Recommended Reading for the Pivoting Musician
Photo by Patrick Tomasso
As a follow-up to the Pivot Project stigma survey and collection of musician profiles, I wanted to share a resource list of recommended reading for musicians (or anyone else) interested in “pivoting.” From side hustle hobbies, launching small businesses, changing careers entirely, or simply expanding your horizons outside of the practice room — there’s something here for everyone.
To recommend a resource to be added to this list, please leave a comment below. I will add to this list as it evolves!
*Books noted with an asterisk denote titles recommended by AP readers, IG followers, etc.
Entrepreneurship & Small Business
The Personal MBA — Josh Kaufman
The Ten Day MBA — Steven Silbiger
The Visual MBA — Jason Barron
The Lean Startup — Eric Ries
Business Model Generation — Alexander Osterwalder
*Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup — Bill Aulet
Purple Cow — Seth Godin
*Building a StoryBrand — Donald Miller
Career Changes, Pivots, & Finding Your Path
What Color is Your Parachute? — Richard Nelson Bolles
Refuse to Choose — Barbara Sher
The Savvy Musician: Building a career, earning a living, and making a difference — David Cutler
Beyond Talent: Creating a successful career in music — Angela Myles Beeching
*How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up — Emilie Wapnick
*Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live — Martha Beck
*The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One — Margaret Lobenstein
*Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World — David Epstein
*Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life — Bill Burnett
Finance & Personal Finance
Broke Millennial — Erin Lowry
Broke Millennial Takes on Investing — Erin Lowry
You Need a Budget — Jesse Mecham
The Simple Path to Wealth — J.L. Collins
*Profit First — Mike Michalowicz
Creativity, Productivity, & Mindset
Atomic Habits — James Clear
Learn Better — Ulrich Boser
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration — Ed Catmull
Mindset — Carol S. Dweck
*The Hard Thing About Hard Things — Ben Horowitz
*Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life — Jim Kwik
*The 5am Club — Robin Sharma
Inspiration
Discipline Equals Freedom — Jocko Willink
The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company — Robert Iger
Tribe of Mentors — Tim Ferris
Tools of Titans — Tim Ferris
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means I get a tiny, tiny commission for purchases made via this page. This simply helps to keep the website alive and evolving.
