The Independent Artist's Bookshelf
Every title written by Feady Crocka, founder of Done Deal Digital — from doing, not theorizing.
Every guide we've built, in one place - plain English, source-checked, and instant download. The game, the money, the rollout, and the moat. Learn it for less than a pro charges for ten minutes.
Music Law
Educational guides — Done Deal Digital is not a law firm and doesn’t give legal advice or legal services. For advice on your situation, talk to a licensed attorney.
Know the game before you sign — contracts, copyright, trademark, royalties, and disputes in plain English.
The Independent Artist's Music Law Handbook
All 13 topics, 81 services, ~31,000 words - every contract term, copyright move, trademark, royalty stream, and dispute decoded in plain English,…
What's Legal & What's Not — The Artist's Guide to Music-Business Law
The plain-English guide to the music-business law that protects your money and your masters. 11 chapters, researched and source-checked against the…
Music Law: Contract Review & Negotiation
Learn how a lawyer reads, redlines, and negotiates any agreement an artist is asked to sign, so they don't give away rights, money, or control by accident.
Music Law: Custom Contract Drafting
Learn how a lawyer builds the agreements you need from scratch, written for your specific situation rather than a generic online template.
Music Law: Copyright Protection & Enforcement
Learn how a lawyer secures legal ownership of your songs and recordings and goes after people who use them without permission.
Music Law: Trademark & Brand Protection
Learn how a lawyer locks down your artist or band name and logo so no one else can use it and you don't get sued for using it.
Music Law: Publishing & Royalty Administration
Learn how a lawyer makes sure every stream of money your songs generate is registered, collected, and actually paid to you in full.
Music Law: Licensing & Sync Clearance
Learn how a lawyer gets your music placed in media for money, and clears other people's music and samples you want to use legally.
Music Law: Business Formation & Label Structure
Learn how a lawyer sets up the legal entities and internal agreements that turn your music activity into a real, protected business.
Music Law: Rights Recovery & Recapture
Learn how a lawyer gets back rights and money you signed away years ago, using laws specifically designed to give creators a second chance.
Music Law: Disputes, Demands & Litigation
Learn how a lawyer steps in when something has gone wrong, with letters, negotiation, or court when needed.
Music Law: Name, Image, Likeness & Publicity Rights
Learn how a lawyer helps you control and monetize the commercial use of your identity, face, voice, and persona.
Music Law: Live Performance, Touring & Booking
Learn how a lawyer papers the deals and protects you around shows, tours, and live appearances.
Music Law: Estate, Legacy & Catalog Succession
Learn how a lawyer protects an artist's catalog and income for the people who come after them, before and after they pass.
Music Law: General Counsel & Ongoing Advisory
Learn how a lawyer is your on-call legal partner for the everyday questions and decisions that don't fit a single project.
Taxes & Money
How independent artists actually get taxed — every fact sourced from IRS.gov.
The Independent Artist's Complete Tax & Money Guide
All seven guides in one: how you're taxed, the deductions, quarterly taxes, business structure, royalties, touring, and audits. 56 pages, 126…
Your Music Is a Business — How Independent Artists Get Taxed
The plain-English guide to how independent artists actually get taxed — self-employment tax, the forms you get, hobby vs. business, and what to do…
Write It Off — The Deductions Independent Artists Miss
The deductions independent artists miss — gear, studio, travel, home studio — and the records that make them stick. Plain English, every fact sourced…
Don't Get the Surprise Bill — Quarterly Taxes for Artists
Why artists get the surprise tax bill — and how to never get one. Quarterly taxes, the safe harbor, the due dates. Sourced from IRS.gov.
LLC, S-Corp, or Loan-Out? — Structuring Your Music Business
Sole prop, LLC, S-Corp, or loan-out? How to structure your music business and what each does to your taxes. Sourced from IRS.gov + the California FTB.
How Your Royalties Get Taxed
How streaming, publishing, PRO, SoundExchange, sync, and foreign royalties are taxed — and how not to get double-taxed. Sourced from IRS.gov.
On the Road — State & Touring Taxes for Artists
Every state you tour can tax you. Nexus, performer withholding, merch sales tax, and not getting taxed twice. Official state + IRS sources.
If the IRS Comes Knocking — Audits, Penalties & How to Stay Clean
What triggers an audit, the penalties that hurt, and how to stay clean — your records are your defense. Sourced from IRS.gov.
Release & Promotion
The exact rollout systems Done Deal Digital runs — single, EP, album, mix & master.
The Rollout Vault (Complete Bundle)
All 4 playbooks (Single, EP, Album, Mix & Master) plus all 4 fill-in 12-step workbooks. The complete release system in one download.
The Album Rollout Playbook
The complete album campaign — rollout timeline, single strategy, press, and release-week execution for a full body of work.
The College Radio Playbook
Complete guide to pitching college radio stations — station lists, email templates, follow-up cadence, and what gets you spins.
The EP Rollout Playbook
The full EP rollout playbook — sequencing, multi-single strategy, and the 12-step campaign to launch a project that lands.
The Mixing & Mastering Guide
Get radio-ready, streaming-loud records — gain staging, the mix chain, loudness targets, and the final master checklist.
The Single Rollout Playbook
The complete 12-step system for rolling out a single — pre-save campaign through post-release momentum. The exact plays Done Deal Digital runs.
The Come Up — Grow Your Fanbase
The plain-English marketing playbooks Done Deal Digital runs to turn strangers into real fans — free downloads, paid ads, and search.
The Come Up — Complete Series (Vol. 1–3)
All three volumes in one — free downloads, paid reach, and Google. The full independent-artist growth toolkit at a bundle price.
The Come Up, Vol. 1 — Free Downloads, Real Fans
Turn a free giveaway into real Spotify followers. Download gates, smart links, and pre-saves — the full playbook, step by step.
The Come Up, Vol. 2 — Paid Reach: Instagram & Facebook Ads
Instagram and Facebook ads as your reach engine — targeting, budgets, and the steps to put your music in front of brand-new fans.
The Come Up, Vol. 3 — Google: Catch ’Em Searching
Catch the people already searching. Google Search + YouTube ads for the music business, including the wide-open prison-music space.
Prison Distribution
The prison-networks guide is paused while we lock the route back down. It is coming back.
Sell Your Music in Prisons — The Guide
The $97 step-by-step guide to getting your music on JPay, GTL/ViaPath & the federal prison kiosks. Edition 2.0, lifetime updates.
Your Craft & Business
The do-it-yourself guides behind our services — write the hook, script the video, tell your story, lock your metadata, and run the business. Each has a done-for-you version if you’d rather we handle it.
The Independent Artist’s Business Playbook
Treat your music like a business — the money map, structure basics, the release as a campaign, reading a deal, and a 90-day plan. Plain English.
Metadata Done Right — Clean Credits, Splits & ISRCs
Lock your credits, splits, and ISRCs so your royalties actually find you — the four IDs decoded, the pre-release checklist, and copy-paste templates.
If It Doesn’t Match, It Can’t Pay
Already released and the money isn’t reaching you? The five systems that must agree, ISRC vs ISWC vs UPC, alternate titles, duplicate IPI numbers, and a self-audit you can run on your own catalog.
Write the Hook — Songwriting, Co-Writes & Splits
Structure, toplines, and hooks that stick — plus how a co-write runs and how to get splits on paper before anyone forgets.
Script It — Music-Video & Short-Form Scripts
The one-page treatment, short-form hooks for TikTok & Reels, and shot direction — write visuals that get watched. Fill-in template included.
Write Your Own Bio & Press Kit
Write your bio, one-sheet, EPK, and press pitch in your own voice — the mistakes that read amateur, and templates to finish today.