Walk into any decently stocked bookstore and you'll find in the music section an entire shelf dedicated to the laws, by-laws, semi-laws, rights, copyrights, and myriad other facets of the music business. Some of them are impossible to understand, even with a legal background and a practical implementation in the business itself (in other words, even if you're a musician, manager, or roadie, making sense of most of these three-inch-thick treatises is all but impossible).

That being said, this extensively researched and highly detailed volume is not for the beginner; it does go into various degrees of detail while dealing with subjects as diverse as video and DVD rights all the way to songwriting agreements, distribution agreements, and administration agreements. However, it is so definitively compiled that taking the time to read this - and even re-read it - allows you to walk away with a far greater understanding of the labryinthine laws governing the world of music and content in general.

Music has changed more in the past ten years than it probably has in the previous twenty - with the advent of CDs and music videos, downloading and file-sharing, online radio, satellite radio, garage radio, MP3s, and even burning your own CDs. Consequently, any book dealing with the brave new world of music must concern itself with these changes and the hundreds of others taking place almost daily. The author has managed to talk about the things that once were and those not yet here.

This is a book of facts with a sense of humor, a history with a smiley face. Anyone in the business must have this on the shelf. Read it or simply refer to it when necessary. And besides, you can use it as a write-off.