote this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Money-Success-8th-Insiders/dp/1787601382