1. Confessions of a Record Producer - by Moses Avalon
Immediately after I finished reading this book, I had to put it at the top of my list! If you buy only one book, then you have to get this one!! It really tells it like it is, and will make you a bit paranoid about the music industry, but with very good reason. This is from an industry insider that is still working in the industry, and so he uses an assumed named so that he won't get into trouble for all the dirt he spills about what the industry is really like. If your life goal has been to get a major label deal, you probably will change your way of thinking after reading this book. He tells you what the other books won't tell you. It's a very easy to read book that is also hard to put down. This book in conjunction with some of the others listed below will really prepare you for a serious career in the music business. This book shows you what to watch out for, while the other books below go into more detail about music business workings and have more "how to" type of information. In other words, this book is not designed to be a "how to" guide, but you must read it to understand all the ways that the various players in the music business can screw you over and keep you from making any money. Get this book and be prepared!!

2. All You Need To Know About The Music Business - by Donald Passman
This is a great book to start with, and is perfect in combination with #1 above and #3 below. A music business attorney who explains the workings of the music business without sounding like a lawyer. A very well written and easy to read book that will not only explain how the music business works, but tells you how to put together your own team and start down the road to music business success.

3. Tim Sweeney's Guide To Releasing An Independent Record
This one is just as important as the first two books. In fact, these first three books should be the foundation that you start with and should be read at least twice. Tim Sweeney is an independent music consultant and one of the music industry's most respected experts in the areas of artist development, record promotion, distribution, and retail marketing. This book is a step by step guide to successfully releasing your own independent record, which, as you'll quickly learn, is the only way to attract the attention of major record labels and even larger independent labels. You need to achieve a certain level of success on your own first before a bigger label will even consider taking a chance on you, and this book gives you a step-by-step guide!

4. The Complete Guide to Internet Promotion for Musicians, Artists, & Songwriters - Tim Sweeney
If you are already very web savvy, then there are portions of this book that you'll be able to skip over. However, no matter what your technical internet skill level, you'll find this book very helpful in your internet marketing and promotional efforts..

5. Ruthless Self-Promotion in the Music Industry - by Jeffrey P. Fisher
A really great book on promoting yourself, no matter what you are trying to do in the music industry. This is another book that I have read more than twice. Definitely required reading! Many helpful ideas, and very inspirational. He really knows how to motivate the readers to get results!

6. How to Make Money : Scoring Soundtracks and Jingles - by Jeffrey P. Fisher
This is actually the first book from Jeffrey Fisher that I read. Later on I bought the book listed above, which was written after this book. This is some overlapping material between the two books, but this book concentrates on a more specific market. If you are interested in creating music for soundtracks and jingles, you need this book! There are a lot of ways for talented musicians and composers to make money without trying to be a famous rock star, and this book is a great guide to one way to do so.

The first half of this book takes you through all the 6 steps of creating a great mix in detail, and offers you some great comments along the way from many great mix engineers. The second half of the book interviews 20 top professionals with great questions that tie in with what you learned in the first half. You'll find more great tips from these interviews along with details on how these pros got some of their sounds.

If you want to become better at mixing, then you should definitely get this book!

1. Behind the Glass : Top Record Producers Tell How They Craft The Hits - by Howard Massey
I'm already a full time professional producer/engineer, and, although I do well at it, I'm not on the same notoriety level as the very well known producers and engineers who are interviewed in this book. I love reading about how other producers and engineers work. It's a really great way to learn not only new engineering and production techniques, but how to work with artists to inspire them to deliver an exceptional performance. This is a great book that you can pick up once in a while if you like and just read sections of it as you feel like it, since it consists entirely of interviews (each interview being usually around four to ten pages in length). This book has also received great reviews on Amazon.Com. Definitely recommended for those looking for a career as a producer or engineer, or even for those looking to produce their own recordings.

2. Modern Recording Techniques
This is a book I already own. It was one of the first books I picked up when I landed my first job at a major recording studio in the Seattle area. Although I haven't read it straight through as a book myself, I often referred to it as a sort of handbook. This book is used as the primary text book in many audio engineering courses. While it is certainly not an "advanced" book, some of the material can be a bit technical in nature. I recommend this book as a good starter for those looking to get into audio engineering, and also for those "do it yourself" type people who want to improve their technical knowledge and skills.

3. Legal Aspects of the Music Industry : An Insider's View - by Richard Schulenberg
This looks like a really great book for explaining just about every type of music business contract you would ever see in terms that the average musician can understand. Highly recommended by Amazon.Com reviewers, and one that I will be picking up myself so that I can understand a little bit more about what my music business attorney is talking about. Not a replacement for a good music business attorney, but it will make your dealings with one much easier. I will have this on hand as a reference book for when I need to look up certain things, as opposed to it being a sit down and read it all type of book.

4. Music Money & Success
This looks like another great book that explains the inner workings of the music business. I bought this one for myself recently, but haven't had the chance to read it yet... definitely on my "to do" list soon. Nothing but great reviews from those at Amazon.Com

5. Start and Run Your Own Record Label - by Daylle Deanna Schwartz
A good book to follow up Tim Sweeney's book (see the first page of listings) with. This book is bigger than Tim Sweeney's book and goes into much more detail about starting and running your own record label. Tim's book is mostly about releasing your own record, while this book focusses more on the running of the record label, including signing and managing other artists. It's not quite as good as some of the others I've read, but it comes from a slightly different viewpoint and is definitely worthwhile.