The Circular Cosmic Spot

Honestly there's not a lot that hasn't already been said about The Indie Bible. There isn't a single negative review about this book to be found anywhere on the planet, at least as far as I've seen. Here's my crack at it.

The bulk of the book is dedicated to listing outlets and resources for various genres of music. No matter what style, be it mainstream or the most far-out niche, this book packs a punch.

Cool thing is if your style doesn't fit, there's probably a close match. Still no luck? there's listings for all styles. If what you're producing still doesn't fit, send it to me because I've gotta hear it.

There's an extremely helpful "Section Six: Articles that will Help you to Succeed in the Music Business." 39 articles from industry folks that pretty much guide you through all the ins and outs of being a playa in tha' biz.

I mean, here's the beef, people. If this was a hamburger you could get at McDonalds, I'd be the 12-Pound Triple Stack Combo. The ins and outs of the biz, from soup to nuts. The only shortcoming is that the lyrics for 'Show Business' by A Tribe Called Quest are nowhere to be found.

As a reviewer I can vouch for the advice in the "Getting Your Music Reviewed" section. Christ if only a tiny fraction of the submitters to my site read the advice in this section I'd be one happy hombre. Please. For my sanity.

Keith Hannaleck nails it on the head with his article "What A Reviewer Wants From An Artist." Believe me, an ounce of common-sense professionalism and common courtesy go one hell of a long way.

Some of my big pet-peeves are those mailers that have the shredded old bits of fabric and lint for packing material. No matter how you open it the stuff gets all over the place. I also enjoy when the material just barely fits in the envelope and I tear through it when I open the package. And please, PLEASE if you're going to send me a CD of material that you've burned yourself, encode the track titles in the song files. And don't use a marker to label a store-brought CD-ROM. I love that.

But I digress. Give your hard work a decent chance and follow the advice in the book. It's the best $25 investment an indie musician can make. Get The Indie Bible before the Mackie, before the Tascam, and way before the bulk blank CD-ROM's.

- Art Grauer