Million Dollar Mistakes: Steering Your Music Career Clear of Lies, Cons, Catastrophes, and Landmines

by Moses Avalon

Book Overview

Everyone knows the success stories of the music industry - how Michael Jackson's Thriller blew the roof off and how Clive Davis helped orchestrate Carlos Santana's stunning comeback. But now you'll find out about people who were dead wrong. This book details some of the most expensive blunders ever made by artists and by record executives, managers and producers who've worked with stars such as Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera, The Beatles, Madonna,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879308273
• ISBN13: 9780879308278
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Backbeat Books
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Eye Opening Read on Pitfalls

Whenever I feel like adding some gas to the tank, I read this book. It does a great job of capturing the dark ugly mess we call the music industry. This is a great book for anyone thinking of joining the industry and provides real life examples of pitfalls that other artists have endured over time.5 stars!

Admit It

A great man once told me "The only good mistake is one you learn something from, and you don't learn unless you admit the mistake in the first place." I'm glad to see a book like this that contains first class mistakes and ways to avoid them. No one explains the dirty ways of the music biz like Moses. So get it, read it, highlight it and use it to avoid the pitfalls and side tracks that are coming your way.

South Psycho Cide Productions Review

First off I would like to say thanks to Moses and his staff for leading the way in the new music industry revolution!!! Once again Moses pulls off something that know one has ever done, he's changing the game!!! I bought myself this book as a Chritmas gift to me for all my hard work in 2005!!! During the year I had spent thousands on equipment and not any money on one book. I paid only 11.95 for the book and it's probably the best 11.95 I have ever spent!!! I have both of the two previous books Moses wrote and Million Dollar Mistakes is another gem. For the price of a pack of blank CDR's you will gain knowledge that 95%-98% of the people in this business don't have!!! I am a independent Hip Hop/Rap/R & B producer and I also run my own independent record label out of San Diego, South Psycho Cide Productions (southpsychocide.com). All I have to say is if you want to be in the game you have to know how to play the game, and if you wanna win the game you have to know how to beat the game!!! Moses Avalons Million Dollar Mistakes takes me and my company one step closer to reaching our goal and helps us dodge the bullets and win the game. A definite must for all up and coming and established industry professionals regardless of your genre of music and regardless of your status. This is the game exposed from real life mistakes, from people who learned from their own mistakes. Now get your head out your ass so you won't have to be a mistake...get the damn book homie or homegirl, haaa we out...see ya at the top!!! Charles "Coox" aka Tha Mad Psycho CEO/PRODUCER South Psycho Cide Productions http://www.southpsychocide.com http://www.myspace.com/spcp

Another Winner from Moses Avalon!

(From my E-mail to Moses) I just finished reading every word of Million Dollar Mistakes -- studying, highlighting, underlining, marking key concepts for use in my Music Business classes. It's Dynamite! Hearty congratulations! Thanks for your hard work, your vision, your reader-friendly writing style and your courage to tell it like it is. I have studied some thiry books on Music Business. Your 3 books -- Confessions of a Record Producer, Secrets of Negotiating a Record Contract, and now, Million Dollar Mistakes -- tower above the rest! John Berry, Music Business Instructor, The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences, Tempe Arizona

Everyone in the business should own this book

I've made my living in the music business for my entire adult life. Many times I've walked away from total disasters scratching my head and wondering how something that looked so good could turn out so bad right before my eyes. Moses Avalon has a remarkable gift for explaining and illustrating why and how people make decisions they regret, and why and how music business relationships implode. His interviews are with very experienced industry professionals, and hearing what they have to say is unusual - they don't talk in public much. As I read the book I felt like I was reading the story of my life. I recognized many of the mistakes I make out of habit, and I began to grasp some of the bizarre baggage that I've detected in other people I've worked with. You will learn to identify some of the blind spots that can cost you dearly, and recognize the blind spots of others before you get involved with them. You will learn how some folks' behavior is a warning sign to steer clear. Most importantly, I think, you will have a much clearer idea of which career risks are worth taking and which are not. I wish I'd had this book twenty years ago.