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The Artist Development Handbook — cover

The Artist Development Handbook

Own the work, collect what it earns, and build an audience that can actually buy — distilled from 100 videos of working music-business argument.

Six parts, in the order the decisions actually arrive. Most artists work them backwards, and the two they skip are the only two that get more expensive with time. Every chapter has its own page — start anywhere, or read it straight through.

Read the whole book on one page →

Front Matter

  1. · Start here What this book is, who it is for, and the one thing to read if you read nothing else.

Part I — Own it

  1. 01 What ownership actually means Say, for one specific song of yours, which of its two assets you own, what piece of paper says so, and what that ownership lets you do that a lease would not.
  2. 02 The entity, and what goes in it Decide whether a transaction you are about to make should be made by you or by a company, and know what would have to be moved into that company for it to mean anything.
  3. 03 Splits, before the session Have the splits conversation before a session instead of after a release, and file a song correctly even when one of the people on it has not got their side together.

Part II — Get paid

  1. 04 The money already exists Name the separate royalties one play can trigger, say which body collects each, and work out which of them you are currently registered to receive.
  2. 05 Registering so it can reach you Make a song payable — one consistent owner name across every registry, metadata done before release, and a named-but-reserved share for a co-writer who will not answer.

Part III — Build the audience

  1. 06 Followers are not fans Sort your own audience into the three relationships a follower count hides, and name what each one is currently owed and not getting.
  2. 07 What makes someone care Audit your own profile against the three questions a stranger asks silently, and identify which of the four identity lanes you have never shown.
  3. 08 The journey with a hole in it Map the actual path from someone discovering you to someone paying you, and find the stage where yours stops.

Part IV — Sell direct

  1. 09 Selling access, not audio Design an offer someone will actually pay for, given that the recording itself is already free to them everywhere.
  2. 10 The storefront you control Decide where your sale happens, understanding exactly what owning the transaction gets you and what it costs you to keep.

Part V — Release

  1. 11 Uploading is not releasing Plan a release as three sequenced stages with a lead time, and name which of them you have never actually done.
  2. 12 Promotion after the record is ready Test a record cheaply, decide from the result whether it has earned any spend at all, and know what to do with one that already underperformed.

Part VI — Run it

  1. 13 The business behind the artist Split what you already do into the three functions every label performs, and see which one nobody is performing.
  2. 14 Money in, money out Tell an income problem from a timing problem in your own accounts, and decide whether any borrowed money is accelerating something that already converts.
  3. 15 Systems, team and leverage Write a goal someone else could check, then decide what to hand off first and in what order.

Back Matter

  1. · Where this came from, and how far to trust it The sources behind this book, what we checked, and the specific claims we refused to repeat.
  2. · What to do next Turn the whole book into one ordered list you can start on today.

18 chapters · one-page edition

Educational only. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Most entity and copyright material here is US-specific — verify every figure before acting on it.