If there is a bible for the music industry, it’s Donald Passman’s book, “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.” Since the first edition came out more than 30 years ago, it has guided countless musicians and executives, and has prevented many of them from making decisions they’d later regret. Considering the deep detail Passman gets into about contracts, royalties and other complicated business arrangements, his tone is remarkably conversational, and he makes sure readers don’t miss the important stuff: The section on business managers begins with him saying “Listen to me!!!” in italics with several exclamation marks.
Passman, of course, is one of the most successful and experienced attorneys in music business history, with a client list that over the years has included Taylor Swift, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Adele and many more, but the book is definitely what he’s best known for. This makes him a rare atuhrotiy on the state of the music industry today, and in the conversation below, he gives concise analysis of multiple aspects of the music busines: AI and the threat it brings to intellectual property, catalog sales, new models for streaming services and lots more.
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