Edit position

Last set 2 weeks, 2 days ago. Manual moves override automatic placement until the next shelfie/spine match.

Music business : a musician's guide to the Australian music industry

by Shane Simpson

Guides you through every aspect of building a music career in Australia, identifying all the most common potential problems and offering practical solutions based on long legal experience.

Accession 9781921029318 ISBN 9781921029318 Publisher Omnibus Press

Book Images

Reference and live side by side Hover to see live images

Reference

Music business : a musician's guide to the Australian music industry spine

Music business : a musician's guide to the Australian music industry cover

Live

CONNECTIONS

No connections

State

on_shelf: True
position_updated_at: 2026-05-05 17:11
orientation: vertical

Details

Physical

binding_type: Hard Back
dimensions: none captured
spine_text: 3RD EDITION MUSIC BUSINESS SHANE SIMPSON OMNIBUS PRESS

LOCATION HISTORY

A 4 Current vertical

2 months, 3 weeks ago

A 4 vertical

3 months ago

A 4 vertical

3 months, 1 week ago

A 4 vertical

5 months, 1 week ago

Book Location

Updated 2 weeks, 2 days ago

Book Images

Reference and live side by side Hover to see live images

Reference

Live

Vernon snapshot

Frozen copy of Vernon's record from the last sync. Fields tagged → flow back into the Pulse record.

Never synced from Vernon

Identity

name→ title

Music business : a musician's guide to the Australian music industry

vernon_id

—

accession_no→ accession_number

—

vernon_slug

—

Drives Pulse state

curr_loc_status→ on_shelf

—

location_name

—

location_reason

—

isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)

—

Descriptive

production_date

—

object_type

—

object_status

—

brief_description

—

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)

—

tags→ tags

—

subject_people

—

subject_objects

—

Topics and Themes

1. **Music Industry Law & Contracts**
The book, written by a top Australian entertainment lawyer, walks musicians through the legal frameworks governing the music business — from recording contracts to deal structures. It treats legal literacy as an essential survival skill for any working musician.

The book's central argument is: understanding the law is not optional for musicians — it is the foundation of protecting a creative career.

Connect to books about: entertainment law, contract negotiation, intellectual property law, arts and cultural policy.

---

2. **Copyright & Intellectual Property in Music**
A significant focus is placed on how copyright operates within the music industry — covering mechanical royalties, publishing rights, and ownership of recorded works. The book treats copyright as the economic engine underlying all music commerce.

Understanding who owns what — and what that ownership means in practice — is framed as the most consequential knowledge a musician can have.

Connect to books about: copyright law, music publishing, royalties, digital rights management.

---

3. **Artist Management & Career Development**
The book addresses the full arc of building a professional music career, including when and how to engage a manager, agent, or other industry representative. It frames career management as an ongoing, strategic process rather than a one-time decision.

The underlying tension is between creative autonomy and the commercial relationships musicians must form to sustain a career.

Connect to books about: artist management, career planning, creative entrepreneurship, the music profession.

---

4. **The Recording Industry & Record Labels**
Substantial attention is given to the relationship between musicians and record companies — what labels offer, what they demand, and how to navigate recording deals. The book demystifies the power dynamics between artists and labels.

At its core is a question of leverage: how does an artist get what they need from a system built primarily to serve commercial interests?

Connect to books about: the record industry, music production, A&R, major vs. independent labels.

---

5. **Music Publishing & Royalties**
The book covers mechanical royalties, synchronisation rights, and the structures by which songwriters earn income from their compositions. It reveals publishing as a largely hidden but financially critical layer of the music business.

The book's implicit argument is that many musicians lose significant income simply by not understanding how publishing and royalties work.

Connect to books about: music publishing, performing rights organisations, songwriter economics, music licensing.

---

6. **Merchandising & Commercial Rights**
Beyond recordings and performances, the book examines how musicians can control and profit from their name, image, and branded merchandise. This reflects a broader shift in how artists monetise their identity.

The theme is one of ownership — the musician's brand as a commercial asset that must be actively managed and legally protected.

Connect to books about: brand management, merchandising, celebrity and identity, sports and entertainment marketing.

---

7. **The Australian Cultural & Creative Industries**
Set firmly within the Australian context, the book reflects on the specific regulatory environment, market conditions, and cultural landscape that shape music careers in Australia. It treats the local industry as distinct from, though connected to, global music markets.

This situates the book within a broader discourse about how national cultural policy shapes the creative economy.

Connect to books about: Australian cultural policy, creative industries, arts funding, the cultural economy.

---

8. **Entrepreneurship & the Business of Being an Artist**
Underlying all of the book's practical guidance is a model of the musician as a small business operator — someone who must simultaneously create and commercially manage their work. It reframes artistic life as inherently entrepreneurial.

The book's enduring challenge to the reader is: can you be both an artist and a savvy businessperson, or will one compromise the other?

Connect to books about: creative entrepreneurship, the gig economy, self-employment, arts administration.

Music business : a musician's guide to the Australian music industry

Book Images

TAGS

CONNECTIONS

State

Details

LOCATION HISTORY

Book Location

Book Images

Vernon snapshot

Topics and Themes