Book Review: The Music Industry Self Help Guide



Hey guys!

Wow, this post is going to be the very first book review on house in the sand ever. A day to remember.

A while ago I got an email asking if I was interested in reviewing a book. At first I wasn't sure because this is a music blog, but the further I read into the email, the more I wanted to read the book and share my thoughts with you.

Why? Because it's a music book! 'The music industry self help guide' to be precise.

The book was written by Mike Repel, a musician and record label owner. He has experienced pretty much every side of the music industry.

As the title gives it away it's a self help guide, this means everything you read about in this book can be done by yourself. Starting out in the music industry can be intimidating, scary and in some cases, senseless. Being a musician is more than just playing some tunes.
In fact you need to know how to handle pressure, have the perfect online presence, need to build (and keep) a fanbase, learn about copyrights and a freaking lot more.

The book provides you with background information from the perspective of a musician and label owner who knows what he's talking about.
The right presskit, how to handle interviews and deal with haters - if you're trying to become a rather successful artist you better learn about this.

But as stated a couple of times in the book, if you don't work for your career, nobody will.

 Here's an overview of all chapters:
 1. Be prepared to do it yourself
2. Bringing the goods
3. The lineup
4. Developing your brand
5. Your support structure
6. A solid online presence
7. Merchandising
8. Album artwork
9. Your first release
10. Copyright information
11. Publishing, performance rights & royalty collection agencies
12. The presskit
13. The interview
14. Marketing and promoting yourself
15. Working with labels and management
16. The bad promoter
17. Go book yourself
18. Performance riders and guarantees
19. DIY touring
20. Problems with live sound
21. Violence at the venue
22. Live performer etiquette
23. Haters
24. Bands, chemical dependency & drugs
25. Rap and mixtapes
26. Revenue recap
27. What the future holds

Mike's way of writing is provoking, straight forward and bloody honest.
 He won't stroke your head and tell you that you're going to be famous one day but he'll surely motivate you to work towards that goal of yours. 
I had to get used to his way of writing but halfway through the book I really started treasuring how Mike sticks to his opinions and how he provides you with tons of facts, quotes and more.

Whilst reading the book, as a music journalist, not a musician, I felt shocked about the statistics mentioned in the book, understood when it comes to presskits (as a journalist I see tons of amazing and not so amazing presskits daily) and amazed by what it takes to be a musician. 
 
A book full of benefits and honesty, that's what I'd call it.


You can get the book Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Googlebooks, Kobo books, Barnes and Noble Nook.


Thank you for reading!





Credits // Text: Vanessa Jertschewske | Image: Mike Repel
*book was provided by author

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