Synopsis of Confessions of a Record Producer

It started out as rage against self-serving 'insider' books by executives. Not until Moses Avalon wrote from the viewpoint of those on the creative side did we finally get a fair and balanced view of how the music business really works. It's been 10 years since Confessions of a Record Producer published real-life numbers showing what artists made on so-called 'hit records' and how producers, labels, managers, and even the artists' own lawyers conspire to cheat them out of royalties. Since then, Confessions has made it onto the required reading list in nearly all major music business programs around the world, including NYU, UCLA, USC, Full Sail, and prestigious law schools like Loyola. It's stayed in the top 10 per cent of all books distributed by Amazon and won testimonials from top industry pros confirming that it's the only publication that tells the real story of how artists get ripped off and how they can protect their assets. Now, in a special 10th Anniversary Edition, author Moses Avalon, one of the industry's most sought-after consultants and artist's rights gurus, has put even more teeth-wrenching reality at the reader's fingertips. The anniversary edition has updates on all of the old shames and many new ones created by the internet and the ongoing transformation of the music industry. The following are the highlights of this title: the only published critical analysis of the performing rights industry; detailed numbers on how new royalties from digital downloads are calculated, collected, and manipulated; and, the changing team. Once considered to be the immortal trio, manager/lawyer/producer has now become webmaster/aggregator/viral marketer. Who to tool up with, and who is just a tool, are revealed. Deep inside the new so-called 360 Deals offered by the major labels. Are they a desperate attempt to stay alive or can artists finally get paid? Are CDs really dead or is it an RIAA manipulation? How long can we expect the industry standard to stay relevant? This title features a DVD-ROM containing private lessons from Moses Avalon's world-famous Confessions of a Record Producer Workshop a hot ticket every year for top music lawyers, managers, producers, artists, and songwriters. It includes groundbreaking charts and graphs that show industry consolidation, who owns what, and where the future of the music business is headed.