To spice things up here at TAS we were offered to review a book called The Business of Music Licensing. Is this book worth taking your time or should you just pass it? Let’s have a look.
The Business of Music Licensing is an interesting quick read that is well suited for beginners if they are interested in making money with their craft. It starts by giving you a foundation upon which you can build an understanding of this side of the music industry. This is done thanks to a glossary of terms commonly found in contracts and discussions, accompanied by a no-nonsense approach to helping you figure out if this work is for you or not. Beginners will find this useful if somewhat surprising since you need be sure commercial music is what you want to do. Before reading this book you may not be aware of what it takes. It will help you take that first step.
It is a quick read and you will probably finish in under an hour. That does not mean it isn’t a resourceful book. You will find plenty of examples and some useful links for further reading. By no means does this book offers all the answers or “how to”s on how to work in the field of music licensing, but it surely offers a certain perspective of it. On top of that, a nice list of music licensing companies can be found at the end of the book.
The book is well structured and easy to understand even if you are not a native English speaker, or reader for that matter. I wish that there were more details about the business side in the book and frankly that it was more detailed in general. The author does provide a good sense of how music licensing helped him and how he is able to do music full time with the help of this field which was also inspiring to read.
Prior to reading The Business of Music Licensing, I have read various articles and was passively engaged in several discussions regarding this topic so, for me, this book didn’t really rock my boat. That isn’t to say I didn’t still find it interesting! The book offers a first person perspective on how the author started licensing his music and, in that regard, does it quite well. If on the other hand you are a seasoned composer who is already working in this business, you may find you have already grasped many of the concepts.
The Business of Music Licensing will set you back for 12, 99 Euros and I while some would argue that it is a bit pricey for the length and the edition (being an eBook) of the book I would say this: If you are a beginner and interested in business of music licensing it is probably a good investment and nice to keep at all times for future reference. If you are more fluent in music licensing business you might find it unnecessary.