Don Pasman he had been teaching a music law course at USC for several years when he realized that his class notes were the outline of a book. “Because musicians are ear-oriented,” he says, there was an opportunity to write “an easy-to-read overview of the business for people who don't like to read.” Think “big letters, lots of pictures, proportions, simple language.” When the first edition of Everything you need to know about the music business came out in 1991 – the 11th edition arrived last October – “there was only one book about the music business at the time that was of any consequence,” recalls Passman. “And it was a little hard to read.”
Recently, however, music business education seems to be an increasingly hot topic. Thanks to technological advancements, the number of aspiring artists releasing songs with little to no understanding of the music industry has increased. Many of these acts start releasing tracks in their early teens, long before they've had a chance to take a college-level course on the music business, much less master the nuances of copyright law. And they often hire a similarly inexperienced friend to serve as “director,” ensuring that even their closest advisers lack experience navigating the industry.
As a result, there is a dire need for quality, accessible music business education. Many of the platforms that allow artists to create, listen or distribute music today see educational initiatives as a way to foster engagement and community – which in turn will help them stand out in the never-ending battle for users and attention – and possibly as an additional revenue stream.
Some of these education efforts are in their early stages: Spotify began testing video tutorials in the UK in March, for example, while TIDAL has said education will be a cornerstone of its new era as it works to create financial tools for artists. (Acquired by Block in 2021.)
Creative Intell is ahead of the curve — it's raised money from across the music scene and created a series of cartoons to teach young artists about the inner workings of the industry, from record deals to publishing. And the Bandlab platform, which lets its 100 million-plus users create songs on their phones, releases a steady stream of free tutorials and blog posts.
Helping aspiring artists understand the intricacies of the music industry is “something we're very invested in,” he says Krevin Breuner, Bandlab's head of artist development and training. “The industry is more complex than ever and understanding the business from day one is not just an asset. necessary. Bandlab has such a young audience, it's growing, and we want these artists to feel like they have a partner — someone they can trust.”
Austen Smart agrees: The DJ, who founded UK music-education company PLAYvirtuoso in 2020 with his brother, sees “huge potential in this space”. “I see that there will be one in eight people, at least, who will learn at home,” he says, and some of them will be interested in the music industry.
Co-founder of Creative Intell Stephen Shipp divides the field of music education into three buckets — how to make music, how to buy music, and the business of music. While YouTube alone is full of free videos on the first two topics—not to mention all the Reddit threads, blog posts, and TikTok guides—finding reliable and accessible information on the third is more difficult. “The work of music is perhaps the most important. it has to be the most accurate and is often overlooked,” says Ship.
If an aspiring artist produces a track poorly or markets it awkwardly, that song probably won't do well — a temporary setback. Conversely, if they don't understand how the industry works, the consequences can be far more damaging: They could sign a contract with a manager, company or publisher that gives them control of their output for decades. “Artists were horribly exploited in the early days of the music business, because they just didn't know what they were doing,” says Passman. And today, “the industry is changing so quickly,” Breuner adds, making it even harder to “know what's important and what's not.”
When Smart signed a major label deal with his brother – just “two hungry young artists living in London” – admits the pair “didn't have the knowledge and understanding of what we were ultimately signing up for”. A lawyer would have helped, but they didn't have the cash “to engage with lawyers who could help us interpret it.”
Contracts are often “murky and complicated,” Smart continues. “You are offered a relatively large advance. that's a big number when you're 25 and 22. What does it really mean? What does it mean ten years later?'
If he could turn back the clock, he imagines going through the process again — but this time, “we have this lesson in understanding tagged bids.” And if needed, he could “book a one-on-one session with someone for £30” to help provide extra context. This is part of the reason one of PLAYvirtuoso's “three pillars” of educational material focuses on understanding the music industry.
PLAYvirtuoso is one of four companies that partnered with Spotify initially to provide courses on various topics. The streaming service's decision to test new educational material came about because it saw data that showed some users were eager to learn more.
“If I take you back 10 years, most of the people who came to Spotify came with one purpose: to listen to music,” he says. Mohit Jitani, product manager at Spotify. “But in the last few years, as we've brought in podcasts and audiobooks, people have started coming to Spotify to listen to an interview or learn about leadership and finance.”
Currently, Spotify's courses are offered through a freemium model: Users can access the first courses for free, but must pay to complete a full course.
While Spotify's exploratory foray into education came from the fact that “people started coming [us] for casual learning,” as Jitani puts it — and potentially giving the platform another new revenue stream — TIDAL's recent effort to help artists increase their business IQ is driven in part by its new owner, payments company Block .
“In building tools and services for business owners, we've seen that the moment you get a little bit of traction outside of your friends and family, the world gets a lot more complicated,” he says. Agustina Sacerdote, TIDAL's global head of product. “You have to start understanding your numbers to understand where the next big opportunity is going to come from.”
The same principle applies to artists. Understandably, they tend to focus on art. But as Ship notes, “Once you release a song, you're in business” — whether you like it or not. So TIDAL started offering webinars and launched a new product called Circles, which Sacerdote likens to “a very curated version of Reddit, where we have the topics that we think most artists have questions about,” including tours and goods.
Currently, TIDAL products are free. “Once an artist gets a very good piece of advice that he would never have received [elsewhere] in the Circles, then we'll start thinking about how we can generate revenue?' Sacerdote says.
Creative Intell's material for the music business is currently far more comprehensive than TIDAL or Spotify: The company has created 18 animated courses to help aspiring artists—the vast majority of whom don't have a manager or a lawyer— “to understand what they're signing up for, learn how to monetize themselves better, and learn how to protect themselves,” says Ship.
Creative Intell releases some materials for free and charges for access to all ($29.99 per month). It also aims to work with distributors like Vydia as marketing partners. Vydia isn't the only company looking to provide these kinds of resources — Songtrust, for example, has created its own material to help songwriters understand how to collect their money from around the world.
“Other industries have all kinds of corporate resources for training, and the music industry lacks them,” says Ship. “We're trying to fill that void.”
