Book Review
Title: Swimming With Sharks: A Real World
How -To Guide to Success (and Failure) in
the Business of Music
Authors: Bernadette Giacomazzo & Melissa Deskovic

Swimming With Sharks: A Real World How-To Guide to Success (and Failure) in the Business of Music is jam-packed with valuable information and yet remains an easy and amusing read. It completely kept our interest, we learned a lot, and it even made us laugh out loud a few times!

“The point of this whole book is to educate you in some way; to arm you with the knowledge needed to make your “business of music” a success.”

Some of the topics covered are: obtaining sponsorship, the importance of rehearsing, choosing venues, MySpace pros & cons, merch, advertising options, jealous girlfriends, psycho groupies, watching out for scams, press kits, finding a manager, egos, canceling shows, personal hygiene, industry conferences, the importance of fans, making a demo, signing contracts, and SO much more.

One subject discussed in the book really hit home with us - that in order to succeed you really must become business-minded as well. You cannot stand on your music alone!

In our case (not in book): There have been more than a few unknown & unsigned bands that we have featured enthusiastically in our growing magazine who we have yet to get any kind of acknowledgment from (despite us sending them a copy of it). We’re not Rolling Stone Magazine but the bands we are referring to are in no position to refuse networking. How likely are we to write about them again if we remember them as being disinterested, inconsiderate or unprofessional? They will only benefit if they embrace the business side of things as well. Also, they should keep in mind that we all have to start out somewhere!

This book is absolutely essential for serious musicians who are just starting out or have been on the scene for less than 5 years. Musicians who are more seasoned should still find this book to be useful.

We also enjoyed the book’s little extras – such as the scattered musician jokes and the chapter titles being named after songs!

On a side note: We much prefer the printed version over the audio version. We listened to the audio sample but had a hard time following along as we were distracted by the heavy New York accent... BUT, in all fairness to them, we’re from the Midwest so not everyone will have trouble with it. You can hear a clip of the audio book on their official MySpace. You can also order either book version from there.