Picture this: your favorite artist just released a brand new album and is gearing up for a world tour spanning hundreds of dates over several months. You wait in excitement and marvel at their talent and work ethic. But who is the driving force behind the scenes making all of this happen? Who is negotiating terms and conditions to secure the tour venues? Introducing the masterminds behind it all: music lawyers.
What is a music lawyer?
Music lawyers are specialized attorneys who assist in legal deals between musical artists and record labels. They ensure that the artist and the label are meeting agreed-upon terms and conditions. They also create and manage deals between artists and performance venues. Music lawyers specialize in copyright claims, trademark issues, property licensing and broadcasting rights. They may help artists make television and movie deals and land collaborations with different brands. Music lawyers also deal with sampling rights designed to avoid copyright infringement.
Without music lawyers, it would be much harder for artists to produce music, tour, make deals with record labels and avoid copyright battles. The average yearly salary for a music lawyer is $100,000.
In addition to helping curate tours, albums and record deals, music lawyers also represent artists in court. The rise of AI software is also putting artists and their teams in court. Recently, Universal Music Group and several other music publishers filed a lawsuitthe AI company Anthropic for using copyrighted lyrics in AI-generated work. Music lawyers work to protect creative licensing and are a focal point in helping the music industry thrive.
Music lawyers and the stars
Music lawyers help artists with some of their biggest projects. Ed Shapiro represented Rihanna for her 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show, Aaron Rosenburg put together Justin Bieber's last tour and helped Ariana Grande launch her beauty line, and Debbie White made the BTS and McDonald's collaboration possible. These are all notable deals made possible by the music lawyers employed by an artists' team.
One memorable example is Christine Lapera, who worked with Katy Perry on the lawsuit against her song "Dark Horse." This case dealt with copyright infringement after Marcus Grey sued Perry in 2014 for plagiarism. Lapera fought for Perry after Grey was awarded a $2.8 million payout and got the verdict overturned in Perry's favor.
Other notable music lawyer and artist pairs include Theo Sedlmayr and Drake, Taylor Swift and Douglas Baldridge, and Doug Mark and Billie Eilish. Some music lawyers are hired by artists for a long period of time like Baldridge, and others are hired on a case-by-case basis like Sedlmayr and Drake.
Behind the scenes superheroes
Music lawyers play a vital role in an artists' team and hold incomparable value within the music industry. They work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly and every involved party upholds legal agreements. They combine their extensive knowledge of the music industry and the law to protect their clients and return justice to the music industry.
