Audio & Music Business Books You Should Read

[Professional]

The Los Angeles Times calls this book "the industry bible“ - with good reason! For more than 20 years it informs musicians, songwriters, publishers or managers about the rapid transformation of the music industry and its structure. The longstanding experience of the veteran music lawyer Donald Passman allows a very detailed insight into the world of deals and contracts including their must-haves and no-goes.

Industry legends like Quincy Jones and Rick Rubin decorate the blurb with their lauding critiques. As Adam Levine (Maroon 5) says, "If you want to be in music, you have to read this book.“ I completely agree with him.

[Beginner]

If you are a newbie in the fields of marketing, "Social Media Promotion For Musicians“ can be a good match for you. Bobby Owsinski, who is one of the best-selling authors in the music recording industry, explains you the wide world of social media.

The book goes through the basics and good practices of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Blogs, as well as websites and newsletters. It covers all aspects to start growing your audience and optimising your content of your music business online presence.

[Beginner]

The following two books are also a part of Bobby Owsinski’s 23-part book collection, which he wrote until now. Both follow the same general structure and combine tips and techniques with interviews of well-known audio engineers/producers sharing their insights and philosophies about mixing and mastering.

"The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook“ shines a light on the mixdown process where you basically adjust the individual components of a song into a nice sounding, completed recording.

"The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook“ deals with the final step in the audio production process called mastering. At this stage of the production, the engineer is polishing the final mix and preparing it for the release and its distribution.

But it is not only about the basic process of mixing and mastering but rather introduce you many of available tools (analogue and digital) to work with. In summary, it can be said that these books are a nice resource for beginners or self-taught audio engineers.

[Medium]

Another mastering book including practical tips and real world experiences, written by Bob Katz. He is a well-known mastering engineer in the industry, who mastered 3 Grammy Award-winning albums and one nominated album. Moreover, Katz has his own plugin, which he developed in cooperation with Universal Audio for their UAD system. The so-called "K-Stereo“ is the world’s first Ambience Recovery Processor (patented).

In his book, Katz is focusing on the mastering workflow proving a step-by-step guide. In addition, he discusses restoration and noise reduction techniques and also covers the surround mastering topic as well. I would say that this literature is more suitable for advanced and professional people.

[Professional]

At first view, it is a huge amount of money for a book - I agree. But honestly, this "handbook“ is the most comprehensive reference available yet and a must read for audio professionals. Presented by the Audio Engineering Society (AES), it contains very detailed sections about acoustics, microphones, speaker types & placement, audio amplifiers and professional recording.

Keep in mind that this piece of literature is not written for the layman. Rather it comes without the effort to provide the reader easy answers. This is no disadvantage - just a little reason to think twice about it before buying the book. If you are a professional in the field or a serious nerd, this scientific book is simply magnificent!

[Medium]

The "Master Handbook of Acoustics“ guides you through architectural acoustics principles and practices. It fits for designing and construction high-quality home theatres, project studios and large recording studios. This book also features numerous room designs that can be recreated or adapted to your personal needs.