will receive the Cedars Sinai Board of Governors 2019 Visionary Award. The award is a fitting one, not just for the work the lawyer/author has done on behalf of the hospital, but for his groundbreaking 1991 book “All You Need to Know About the Music Business,” the 10th edition of which is out this week on Simon & Schuster. Passman estimates the book has sold a half million copies in its various iterations over that time.
“It had to be revised every three years because the industry was constantly changing,” says Passman. “I never thought it would be as radical as it has been, but the numbers certainly needed to be updated every few years.” The advent of streaming has made Passman bullish on the record business, although he is concerned at the prospect of music becoming a utility that gets charged to a phone or Internet bill.
Other major seismic shifts included the introduction of SoundScan , the Digital Performance Right and Sound Recording Act , the arrival of Napster and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA] and the emergence of so-called “360 deals” . Another area which has changed over the years is the live concert business – which has gone from a regional local network of promoters to an industry largely controlled in the U.S. by two national companies, Live Nation and AEG. Passman enlists CAA’s Rob Light and Marc Geiger to help him update that section.