If it Was my Band… the new book from multi award-winning radio presenter, gig promoter and radio plugger, Emma Scott, with illustrations from Sydonia Aitken-Ballard, is available now.
Drawing upon her 25 years in the music industry, Emma shares insider information on the business with the aim of helping bands and musicians all over the world to break into the industry and/or further their music career.
Revealing the inner-workings of the music industry, If It Was My Band… is the ideal book to have if you’re planning a career in music. Amongst the hundreds of tips to help you increase your chance of success, the book provides ideas of how to make money from your music as well as how to avoid wasting money in your quest for success.
Over the years, Emma has interviewed bands at the beginning of their careers and seen them get signed, get big and, in some cases, get dropped again. Working on radio shows at stations like Kerrang! Radio, Power FM, Galaxy and Metro FM, she’s interviewed hundreds of artists of all genres, from Foo Fighters to Five Star, Bloc Party to Bad Boys Inc, Marillion to My Chemical Romance.
During her work as a TV and radio presenter, gig promoter, A & R manager at an independent record label and a radio plugger, Emma came into contact with thousands of musicians every year and it became apparent that many of them didn’t know how to talk to industry people and help show their music off in the best light – and ultimately make music their full time job.
There were so many times when Emma received a badly written email or worked with a badly behaved band at a gig that she found herself muttering the words, “If it was MY band I wouldn’t write an email like that or act like that…” and she started making notes every time she came across clueless or bad behaviour. Before she knew it, she had another book on her hands.
Nearly two years later, the characters from the book (band members, a band manager, music lawyer, fan-girl, DJ and punk rocker) and Emma’s words have finally become one and the result is stunning! Simple to understand and easy to read, If It Was My Band has been brought to life by Awkward Illustration’s Sydonia Aitken-Ballard, who Emma approached after seeing Syd’s “Rock Bunny” design.
Chapters include Starting Out, Getting Gigs, Building a Buzz, How to Manage the Band and Making Music a Full Time Job. There’s a handy glossary of industry terms and helpful contacts as well as a “checklist for success” which any musician can go through and tick boxes off as they achieve each new step. Written through the eyes of a band member, each point made in the book comes from a real-life situation that Emma has experienced.
With over 300 points in the book as well as inspirational stories and facts about U2, The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Biffy Clyro, David Guetta, Paolo Nutini, Elbow, Snow Patrol, and Oasis, together with quotes from Kurt Cobain, Jon Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Mick Jagger and Paul Weller, If It Was My Band… is the compass and the map to help any aspiring musician.
Emma says: ‘By reading this book, musicians will get to learn from other people’s mistakes and pick up hundreds of tips along the way – I’m really proud of it!”
LINKS:
http://ifitwasmyband.com/
http://ifitwasmyband.bigcartel.com/
http://plugginbaby.com/
http://twitter.com/ifitwasmyband
