Entertainment Attorney Expert Blog

This blog is an interview between a professional Entertainment Attorney and me. The purpose of the interview is to get advice from an expert that has the necessary skills and experience in my sector of the entertainment industry. As an artist manager there are times where I will need to seek legal advice from a industry professional not only for my clients but also for myself.

The Entertainment Attorney I chose to interview name is Gregory P. Eveline. The founder and head attorney at NOLA Entertainment Law has provided his services to many known famous acts. So his creditability is not an issue for the most part. To make this interview go smooth as possible I prepared some question relevant to my field to ask Mr. Eveline.

J: Tell me a little about yourself and how you got started in the Entertainment Industry?

Mr. E:  Okay where do I start? I was a record retailer, distributor and producer before I became a successful manager and concert promoter for 10 years. I’ve worked with artist such as R.E.M., Billy Idol, Marianne Faithful and the Dead Kennedys, to name a few. As time went on I felt my wealth of knowledge would make me a great Entertainment Attorney so I became one.

J: So what type of services you provide that’s relevant to Artist Management?

Mr. E: Entertainment Law, Copyright and Trademark Protection, Contracts, Licensing, Advertising, Merchandising and Branding.

J: What are some common mistakes or trends of Artist Managers that you have notice recently?

Mr. E: The most common mistakes I’ve noticed from Artist Managers are errors on copyright paperwork.

J: Are there ways I can protect myself in a written agreement between my artist and me?

Mr. E: Yes there are a number of clauses you can put in an agreement to protect yourself like option periods, having all monies coming from the label instead of the artist and earnings after the term.

J: What are some things to look out for when licensing Intellectual Property?

Mr. E: Yes the assignment of the copyrighted material. Never give full rights or ownership. Licensing the material for use would be the appropriate action to do.

J: What is a conflict of interest and how does it apply to Artist Managers?

Mr. E: Conflict of Interest is when two parties have the same person representing them. In most case this is not a problem until a legal issue arises. It depends on the professional field and preference. This applies to an Artist Manager because that role requires you to be just that. For example you can’t be the Artist Manger and the Booking Agent. 

J: Are there any other legal liabilities that may be of my concern being in the field of Artist Management?

Mr. E: Yes be prepared to be sued if your artist misses a show or uses copyrighted material without permission as long as you represent artist.

J: Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to conduct this interview. The information that you have shared with me was very informative. I really appreciated and look forward to doing business with you in the future.

Mr. E: You’re very welcome Jamar anytime. I love helping ambitious individuals that have the desire to learn more about their field or the Entertainment Industry.       

Industry Liabilities

Copyright infringement, starting up a studio and being an Artist Manager are things I see as a liability at this current time. There are options and other ways to protect you from liabilities. Hopefully after reading this will help and enlighten the people that need this type of information.   

Sampling music is a problem in today’s Entertainment Industry. Sampling is taking a piece of work that’s copyrighted and using it with another creation. Many people frown upon sampling because the work is looked at as a knock off and not authentic. Although, numerous hits have been created with sampling. Nevertheless if you are sampling parts of copyrighted material it’s a liability if you don’t obtain the permission or the proper license. The copyright owner/holder may file a lawsuit against you for infringement for millions.

Starting your own studio in the music industry is a liability. For one the economy is messed up and the big four has pretty much brought every successful independent record label. I feel it’s a monopoly between the four and even if you still manage to start a label you better have a good plan. Like lower prices than the competition, better equipment and a good list of clientele in order to pay the bills to keep it up and operating. Not to mentioned you would need to pay a staff to manage the sessions. For financial purposes and limited resources it’s better to rent at this time. It will save you time and money to allocate to other projects.

I feel being an Artist manager is a liability especially working with a new artist. It’s a lot of work, time and money invested into exposing an upcoming artist in the Music Industry. Time and money that you may never get back because there’s no guaranteed that the artist is going to make it. It’s not out of the norm for an Artist Manager to come out of their own pocket to help artists to accomplish a goal. Also if you don’t take the necessary steps like having a written agreement to protect yourself an artist can drop you right before they blow up. Then it’s back to square one.  

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Is Artist Development relevant in the Music Industry?

How relevant is Artist Development in the Music Industry? There are two answers to this question it is and its not. There are so many talented unknown artists undiscovered simply because it is relevant. These unknown artists typically try to handle all their affairs by themselves. So in most cases they are not represented by a manager and lack the business side of the Music Industry. Also with good not being good enough well that doesn’t help their situation at either. What these artists fail to realize is that without proper guidance and the absence of knowledge in their field actually reduces their chances to get into the Music Industry. Just like the juggernauts in the game the decisions these unknown artist make affect their preexisting career. Now lets examine the superstars that’s already established in the Music Industry. More specifically live acts and performances. Due to the advanced technology society we live in today music engineers have made artists that can’t sing hits records. Although, I’m not pointing fingers the engineers are just doing their job and are only a small element responsible for this issue. The issue is that after these hit records are created and its touring time or the artist have to perform live their performances are horrible. Leaving millions of their fans disappointing because they now know the truth. It might don’t be a problem in the beginning of the artist career because their spending majority of their time recording but later album sales will reflect. Labels can careless about an artist bettering him-self or her-self all they care about is the numbers so Artist development is not a priority. So with that being said these artists should take initiative instead of knowing and ignoring the truth. I propose that all the artists that have this issue find the time and seek vocal coaching after all they already have the income.


Source:

Passman, D., (2009). All you need to know about the music business. New York: Free Press.

Frascogna, X., Hetherington, H., (2004). The business of artist management. New York: Random House Inc.

The interview

Initially when given the assignment to interview someone, I planned

to take a trip to meet somebody in my field.

Before I was able to follow through with that idea, I found just what

I needed where I least expected it.

While discussing my insurance with a State Farm agent, it was brought

to my attention that in addition to insurance, they also provided

services for those with financial needs. Who would have thought? I

began inquiring, but realizing that her time was valuable, I wanted to

be considerate and I requested to arrange a time to discuss just these

things in more detail. She acceded and scheduled an appointment for me

the very next day.

When I arrived, I was warmly greeted and offered something to drink.

Once situated, I knew that I needed to use the next hour very wisely

as I had so many questions.

J: Tell me a little about yourself and what started you in the banking field?

SF: I started here as an insurance agent, but almost immediately I

became bank certified. After seeing how much the additional products

and services could benefit my customers, I jumped right in.

J: So exactly what kinds of products are you referring to?

SF: Beginning with multiple different credit cards, we also service

checking and savings accounts. Those are some of the more common

products anyways. I am also able to conduct loans for vehicles either

off the lot or a private party sale, refinances, and even personally

secured loans using a vehicle as collateral.

J: What kind of rates do you have and what does it take to get approved?

SF: Starting with the credit cards, anywhere between 11.24-20.24%. Our

Interest Checking accounts earn different amounts weighing in on the

amount in the account at any one given time. The possibility of earned

interest is up to 74%. With the savings account, again it depends on

your average balance, but the range is 12-81%. For an auto loan,

depending on the type of vehicle, year, amount financed, and term in

which the loan would be paid off. Starting at 3.49% and up, there are

various other facts that could determine your rate. Whats even better

though, is that we don't charge any application or origination fees.

J: Interesting. What else?

SF: Well, if you are into investing, we offer things such as CD's and IRA's.

J: What exactly is a CD?

SF: A CD is another form of investment vehicle. Money in different

increments is placed with the company where it earns interest for a

specified term. You choose the term that you are most comfortable

with. This can be as short as 3 months and as long as 60. Again,

depending on how long you leave the money with the company is how much

interest you will earn. It goes as high as 2.35%. I must say though,

if your looking for a larger return, planning a retirement for

example, I would recommend an IRA.

J: What is an IRA?

SF: An Individual Retirement Account. There are two different types-

traditional and Roth. Depending on if you prefer to pay your taxes on

the money when you place it in the account, or when you go to draw

from it is how you decide which one is right for you.

J: Why not just put money into a savings account?

SF: State Farm has partnered with some very well known and very

successful investment firms such as Blackrock who invest your money in

different stocks and bonds. This gives you a better return which is

typically much higher than what a savings account could offer.

J: But isn't investing in stocks dangerous? Couldn't you lose money?

SF: It's possible. The market rises and falls quite frequently,

however we take the trust you have given us very seriously. We are a

very conservative company, never making a move that is too risky no

matter what the gain might be. If your not comfortable with investing

this way, believe it or not, a whole life insurance policy might be in

your best interest.

J: Life insurance? What good would that do me if I'm dead?

SF: Good question. A whole life insurance policy not only provides a

death benefit, but it also incurs interest. There is a guaranteed

interest rate, but sometimes you can earn up to 6% interest which is

much more than that of a traditional savings account. You can borrow

against the cash value or interest of the policy as you choose. There

is also the possibility of receiving a dividend.

J: Can you explain to me what a dividend is?

SF: Of course! The rate you pay on your policy is calculated based on

the amount the company needs to conduct business servicing the policy

as well as paying out its claims. Sometimes the amount needed is over

estimated, or there are less claims, thus the money is given back to

the policy holder. This money can either be accepted as cash, or

applied to the cash value of your policy.

J: Thank you for your time and information. I really learned a lot!

Concluding the interview I felt like I had an abundance of

information. Useful information at that. I had no idea there were so

many options when it comes to investments and banking. I guess there's

an option out there for just about anybody depending on how much they

are willing to risk. A simple appointment with your banker and the

right questions is more beneficial than I ever thought possible.

Money After the Deal

As an artist manager it is important to keep your income after your management deal in mind when negotiating, to compensate for having no job security after your term. This is called Earnings After the Term. Every manager contract says what the manager gets paid on earnings after the term. If you are not aware of what you are entitled to the artist will try not to pay you. This negotiating point can make all the difference, helping you survive when you are out of work until you find your next gig or band. As long as those earnings are generated under ‘‘contracts entered into or substantially negotiated during the term.’’ The statement above means two things. As to records made during the term of the management deal, the manager gets a commission from sales of these records occurring after the end of the manger deal; and the manager is paid on records made after the term of your management deal, if the records are recorded under a contract signed during the term. Some strategies that the artist may use to prevent Earnings after the term are Sunset Clauses. These are clauses you want to watch out for because they end the day for commission. It’s great for an artist but not so great for the artist manager. Another important aspect of you management deal is called a key man clause. It’s more helpful to the artists but can be beneficial for a manager also. Although you may have a good relationship with an artist, the artist contract might be with a corporation or partnership if you work for one. You can be fired or leave the company and not be obligated to adhere to those terms. Leaving the artist to the next manager on the company roster. The key man clause protects the artists and says the person with whom you have a relationship must personally act as your manager, and if not, you can terminate the deal. The reason why it is beneficial to the manager is because if you do work for a corporation or partnership and have a great artist with a good relationship you would want that clause inserted into the artist’s contracts to keep representing your artist.

Source:

Passman, D., (2009). All you need to know about the music business. New York: Free Press.

Artist Management Income

You get what you pay for. The role of a personal manager can make or break an artist career. The most important aspects of a manager’s job are helping artists with major business decisions, helping the artist with the creative process, promoting the artist career by hyping them to everyone the manager meets, coordinating the artist concert tours by working with their agent to make the best deals promoters, pounding the artist record company to maximize the advertising, marketing campaigns for the artist record and generally being a buffer between them and the outside world. The income for personal managers is really arbitrary. The financial aspect depends on the deal negotiated with the artist he or she plans to represent. Commission for managers are typically from 15% to 20% of an artist earnings, with the majority getting 15%. These percentages are generally applied to the artist gross earnings, before deducting any expenses. For compensation managers that represent a new band or an unknown artist should aim and negotiate for 20%. The leverage in that negotiation or argument is that the risk is greater and it may be years-if-ever-before the manager gets paid. If the manager and artist cant come to an agreement on the 20%. It can be implemented in the deal that the manager gets 15% but it escalates to 20% when the artist earns a certain dollar amount. The term is another key element of a manager’s income. It simply means the management agreement and the period of time that a manager will work for an artist. Typically a management agreement is three to five years. It’s in the manager’s best interest to have the agreement as long as possible for job security reasons. If you are a manager your worst nightmare and the last thing you want to happen is work for an artist three years and get dropped because of the length of your term while the artist is about to finally see success.    

Source:

Passman, D., (2009). All you need to know about the music business. New York: Free Press.