LEARNING AMMO FOR BEING INDEPENDENT

To be a successful indie musician, LEARN as much as possible. The more you know, the more armor you have to protect you from getting ripped off and to empower you to make as much progress as you can. I've compiled my favorite books and directories to guide you in learning as much as you can. Of course I recommend my other books, Start & Run Your Own Record Label and The Real Deal: How to Get Signed to a Record Label. Never forget that knowledge really is power, and when you're trying to succeed as an indie artist, you need all the power you can get. So fuel your career with as many of my resources as you can.

Business Ammo

The Musician's Handbook
Bobby Borg
This book is jam-packed with info to provide a solid foundation on the music biz itself. Bobby is a successful drummer who has been signed to a major label and has toured the world. He has taken the knowledge he's gleaned from his experiences and from interviews with pros and put into this handbook that every musician can learn from.  

Indie Power: A Business-Building Guide For Record Labels, Music Production Houses, and Merchant Musicians
by Peter Spellman
Peter is Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music, Boston and really knows his stuff. In order to make money from music, you need all the biz tools you can get. This book supplies many of them, including tips on how to use the internet for your business, a step-by-step guide to writing your label's business plan, guidelines for raising capital and investor formation, details on legal rights & issues facing small labels and production companies, and lots more. There are also sample contracts. The electronic version includes a 17-page Music Business Glossary and several more sample contracts and agreements.

All You Need to Know About the Music Business
by Donald S. Passman
This is my favorite book on the actual specifics of music business! It's easy to understand and an interesting read on heavy topics that everyone embarking on a music career should be familiar with.

This Business of Music: The Definitive Guide to the Music Industry
by M. William Krasilovsky, Sidney Shemel, John Gross (Contributor)
This is considered to be the bible of the music industry. It's been around for many years and has been meticulously updated. It used to be a tough read but this new edition is easier for a lay person to understand. Everyone in the industry should own a copy as a reference.

Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition
by Bob Baker
This book is packed with creative tips to help you market your music. It's organized in a way that makes it easy to navigate.

Internet Ammo

How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet
by David Nevue
This step-by-step guide to online music promotion provides the basic knowledge for getting started selling music on the internet and takes you to the finish line! It's a comprehensive guide filled with online music marketing ideas that work and a variety of ways to use the Internet to your best advantage. If you want to use the Internet for your music in any way, read this book!

Songwriting Ammo

This Business Of Songwriting (Billboard Books)
By Jason Blume
Like This Business of Music, this book will become the bible of songwriting. It's a reference book for the whole business of songwriting that every songwriter should own.

6 Steps To Songwriting Success: Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songs, 2nd ed.
by Jason Blume
If you write your own songs, this book is a great source of information. It explains the ins and outs of the business of songwriting and contains information necessary to getting your songs published. Read it through to get an overall picture of the songwriting business: use it later as a reference when marketing your songs. Bloom is a very successful songwriter and was very generous in sharing his insiders info on making money from your songs.

Music, Money and Success: The Insider's Guide to Making Money in the Music Industry, 4th ed.
By Jeffrey Brabec, and Todd Brabec
This book is another must-read for songwriters. It's regularly updated with the latest industry standards and expanded information for songwriting biz. All sources of songwriting revenues are detailed with up-to-date rates and current laws, including the Internet. This book is an essential reference for taking your song biz seriously.

Inside Songwriting: Getting to the Heart of Creativity
by Jason Blume
Jason Blume is a successful songwriter with hit records recorded by top artists to his credit. His songwriting workshops are world-renown. This book provides a personal look into the world of songwriting that will entertain and inspire you.

Becoming Remarkable
by Harriet Schock
Harriet Schock is a successful songwriter (Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady among other well known songs) and inspirational songwriting teacher. She has taken her experience, knowledge and positive attitude and constructed a book that I recommend for everyone looking to have a career as a songwriter or anyone looking for a creative shot in the arm. Harriet has valuable info on the specifics of songwriting. But she also delves into it on a deeper level as she speaks from her personal experience.

Free Online Newsletters

There are some good free newsletters on line. I publish Daylle's News & Resources every other month. It has interviews, resources, and articles that can help you. Subscribe by sending your name, city/state to submusicnews@daylle.com Here are some other that are worth checking out.

http://www.indiebible.com/newsletter Published by my good friend and angel, David Wimble, this comes out once a month and contains valuable articles on marketing music via the internet, websites that will review and play your music, and lots more. AND, he has free give-aways (great products) with every issues.

http://www.musesmuse.com/musenews.html - Muse News is the monthly newsletter from Muse's Muse and is a great resource for songwriters and performers.

http://www.musicdish.com/ This is an industry e-journal that comes out once a week. It has interviews, news, and articles of interest to everyone in the music industry.

http://bob-baker.com/buzz/index.html    Bob Baker puts out The Buzz Factor, with free tips each week.

http://www.justplainfolks.org/join.html   Just Plain Folks is a great organization and it's free to join. They have a free newsletter for their members.

http://www.discmakers.com/music/ffwd/subscribe.html     DiscMakers offers their own newsletter, Fast Forward, which gives you tips on how to promote your music.