As part of the Industry Takeover Series, this panel about music law was hosted by UD’s very own NAYANA AB. Titled ‘Legal 101: Know Your Rights’, the panel featured music lawyers Michael Lucas from Lee & Thompson, Olivia Aikins from Empire and Ben Foulston from Clintons.
The panel explained the different types of deals: record deals, management deals, publishing deals and production deals and how they differ from each other. Publishing and royalties were also broken down, a key part of an artist’s income – there are also varying types of publishing deals, administration deals and exclusive songwriter agreements.
Advice was also offered on how to find lawyers and to always shop around before settling. They spoke about how the more leverage you have the more it’ll work to your advantage – so the better you do, the more you can negotiate.
Legal rights in music is such an important area – if you’re an aspiring artist or producer definitely do not neglect this aspect of the industry – it’ll be what saves you in a sticky situation! Make sure you read up on it and attend as many panels as possible, we’ll be announcing the next one soon!
