I read balance sheets for a living, and the rock industry has handed me some of the strangest ones I have seen. Not because the money is small. Because the money is large and the public story about where it goes is almost always wrong. Fans think the band that sold out stadiums for thirty years must be sitting on a fortune to match. The ledger usually says otherwise.

Digital ebook (PDF). Instant download after purchase, no physical item shipped.

What’s Inside

• The Statement Nobody Explains
• The Advance Is a Loan, Not a Gift
• Who Owns the Song Versus Who Owns the Record
• The Touring Ledger
• The Catalog Sale, Explained Like a Ledger, Not a Headline
• Four Bands, Four Very Different Deals
• The Band as a Corporation
• Merch, Sponsorship, and the 360 Deal
• Forgeries, Phantom Credits, and Paper That Lies
• Building Your Own Ledger