This is a book whose title perfectly describes what it is.

A Concise Guide to Music Industry Terms, released by Mel Bay some two decades ago, remains a useful tool for navigating an industry that has developed much of its own jargon over the years. Beginning with "A&R" (artist and repertoire) and ending with "zydeco," this slim reference book covers a great deal of industry-specific terminology in just under 90 pages.

That said, it is what it is and goes no further. There are no chapters or appendices to expand on the topic; beyond a brief foreword by author Joel Leach, A Concise Guide to Music Industry Terms is precisely that, a lexicon laid out in dictionary form. Definitions are brief but thorough and are easily understandable, even to a relative novice in the field.

Terms defined here range from the basic to the highly specific, from the purely musical to the legal and technical. For example:

backline - Term used by music instrument dealers in reference to drums, keyboards, basses, guitars and their amplifiers. (Compare with frontline.)

fiduciary - A situation or relationship between two parties where one acts for another in a position of trust.

intellectual property - Intellectual concepts and ideas translated from people's minds into tangible creations. The tangible form may then be protected by copyright or patent.

Muzak - Name of the largest firm that deals with so-called business music. Term is sometimes inappropriately used in a generic (and frequently derogatory) sense in reference to "canned" music. (See also DMX/AEI Music.)

oldie - Generally considered to be a single or album no longer on the charts or receiving consistent airplay.

swag - (a) Contemporary usage: Giveaway T-shirts or pens with band name or a company logo. (b) Originally: Slang for stolen property; loot. (See also schwag and tchotchke.) (c) Alternative "street" definition: low-grade marijuana.

Leach is a professional in the field, acting at the time of this book's publication as a music industry consultant and expert on issues of music copyright, as well as other occupations directly tied to music. Here, he has compiled a useful resource that musicians might enjoy having at their fingertips. Even if you never open it, it's nice to have on the shelf in case of sudden need.

I picked up a copy back in the day, when my own little Irish band first started recording its music for broader consumption. Let's be honest, though -- we never went much beyond dipping our toes into the industry and never really needed to know most of this stuff. Still, it's interesting and educational for anyone even remotely connected to the biz.