Maximize Your Band’s Income Tax Deductions EVERY YEAR, YOU SPEND CONSIDERABLE AMOUNTS OF MONEY...
entertainment law
The suit brought by Greg Ginn against the members of Flag has been settled
Just got this message from our friends at SST Records: "The suit brought by SST Records and Greg...
Spotify’s Mysterious Royalty System Explained
Since its debut in the U.S. in 2011, a lot has been written about Spotify and its effect on...
LEGAL PAD: Stealing Your Way Up The Charts
The website www.ThatSongSoundsLike.com is dedicated to one mission: placing similar sounding audio clips from well-known artists side-by-side. With hundreds of submissions posted over six years,...
How to (Legally) Break Free From Your Industry Contracts
CONTRACTS PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. You’ll enter into dozens of contract over the course of your career, binding your professional relationships with managers, record labels,...
LEGAL PAD: Registering Your Band’s Trademark
YOUR BAND NAME IS A BRAND NAME, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Registering your band’s name and logo with the United States Patent & Trademark Office is the most effective way of protecting your band’s...
LEGAL PAD: The End of the First Sale Doctrine?
AS A MUSICIAN, YOU WILL BUY AND SELL HUNDREDS OF ITEMS over the course of your career. From instruments to gear, tour vans to used albums, nearly everything you own – minus a handful of cherished...
3 Things Artists Should Know About The Pandora Fight
The Issue Pandora is attempting to reduce the royalty rate they—by law—must pay the artists whose music they stream. Pandora states that they need this rate lowered in order to remain competitive....
Copyright Alert System: Can the Music Industry End Infringement?
PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING HAS ALLOWED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT to become so commonplace that enforcement of the law is nearly impossible. Lawmakers and the recording industry have tried several...
LEGAL PAD: Your Band’s Finances, Paying Professionals, & The Law
WHETHER YOU’RE PLAYING AT LOCAL CLUBS OR TOURING THE REGION, NATION, OR BEYOND, paying the professionals who help you along the way is part of the cost of doing business. But what are the best...
The “Big 4″ of Professional Representation
Know Who’ll Do What For Your Career EVERY MUSICIAN WHO MAKES THE TRANSITION FROM hobbyist to career performer will gradually assemble a team of professionals to take care of their business affairs,...
Labor of Love: Unpaid Internships in the Music Industry
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY is known for its abundance of internships, each sprinkled with the notion that a real opportunity is just around the corner. The prevalence of “unpaid” internships has increased...
Get Paid Your Digital Download Royalties
WHEN RECORD LABELS STARTED SELLING THEIR CATALOGUES AS DIGITAL downloads through online services (iTunes, Rhapsody, etc), a critical issue emerged regarding artist compensation: What percentage...