Who wouldn't want to be a record producer? Studio musician? Recording engineer? Music supervisor? Everybody wants to be in the music business but only a handful are able to enter the hallowed doors. Redman's book may not put the key in your hand, but he will certainly provide you with the tools to obtain one.
He's interviewed dozens of artists and professionals from various factions of the music industry, including Howad Massey (recording engineer), Todd Rundgren (artist), Lloyd Hanson (booking agent),
Ed Masur (film composer), and more. He's broken down each job by beginning with a short summary and a section he calls
"Rapid Fire," which takes into consideration the following elements:
- Skill Set - what you need to succeed
- Hours - pretty obvious
- Upside - the good parts of the gig
- Downside - the bad parts of the gig
- Financial - what it pays
- Location - best places to find this gig
- Future - what will you be doing tomorrow?
Though he manages to list every music gig from music publisher to music supervisor, he leaves out music
,journalist. As a journalist, you get to meet everybody, tour with bands, and get paid to write about the music you love. Why he left this out is up for question.
You'll learn some stuff here. Read it and then go out and get the gig--that's the hard part.