I read a very good book on the music industry recently and recommend it to anyone who wants to make any part of their living with music. It is Confessions of a Record Producer: How to Survive the Scams and Shams of the Music Business, by Moses Avalon. (Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco, 1998)

At the beginning of the book, Moses quotes a successful producer who told him early in his career, "No one wants to rip off anybody. Everybody is just doing what they think is right for their client."

However, as Moses explains, the music industry is so big, with so many people looking out for their clients, essentially everybody ends up scrambling for every piece of the pie, no matter how small - the stakes and rewards are too high not to. Everyone has an agenda, and everyone can lose big if they don't know how the game is played.

In Part One, The Game, Moses lists the players:

• The Pros: Lawyers, A&R, Managers, Publicists, Booking Agents, Tour Managers, and Image Consultants
• The Creators: Musicians, Songwriters, Engineers, Artists, Producers, and Control Freaks
• The Companies: Record, Production, Publishing, Performing, Publicity, Independents, Distribution, Rights Clearinghouses, Musicians Union, and the Harry Fox Agency

The next major section is The Deal. This includes chapters on the deal from the view of the major label, the publisher, and the producer. Each has a different point of view, and there are inherent conflicts with all these elements.

One problem is the major label is probably grooming a dozen groups or singers. The label has contracts with these people to produce records, which the label will promote. Of this dozen, only two or three will actually make back more money than what it cost to produce and promote their records. So, these two or three groups have to support all the others.

Moses explains in exquisite mathematical detail how a group can get a million dollar, three-year, three-record contract and not see a single dollar of royalties over the term of the contract. A major label has to sell more than a million CDs before the artist makes any money, and most new groups never sell more than 300,000 records out of the gate, even with lavish promotion. This means the artists are in virtual indentured servitude to their label for the duration of their contract. This is why the Dixie Chicks didn't really make any real money until it was time to renew their contract. And all of this is legal. It is the way the industry works.

Moses covers Independent labels too, and there is a lot happening in this area. Written in 1998, the book doesn't cover the major impact of the Internet on music which has surged in the last four years. But Moses has a website, www.mosesavalon.com, which covers what has happened since 1998 and what the opportunities and problems are. He also covers vanity labels, mini-record deals, joint ventures, and work-for-hire.

The second half of the book is even better. It covers the industry scams, and Moses has seen them all. He starts the section with a quote from the Roman orator Seneca, "Successful and fortunate crime is called virtue," so true in Hollywood.

The first chapter: "The Myth of Copyright Protection," reveals a basic truth: the stars have good lawyers and you don't. So unless you have a huge trust fund to pursue your legal claim, you're toast and your song is gone. The law does not protect you. But, there are ways to protect your songs.

Other frauds are:

• Clears, Cleans and Fake Masters: Clears and cleans are ways the industry sells CDs without reporting them sold, and thus not paying any royalties. Legitimate sales numbers here are extremely hard to come by.
• 9-to-1 Publishing: Why is there only one good song on the album?
• Sneaky Lawyer Stuff: "I forgot to mark the contract," virtual terms, the little squeeze, letters of misdirection. (Moses also includes a list of all the terms in a record contract, with an explanation of what each one means in plain English. He follows this with a decoding of an actual Warner Bros. record contract. )

The next part of the book exposes much of the conventional wisdom and dogma of the industry as misleading myths. These include:

• A good promotional kit is the key
• Gigging a lot is good exposure
• Second sendings: Sending another different recording after your first has been rejected. The solution here is to change the name of your band before you give it another go.
• "We love it but…. (They didn't really like it - Moses says that in the music industry, "Yes means maybe. Maybe means no. No means call back." The odds are that if an A&R man says "No," he has a 95% chance of being right, since 95% of artists fail. A&R people stake their reputation and job on every yes.)

Moses also covers the major players in the entire industry. He provides a financial roadmap that shows how the major and minor companies were connected as of 1998. Now there has been a lot of change since 1998, but Moses hasn't been idle. His web site lists this book, and his two new ones, Secrets of Negotiating a Recording Contract, and Advanced Recording Contract Negotiations for Music Industry Professionals, which, along with the website, brings things up to date.

But Moses takes it one step farther. He offers ongoing two-day workshops on the above topics. You can sign up for them on his website, and they are priced at a very reasonable $110 a day, both days for less than $200.

Of interest to songwriters is the section on Day One:

The Myths of Copyright Protection or "Hey, They Stole My Song"

• What a Copyright Really Means
• How songwriters make money
• How the law treats odd situations like, who is the writer of the melody in a rap record
• How songs get stolen and how the law protects thieves
• How artists who write their own material fair as opposed to artists who perform cover material

And on Day Two:

How Royalties are Really Calculated

• Configuration Scams
• Reserves Scams

Songwriting on a Major Label

• The Statuary Rate really means
• Controlled compositions clauses and how they can hurt you

Getting the Help You Need

• The Birth of the New Indi
• Comprehending a working meaning of "Independent label"
• Know how and why new labels are created and then fold everyday
• How the Internet will change everything, and the new scams that will come with it
• How to find the right person to sell your music and protect your rights

If you want a real inside look at the industry you think you want to be a part of, get this book. I have given three copies away to friends already, and sent his website link to many more. You can buy the book along with his two others and sign up for a free monthly newsletter that lists all the latest scams at www.mosesavalon.com.