Kids, death is really not that bad by Tim Renner
Ok, actually the book is in german but the english transation seems to be in production and boy can I suggest you read it. Tim Renner was already organizing gigs for bands when he was young and started working as a journalist which brought him to the idea to write an undercover-story about the music labels… which brought him to Polydor where he then worked, joyfully. He signed Element of Crime, got his first hit with Philip Boa, took over the lead of Progressive Music in 89 and then founded Motor Music 5 years later as part of Polydor. Portishead and The Cardigans as well as 2Pac might be some of the very well known acts from that label. Rammstein would be another, who sold over 500k albums … in the US … in German! :)
After some steps he took over as CEO and Chairman of Universal Music Deutschland in 2001 (PolyGram joined forces with Universal in 1998). He there worked with Eminem, Sting, Pavarotti, U2, Bon Jovi and more. Then, when Universal needed to split with lots of national artists in Germany beginning 2004, he quit his position, took a trip around the world and wrote this book. (The german version of this can be found here.)
He is now one of 100 managers being part of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow of the WEF. The book kicks ass. Why? Mainly because he is a great writer and knows the business inside out. It’s a wonderful mix. It also resonates with me a lot in terms of the problems with the stock market, short term thinking, bad consultants, and new world order due to the internet. The music industry was there due to the high amount of transaction costs in the process but this is slowly being removed and with it the need for the music industry (giants). There are also lots of great stories in the book so this might be for almost everyone. If you are interested in business and the music industry, linked with the times we live in, and want some great reading and writing, … if you are in germany, go out and buy the book. Otherwise, buy it in english when it is out!