The Musician's Money Book
Tracy Rice
If you are a gigging musician this book will save you a LOT of money. Even if you are not a musician but you travel for work, this book will save you a bundle at tax time. And if you are a musician wondering why your band seems to be falling apart, you NEED this book. No hype, no kidding. Let me tell you why.
In The Musician's Money Book, singer/songwriter/author Tracy Rice has put together a great package to help a musician organize all of the paperwork that we need but never seem able to find at tax time. Tracy's system is both simple and very effective. Essentially she has provided you with a series of envelopes labelled as to the type of receipt you put into it, along with a chart on the outside where you say what you paid for, when, and where. OK, so it takes an extra minute to do this, but at tax time you have everything all together laid out for you. All you have to do is write it off, or give it to your accountant to write off for you. And don't kid yourself about the importance of having receipts. I know of one guitarist who paid an extra $3,000 in tax because he forgot to keep his receipts. It really adds up.Even if you are not in that tax bracket, this book will pay for itself the first month you use it, and then it will make you money. And isn't your money better in your pocket than in the taxman's?
If that were all there was to the book it would be a great deal, but there is more. Tracy Rice has assembled great financial advice specifically for musicians from a wide variety of highly-respected authors. Once again, these tips will put money into your pocket. This section includes some great suggestions for making money in areas that most of us overlook.
And there is even more. (OK, I'm starting to sound like a late-night infomercial but in this case it's true!) The rest of the booklet contains excellent advice for performers, from stagemanship, to selecting band members, to the division of labour in the band, getting the most out of rehearsal time, and getting a recording deal. I wish I had this great little book when I first started playing in bands. By now I'd be dictating this to my stenographer on the deck of my yacht somewhere out at sea.
Did I save the best for last? I wrote all of the previous assuming the list price of $17.99 - BUT I have since learned that the publisher Hal Leonard is offering a 25% discount to members of any performing rights society such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, etc. AND if you live in the USA they will even ship it to you for free!
BUT - you may ask - what about next year? Do I have to buy the book again? No, you can get just a set of the envelopes now that you know the system.
UPDATE FROM HAL LEONARD: You can order this great book directly from Hal Leonard's agents:
Be sure to enter promo code NY9 at checkout to get the discount.
and even if you are not a member of a performing rights organization you can buy it for $12.99 at Amazon:
Amazon.com
Buy this book and save yourself some money!
While you're at it, visit Tracy's artist page and listen to her amazing singing at:
Tracy Rice on ReverbNation and