A music-business education used to cost tuition. Now the best of it is published free, every week, by people actually doing the work. Read these and you'll know more than most signed artists.
Artist-first education & advice
Ari Herstand's free guides for independent artists, including a regularly updated comparison of distributors.
CD Baby's long-running blog — practical, current guides on releasing, rights, royalties, and promotion.
The booking-and-touring brain — weekly working-musician guest posts on getting gigs and surviving the road.
Smart articles for curious musicians — songwriting, production, theory, and career, without fluff.
Decades of solid articles on recording, performance, and the business behind both.
Free explainers on music publishing and songwriter royalties, useful background before signing an agreement.
Industry news — know what's actually happening
Daily music-industry and music-tech news for indies since 2004 — the pulse, in ten minutes a day.
Serious global industry reporting — the deals, the data, and the money behind the headlines.
Nashville's industry publication — who's cutting, signing, and moving on Music Row.
Bob Lefsetz's blunt, love-it-or-hate-it industry commentary — read by everyone who runs the business.
Sharp analysis of where music, tech, and money are heading, from a veteran producer-author.
Learn recording & production free
Four decades of recording-technique articles; much of the archive is free to read, with some material behind a subscription.
Warren Huart's channel — real engineers mixing real records, explained generously.
Beginner-to-intermediate production tutorials, clearly presented and free to watch.
Reading order for a beginner: Ari's Take for the career map, Songtrust for royalties, Hypebot for the daily pulse. Thirty minutes a week beats a semester of theory.
This page is part of the No-Money Music Resource Library — free, working links for every corner of a music career, checked by hand.