Honest Abe gives you a fair shake.

Music producer Kashif's software gives you the lowdown before the deal

How many times have you heard about record artists who sign contracts only to find out later that their record deal was a raw deal? Kashif hopes that his new software product, Honest Abe, the Automatic Record Royalty Computing Program, will take the guesswork out of signing contracts. "It's not that record companies are necessarily cheating artists, it's just that liberties can be taken with how they interpret and report record sales that most artists aren't aware of," explains Kashif, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brooklyn Boy Books, Entertainment and Information.

The producer, songwriter, singer, author and artist has been in the music industry for 24 years and has written several books on how to maneuver on the business side of the music industry. "We're hoping to take some of the emotionalism out of signing a contract and put the process back into the business arena where it belongs," says the Grammy award-winning producer. The software will not only calculate present and future royalty rates, but it will also let artists know when royalties are incorrect and past due.

Honest Abe doubles as an industry tutorial by allowing users to click on certain music industry-specific words that activate a brief explanation of the term. However, if more in-depth information is needed, users can click on "more" and get reams of information on the term and how it relates to them as an artist. Just by using the program, you can become more savvy, says Kashif, who believes it's his duty as an industry veteran to help others get information to help their careers.

"This program will help the odds even for beginning artists," he says. "Besides, when you have more informed artists, everybody wins--including the record companies." Honest Abe retails for $499 in advance from the company; $599 in bookstores.

For more information contact Brooklyn Boy Books, Entertainment and Information at 310-454-4555.