What do you need to know about the music industry before your craft your plans for music biz world domination? Arm yourself with a few home truths to increase your odds of making music pay your bills - check 'em out here. Got a few home truths of your own to share? Do tell!

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When you book a show with a promoter, a contract for that gig is likely to enter the picture (and if it doesn't enter the picture, it really should). The word "contract" has a way of putting everyone on the defensive, but when it comes to a contract for a gig, try to look at it more as an agreement to work together towards a share goal than a competitive, who-is-going-to-give-up-the-most kind of situation.

A good promotion contract will let both sides know is expected of them before, during and after the show and how any profits (or losses) will be shared. Learn more about promotion contracts.

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1. In yet one more reminder that fighting file sharing is futile, McAfee reported this week that since The Pirate Bay was forced to shut down by a Swedish court, there has been a 300% increase in torrent sites. Some of these sites are nothing but virus mills, but many are indeed for sharing music, movies and more. Talk about a losing battle. Read the story on VatorNews.
2. Although more people know who shot JFK than how Choruss - the Warner Music designed program to give college students special access to music downloads to discourage file sharing/torrents - will work, the rumors that are trickling out make it sound like any promise that program may have had is being slowly but surely being stripped away in the run-up to the scheduled January debut. I have always thought this program had "failure" written all over it, but it just keeps getting worse. Students, the six colleges involved in the Choruss pilot program are not being revealed so you don't have a chance to weigh in on the subject in advance. Nice, eh? Get educated here, on The Chronicle.
3. U2 gave a free, but ticketed, concert in Berlin this week to celebrate 20 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Though the show was free, the promoters decided that they didn't want anyone without a ticket to be able to see the show. The solution? Build a big wall around the venue so no one outside could see in. Yes, they built a wall to commemorate the fall of the Wall. Sehr toll, concert promoters! Get the story on MSN.
4. Excellent advice from Musician Wages for all of you music teachers out there: How to Find Private Music Students.
5. I'm in love with this site: Vinyl Lives - the site "celebrates the independent record store", which is my favorite thing to celebrate (just ask Visa and Mastercard). The site is new, but they have a reader for life in me.

Join me in a new game, won't you? The weekly forum poll - each week, I'll post a poll in the forum, you come by and vote, and seven days later, I'll share the final results. First question: Are Record Labels Obsolete? Vote now! 

Speaking of the forum, one of your fellow readers is looking for advice about choosing a recording studio. Can you help? View her question to share your knowledge.

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