Below are resources for composers mentioned in Composing a Living. Inclusion on this list, particularly regarding financial services, does not imply an endorsement on behalf of the authors.

 
CHAPTER 1: STARTING TO START

Professional Organizations
American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)*
Chamber Music America
Chorus America
College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA)*
League of American Orchestras
Opera America
The Society of Composers & Lyricists

*Note that under the umbrella of these organizations, there are also regional chapters, which provide multiple points of entry for composers for a single membership fee.

Recommended Reading: Concert Composition
Baumgardner, Astrid. How Creatives Can Thrive in the 21st Century. 
Beeching, Angela Myles. Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music.
Cutler, David. The Savvy Musician 2.0.
Nytch, Jeffrey. The Entrepreneurial Muse: Inspiring Your Career in Classical Music.
Timmons, Jill. The Musician’s Journey.

Recommended Reading: Multimedia Composition
Brown, Bill. Working as a Film Composer: The Art and Business of Composing for Film, TV and Games. 
Davis, Richard. Complete Guide to Film Scoring: The Art and Business of Writing Music for Movies and TV. 
Karlin, Fred. On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring.
Melin, Steven. Family-First Composer: Proven Path to Escape 9–5 and Support Your Family Composing Music for Film, TV, & Video Games.
Phillips, Winifred. A Composer’s Guide to Game Music. 
Thomas, Chance. Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring.

​
CHAPTER 2: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Apps and Softwares
Cloze
Covve
Dex
HoneyBook
Monday CRM

Conferences
American Choral Directors National Conference
The Composer’s Guide to Choral Conferences
Chamber Music America Conference
Chorus America Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Midwest Clinic, International Band and Orchestra Conference


CHAPTER 3: CULTIVATING A SUCCESSFUL MINDSET

Recommended Reading
Gannon, Emma. The Success Myth: The Inspirational Guide to Defining Success on Your Own Terms.
Trumbore, Dale. Staying Composed: Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Doubt within a Creative Life.


CHAPTER 4: GOALS AND ECONOMICS: A STRATEGIC BALANCE

Recommended Additional Reading
Clear, James. Atomic Habits.
Dominguez, Joe, and Vicki Robin. Your Money or Your Life. 
Luttrull, Elaine Grogan. Arts and Numbers: A Financial Guide for Artists, Writers, Performers, and Other Members of the Creative Class.
Sethi, Ramit. I Will Teach You to Be Rich.
Shen, Kristy, and Bryce Leung. Quit Like a Millionaire.
Wheelan, Charles. Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science.


CHAPTER 5: ESTABLISHING A STRONG FOUNDATION

Distribution Options for Self-Releasing Recordings
CD Baby
DistroKid
TuneCore

Free Resources: Sample Libraries, Plug-Ins, and Editing Software
Audacity Free audio-editing software.
iZotope Free plug-ins and tutorials.
Native Instruments Free sound libraries within the Native Instruments catalog.
Project SAM Free sample library.
Spitfire Audio Free and paid sample libraries.
ValhallaSupermassive Free and paid plug-ins.

Free Resources: Perusal Scores
Boosey & Hawkes Online Scores Provides access to over two thousand perusal scores in the Boosey & Hawkes catalog. Free access with registration.
International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) Petrucci Music Library. Free access to over 700,000 scores, many of them in the public domain.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Contemporary Music Score Collection. Contemporary music library where scores may be viewed and downloaded for free.
Free Resources: Writing for Various Instruments, with Extended Techniques
Instrument Studies for Eyes and Ears (Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music). This site provides detailed explanations of instrument ranges, with example scores and videos.
Shaken Not Stuttered. An online resource created by Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti to demonstrate the extended techniques for strings, with score and audio examples excerpted from various compositions.

Recommended Reading
Burgess, Richard James. 2013. The Art of Music Production: The Theory and Practice.

Time Management: Software and Apps
Any.Do
Clockify
Forest
Todoist
Luminate (SoundScan Reporting)


CHAPTER 6: PRICING YOUR WORK 

Nonprofit Research
IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
GuideStar

Pricing Guides
Composer Commission Pay Survey
NewMusic USA Pricing Calculator
GameSoundCon: Survey of Game Audio Industry Creator Salaries 

Recommended Reading
Wixen, Randall D. The Plain & Simple Guide to Music Publishing. 

Selected Sheet Music Distributors (Digital and/or Printed)
Graphite Marketplace
MusicSpoke
J.W. Pepper’s MyScore
Murphy Music Press


CHAPTER 7: DIVERSIFYING INCOME STREAMS

US Performing Rights Organizations (PROs)
ASCAP
BMI
SESAC

Collective Rights Management Organizations
SoundExchange

Digital Service Provider (DSP) Mechanical Fee Collections
Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC)

Rights Organization for Composers of Church Music
OneLicense

Recommended Additional Reading
Forrest, Dan, with Jake Runestad. “The Business of Composing, Part 1: Commissions and Publishing,” Choral Journal, March–April 2023, 24.
Forrest, Dan, with Jake Runestad. “The Business of Composing, Part 2: Licensing,” Choral Journal, March–April 2023, 34.


CHAPTER 8: ASSEMBLING YOUR TEAM 

General Automation Tools and Database Management: Software and Apps
Airtable
Notion
Zapier
Zoho Flow

Social Media Scheduling and Management: Software and Apps
Loomly
Hootsuite
SproutSocial
Planable 
CoSchedule

Project Management: Software
Trello
Jira
Asana
Monday

Financial Management: Software
QuickBooks
Wave
Xero
FreshBooks


CHAPTER 9: TRANSITIONING TO 100 PERCENT FREELANCE COMPOSING  

Recommended Reading
Berkun, Scott. Confessions of a Public Speaker.
Koch, Deborah S. How to Say It: Grantwriting: Write Proposals That Grantmakers Want to Fund.
Larsen, Gail. Transformational Speaking: If You Want to Change the World, Tell a Better Story.


CHAPTER 10: NAVIGATING COPYRIGHT, CONTRACTS, AND LEGAL BASICS

Further Reading
Halloran, Mark. The Musician’s Business and Legal Guide.
Moser, David J. Music Copyright Law. 

Examples of Film-Scoring Contracts
The Society of Composers & Lyricists

Legal Resources
LegalZoom

United States Copyright Laws
Title 17 of the United States Code (Copyright Laws)


CHAPTER 11: ACCOUNTING FUNDAMENTALS AND INCORPORATING YOUR BUSINESS 

Expense Tracking: Apps
Several of the bookkeeping softwares listed above, such as Wave and Quickbooks, have smartphone apps where you can digitally upload your receipts for better expense tracking, or you may choose a standalone expense tracking application.
Evernote (Scan & Convert Image to PDF)
Expensify (Expense Management)

Payroll and/or Bookkeeping: Software
Gusto (Bookkeeping and Payroll)
 
Quickbooks (Bookkeeping) or QuickBooks Payroll (Payroll)
Wave (Bookkeeping and Payroll)
CreditKarma (Free Credit Score monitoring)

Free Business Mentoring and Resources
SCORE


CHAPTER 12: PREPARING FOR LONG-TERM FINANCIAL GOALS

Brokerage Accounts
Fidelity
Charles Schwab
Vanguard 
E*Trade
J.P. Morgan

Robo-Advisors
Betterment 
Wealthfront

Peer Lending
Prosper
Kiva