Design a how-to book cover for emerging independent musicians

Music Business Toolbox

Music Business Toolbox is a forthcoming book for independent musicians and emerging record labels. The book includes practical advice about releasing music in today's digital music landscape, from studio recording to paying royalties. The Toolbox also includes more than two dozen "tools" -- spreadsheets, timelines, templates -- to help musicians create effective budgets, manage their metadata, keep projects on track, and evaluate success. The book will be published as an ebook and print book (on demand). The tools will be on an updated version of http://musicbusinesstoolbox.com

Items to design:
- ebook cover (1563 x 2500 pixels)
- print book cover (6" x 9" softcover), spin about .7" wide, plus back of print book

Text for front cover:
The Music Business Toolbox:
Practical Business Guidance for Indie Musicians, from Recording to Royalties
Bryan Calhoun

What design needs to convey:
- Book provides an easy-to-understand, one stop shop for DIY musicians to get actionable guidance on how to manage their music business careers.
- Content is guidance and tools, meant for aspiring amateurs.

Design notes:
- Designs should rely on images of music-related things that existed before 2000 but are still recognizable today. Stereo knobs, recording equipment, cables, pedals, road gear cases, recording decks, signal output images, the actual labels on vinyl records....with two caveats. First, these images have been used a lot so we'll need to scan the field to find something that hasn't been done before. Second, it needs to be genre-neutral enough that folks who play something besides rock guitar will feel like this book is meant for them.
- Design should have a single, clear image as a focus as opposed to a swarm of images/apps/icons.
- Color schemes: lots of flex here, but cover needs to look equally good as an image in Amazon store, on Goodreads, on paperwhite Kindles, etc. Maybe try white + blue + orange
- Preferred fonts: San serifs with some weight to them. 

Things to avoid:
- use of current app icons. Afraid these will get dated too quickly as app design changes.
- use of images of current devices (iPod shapes, iPhone shapes)
- images of music/musicians that implies all musicians are male rockers

Some book covers that have a strong central image:
Made to Stick
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N2HCKQ/ref

Prep
https://www.amazon.com/Prep-Novel-C…081297235X

Exploding the Phone
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SAV5W0/ref

Pinpoint
https://www.amazon.com/Pinpoint-Cha…0393089126

Hotels of North America
http://www.bookdepository.com/Hotel…d=optimist

One Day in the Life of English Language
http://www.bookdepository.com/One-D…d=optimist

The Utopia of Rules
http://www.bookdepository.com/Utopi…d=optimist

Munich Airport: A Novel
http://www.bookdepository.com/Munic…d=optimist