Business

Debra Recommends Music, Money and Success

Debra Russell recommends, licensing, music business, music for film and TV

The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Industry

by Jeffrey Brabec and Todd Brabec

My friends, Jeff and Todd, have written a comprehensive and incredibly informative book about the world of music licensing.

From Amazon:

The music and entertainment business means money for songwriters, composers, recording artists, musicians, music publishers and record companies. Whether it’s videogames, worldwide blockbuster movies, television programs which make instant stars, advertising commercials touting products via hit songs and records, cell phone ringtones or downloads and subscription services, Music Money And Success tells you how the business works and where the money comes from in every area of music. Whether you’re just starting out, looking to move up to the next level, been making a living in this business for years or are a major superstar, Music Money and Success is the blueprint for your financial success. This well reviewed book is now in its fifth edition and has been completely revised with updated information.

Now includes a section of entertainment law contract templates

Written by well-known industry insiders, Jeff Brabec, VP of Business Affairs for Chrysalis Music and Todd Brabec, VP of ASCAP

Endorsed by Billboard, Vibe, the American Bar Association, The Hollywood Reporter, Library Journal, Entertainment Law Reporter, and many others

Buy Music Money and Success now

Debra Recommends The E-Myth Revisited

Debra Russell recommends, business management, business success, systems

Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

by Michael Gerber

The brilliance of Gerber’s approach to systematizing your business has made a significant difference in my success and the success of my clients.

Amazon says:

In this first new and totally revised edition of the over two million copy bestseller, The E-Myth, Michael Gerber dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business. Next, he walks you through the steps in the life of a business — from entrepreneurial infancy through adolescent growing pains to the mature entrepreneurial perspective: the guiding light of all businesses that succeed — and shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business, whether it is a franchise or not. Finally, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business. After you have read The E-Myth Revisited, you will truly be able to grow your business in a predictable and productive way.

Buy the EMyth Revisited now

Debra Recommends Blue Ocean Strategy

Debra Russell recommends, business success, niche marketing, multiple streams

How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

The concept of the Membership class – Create Your Own Pond – is founded on the work in this book.

Amazon’s review:

Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean metaphor elegantly summarizes their vision of the kind of expanding, competitor-free markets that innovative companies can navigate. Unlike “red oceans,” which are well explored and crowded with competitors, “blue oceans” represent “untapped market space” and the “opportunity for highly profitable growth.” The only reason more big companies don’t set sail for them, they suggest, is that “the dominant focus of strategy work over the past twenty-five years has been on competition-based red ocean strategies”-i.e., finding new ways to cut costs and grow revenue by taking away market share from the competition. With this groundbreaking book, Kim and Mauborgne-both professors at France’s INSEAD, the second largest business school in the world-aim to repair that bias. Using dozens of examples-from Southwest Airlines and the Cirque du Soleil to Curves and Starbucks-they present the tools and frameworks they’ve developed specifically for the task of analyzing blue oceans.

They urge companies to “value innovation” that focuses on “utility, price, and cost positions,” to “create and capture new demand” and to “focus on the big picture, not the numbers.” And while their heavyweight analytical tools may be of real use only to serious strategy planners, their overall vision will inspire entrepreneurs of all stripes, and most of their ideas are presented in a direct, jargon-free manner. Theirs is not the typical business management book’s vague call to action; it is a precise, actionable plan for changing the way companies do business with one resounding piece of advice: swim for open waters.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Buy this book now

Debra Recommends All You Need To Know About the Music Business

Debra Russell recommends music business, Entertainment industry, royalties, licensingby Donald S. Passman

An entertainment lawyer whose clients include many from the top of the music charts, Passman has written a book that sets out to give musicians, performers, and songwriters the tools to hire advisers, market their careers, protect their creative works, and generally cope with a complex industry in a state of flux.  Passman explains boilerplate language, the complexities of royalties and advances, and label and distribution deals; a section on record deals begins with an overview of the business and works through all the steps.  The “Adventures in Cyberspace” chapter is a helpful summary of the way CD-ROMs and the Internet are affecting the business.  Included here is information on recent legislation and a look at how digitizing music delivery will continue to change things.  Packed with illustrations, sample calculations, and definitions, All You Need To Know is humorous and accessible enough for those who just want to understand the business while being detailed and documented enough for those who make a living from it.

Buy this book now

Debra Recommends The ABC’s of Building a Business Team That Wins

Debra Russell recommends, team building, systems, business success

From Rich Dad’s Advisors®:

The Invisible Code of Honor That Takes Ordinary People and Turns Them Into a Championship Team

by Blair Singer

Great champions in sports, business and even families have one thing in common. It’s a legitimate secret weapon. It is something that lies deep in the genetic code of winning organizations. It appears when pressure is high, when the stakes are critical and when everything is on the line. They know how to work as a team. Blair Singer’s The ABC’s of Building a Business Team That Wins offers a set of simple, powerful rules that govern the internal behaviours of any business, organization, family or individual. They are rules like ‘Never abandon a teammate in need’, ‘Be personally responsible for all mistakes’ and ‘Be on time’. This book will step you through the process so that you can create championship results any time, any place.

Buy The ABC’s of Building a Business Team now

Create and Maintain Your Team

Artists MBA, Professional ProgramAre you sick of doing it all alone, but the idea of delegating to someone else overwhelms or confuses you?

Do you have people working for/with you – agents, managers, assistants, web designers, etc. – but you’re unsure how to work with them? Or even worse, you feel like you’re working for them, not the other way around?

Creating and managing teams takes a particular skill set. In this class, you discovered:

  • The biggest mistake artist’s make with their Agents and Managers
  • The 3 keys to delegating effectively
  • The 3 kinds of team members and the pros and cons to each
  • How to build and work with a team of people focused on your success

And so much more! This one area can be the biggest obstacle to taking your business to the next level. It’s the key to working smarter and essential to creating a long-term and sustainable business.

Additional Resources for this Class:

Prerequisite Class:

Listen to the Class:

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Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.

Read the Class Transcript

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Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today


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Next Class:

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

The Economy and Your Business

For the last few weeks, the conversation in almost every client session has involved how the economy may be, might be, could affect my client’s business or financial life. Is this a concern for you?

So, how do you create a prosperous living doing what you love in this (or any) economic climate?

There’s a saying floating around out there among the financial and personal growth Gurus – “I refuse to participate in the recession.” I agree with their point, but I think we can come up with an even better, more empowering mantra to keep you focused and clear in this time of challenge, uncertainty and fear.

Creating the Context for Your Prosperous Business

About 80% of the status of our economy is based on what is called “confidence” in economic terms – consumer confidence, investor confidence, stock market confidence.  The definition of a bull or bear market – is just that – confidence or the lack thereof.  (And more than 92% of all statistics are made up.)

In fact, a famous economist, John Maynard Keynes, asserted that the Great Depression of the 1930s was largely attributable to a collapse of public confidence, which led to dramatic declines in consumer and business spending.

So what does that really mean?  The health of our economy is based on our BELIEF about the health of our economy.  And what do we know about beliefs?  Well, they’re NOT REAL.

So, while most of the country is choosing to believe in the recession, does that belief serve you in your efforts to build a prosperous business?  I don’t think so!

Now, as I mentioned in my introduction, the Gurus are advising this mantra – I refuse to participate in the recession.  While I agree with their intention, I disagree with their choice of phrase.

First of all – when you look at that sentence, what is the word that keeps popping up?  Recession.  You have to remember how the brain works – it doesn’t get negative commands.  So, what are you telling it?  Recession, recession, recession!

My other problem with this phrase?  It’s reactionary.  It’s coming from a place of victim.  It’s, frankly, buying into the beliefs of the majority and then saying, “No.” to those beliefs.  What you resist persists.  You’re just feeding more energy into those beliefs.

So, I ask you – what do you intend to create?

What is the state of mind or belief that will create a sense of freedom, joy and lightness?  What is the context that will motivate you into action to build your prosperous business?

How about – “I am in charge of my own prosperity.”  Or “My success is a reflection of my beliefs, intentions and actions” Or “I trust in the abundant universe.”  Or “My every action is drawing me closer to my Vision (oh, and you want to very specific about that Vision!).

In other words – if you refuse to participate in the recession – what ARE you participating in? “I am creating my prosperity with each breath.”   Use one of these, or come up with a phrase that works for you.

How do you know it works for you?  Say it out loud and check how you feel!  If you feel better, if it’s easier to breath freely, if it puts a smile on your face and revs up your engine to get into action – well, then it works for you!

So, create a positively focused context, use it as your mantra and get busy creating your prosperity!

Business Management for the Creative Mind

To find out where Debra is appearing, check the Workshops and Events page. Bring Debra in to speak to your group or conference of 40 or more people.

Or How to Run Your Arts & Entertainment Industry Business

How many times have you thought to yourself, “I’m an Artist! I’m just no good at business!” In this dynamic, interactive workshop, I’ll dispel this common myth and help you identify and apply your unique talents to create a successful business without sacrificing your art or your integrity. Whether you’re freelance, self-employed or working around a day job, acknowledging that you are a small business owner is key to creating success with your art.

In this Workshop you can expect to learn:

  • 5 Hats of the Business Owner
  • How to overcome the 5 Biggest Challenges
  • 3 Keys to Success with your business

You will walk away with the ability to see yourself at home in the world of business, to use your innate skills and take on the challenges that may now seem overwhelming to you. This workshop is appropriate for artists such as writers, musicians and actors as well as those in the production, management and venue side of the Arts and Entertainment Industry.

Debra Russell applies principles of business and organizations to the lives and work of artists, giving them new ways to deal with their lives and careers. Her workshops provide valuable tools for both performers and presenters. Her approach gives practical advice and motivation, rather than pop-psych feel-good fluff.I think the most important thing I got from Business Management for the Creative Mind is the idea that thinking of the arts in a business-like way isn’t “evil” or “unartistic”. Left brain vs. right brain thinking aren’t enemies, rather they can work together. If you can accept input from both sides, you can be both artistic and organized…and that’s a good thing!
Nick Smith, Performing storyteller, Board Member of Caltech Folk Music Society, California Traditional Music Society,
and FARWest

Debra Recommends International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

Debra Russell recommends, Film Production, Television Production, Art and Entertainment IndustryIATSE or International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees is a union of professional stagehands, motion picture technicians, and allied crafts.  Different locals of the IATSE have their own web-sites and contact pages.  Do a Google search for the Union you’re interested in.

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Debra Russell Recommends The Hollywood Reporter

Debra Russell recommends, Trade Magazine, Art and Entertainment Industry, Film Business, Theatre Production West Coast, Television ProductionThe Hollywood Reporter began as the entertainment industry’s first daily trade paper in Hollywood.  This magazine is the definitive source for information on the entertainment industry in the U.S. (there’s an international issue published weekly), including movie, TV, theater, and DVD reviews; casting calls; box office rankings; and weekly MPAA ratings; as well as overviews of everything from the music industry to the commercial real estate market. While the entertainment industry itself is clearly the intended audience, anyone who wants to see the Hollywood that exists beneath the surface glitz that has become synonymous with Hollywood will find this magazine well worth the money.

Subscribe to The Hollywood Reporter

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