Hello guys,
simple as that.

What's your TOP 5 Music Production books?
I've already found another thread about books of music theory, but not about the series of topics that a producer needs nowadays in 2025 about Music Production, Mixing, Mastering and even about label management, design, social networking, marketing, etc. too.

Taking all that in consideration, I share first, my TOP5 and I invite you to share yours...

1- Mixing Engineer's Handbook - 5e
2- Making Music - 74 Creative strategies for electronic music producers
3- Dance Music Manual - 5e
4- The Secrets Of Dance Music Production
5- How Music Works

 

The Recording Engineer's Handbook 5th Edition by Bobby Owsinski
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook: 5th Edition by Bobby Owsinski
Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science by Bob Katz

 

Bob Katz's book as mentioned above, and The Art & Science of Sound Recording by Alan Parsons. The latter is especially good for people who are able to get out of the box and their bedroom and into a "real" recording environment and need to have some understanding of how to actually mic things up and work with acoustic sound, as well as getting into use of outboard equipment (real or virtual). Obviously there's loads of other great books out there but those are the two that meant the most to me.

 

What Radio and Smeggers said, plus:

Behind the Glass Vol 1 and 2 - Howard Massey
Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording, Vol 1 and 2
Al Schmitt on the Record: The Magic Behind the Music
Creative Music Production: Joe Meek's Bold Techniques by Barry Cleveland
The Use of Microphones by Alec Nisbett
The Adventures of Mixerman


Currently reading Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy by Tony Visconti which is great.

 

Mixing Engineer's Handbook - 5e is a must for understanding the core principles of mixing. Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers offers a lot of inspiration and fresh approaches. Dance Music Manual - 5e is essential for electronic producers, covering everything from sound design to arrangement. The Secrets of Dance Music Production gives a deeper look into the techniques that make dance tracks stand out. Finally, How Music Works is great for grasping the theory and creative side of music, which ties everything together.

 

Making music, like any other product, requires a long chain to reach the final listener. As an artist, you cannot control all the links in this chain and you need intermediaries. I personally recommend that you focus on learning better and producing quality products and leave the rest to other people. If you take your focus off the main task of making music and focus on all the links in the chain, you will eventually weaken your artistic spirit and you may end up focusing more on the music business than being satisfied with being an artist. An artist should focus on art and not get into the complexities of other areas. Those complexities have no impact on the quality of your artwork. Contact influential people, trust them, and let them handle the rest.

 

Think big... Start your own website, your own online radio station, and if you want
or need to earn money with music professionally, start your own record label.

Find like-minded people in your area and share a practice space, for example, or start a non-profit organization to promote culture.

Participate in city festivals or other events in your area. If you wait for others, you'll wait forever or in vain.
Take your career into your own hands.

 

I think besides production, more focus needs to go into personal branding and music marketing. Too many talented producers get stuck in obscurity because they don’t know how to promote. Books on social media strategy or even “how to build a sustainable creative career” would be super relevant