Review: No way do I consider this a "definitive" guide
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 15, 2014
I got this book because I thought I would learn all of the inside scoop on how to best succeed in the music business.Though the author does a credible job of giving readers a good idea of what is needed to get started, I found many things missing:- There was no mention at all of the more recent trend of selling music through Amazon, iTunes, etc.  Focus was only on CDs.  Seems to be a major concern for any record label.- I would have liked to see more details concerning the type of expenses that would be incurred.  At least in my copy of the book, the author included an appendix for pressing costs for media, but only seemed to have info for vinyl and cassettes - CD costs were not included, which the author completely focused on as the main selling media in the book.- Concerning working with a distributor, author indicated that a CD that retails for $14.98, would be sold to a distributor for $7.50.  My understanding is that retailers would expect to pay $7.50 from the distributor, in order to have the appropriate profit margins.  So how does the distributor make money?  You should be expecting to sell the CD to the distributor for $3.75 instead in real life.- Working with a lawyer - author makes it seem that any lawyer can do your contracts.  I would have expected a caution that you should  seek out a lawyer who understands and has experience in the industry.  A lawyer doing mostly routine local work will not understand the intricacies of the music industry and will not be able to adequately protect you.You get the idea.  I think the book does provide good information concerning what someone considering starting a record label needs to think about, but much more info will have to be researched elsewhere, thus why I cannot recommend this with a higher rating.