If you're trying to get started in the music business, it can sound like everyone is speaking a different language, with all of their demos, promos, one sheets and whozits and whatzits. Don't know the lingo? Don't sweat it! These basic music industry terms will give you all of the vocab you need to talk like an old hat music biz pro. If you want to know more about any of the terms here, just click on the word and you'll go to a more in depth definition.
Promo Package
A package used to promote music, including a promo CD and any appropriate press releases, one sheets, photos and other information. Also known as press kit or press pack.
Promoter
Someone who promotes live performances for bands. (Sometimes people refer to PR companies and publicists as promoters - careful!)
Publishing
Essentially another level of copyright control for songs, publishing deals simply put a person in charge of making sure the appropriate amount of royalties are collected for a song, in exchange for a portion of those royalties and some rights to the song. Most publishers go further than that and actively try to place songs in revenue generating positions, like advertisements or with other artists for cover version, etc.
Radio Plugger
Also sometimes simply known as a plugger, radio pluggers promote releases to radio. Pluggers usually work with specific singles and go around to radio station playlist meetings, playing the singles they are representing and trying to get them placed on a playlist. In some cases, pluggers may work with full albums, letting the stations themselves decide what the single is.
Red Book
Red Book are the basic technical standards for a CD, so called for the color of the booklet that first listed that standards when CDs entered the market. Red Book criteria are becoming a bit outdated due to technological advancements.
Session Musician
A musician who contributes to a recording or a live performance but is not actually a full time member of the band.
Sound Engineer
Generally, the person in charge of making the sound for a show work. There can be many different specific roles for a sound engineer, such as front of house sound or monitor engineer.
Tech Spec
Short for "technical specifications." A venue or promoter usually asks for a tech spec so they can set up the stage properly for a band and ensure all of the bands technical needs can be met.
Tour Manager
Tour managers take charge of the details of a tour. They travel with the band and do all of the jobs like checking into hotels, liaising with promoters, and generally trying to make things go as smoothly as possible. Also sometimes called a road manager.
Tray
The plastic part of a jewel case or digipack that the CD sits in - the part with the teeth.
