Do You Need a Music Attorney?

By Troy Vernon Sutton

Music Attorneys protect the rights of musicians, songwriters, and others involved in the music industry. As you venture into a career as a professional musician, a music attorney should be on your list of contacts.

Contracts have complex clauses and can be difficult to understand. Even when a contract seems to be simple and written in plain English it can contain legal concepts or "terms of art" that have far reaching effects and significant impacts, both good and bad, on an artist's career.

• Is your contract "exclusive"?
• How long does your contract last?
• What happens if someone doesn't do what they promised?
• Do you get to keep the money no matter what?
• Do you own your songs?

I recommend never signing a contract without consulting an experienced attorney. Protect yourself. A music attorney will help you understand what you are signing, precisely what commitments are you promising, and what can expect to receive in return.

It is a false economy when folks believe that they will save money by not hiring an attorney. In my experience, people spend much more money fighting over bad contracts than they ever would have spent hiring an attorney to negotiating a good deal in the first place. The cost of paying for an hour or two of an attorney's time before signing a contract is nothing compared to the cost of finding yourself locked into a bad contract.

The music industry is filled with horror stories about artists signing bad deals. No reputable professional should ever object to having your attorney review a contract before you sign. If they don't want you to talk to an attorney about the deal, it's probably a bad deal. In fact, today many major record companies will only negotiate through an artist's legal counsel.

The Law Offices of Troy Sutton charges nominal fees to provide counsel on your musical career, providing industry insight, looking out for your best interests, and helping you with important decisions that impact each step of your professional career.

What Does a Music Attorney Do?

As a music attorney, I advise and counsel my clients about legal aspects of the music industry. I review, negotiate, draft, and explain contracts, and prepare copyright or trademark registrations. I advise clients on career goals and music business issues such as choosing a manager or record company.

Most importantly, I help my clients avoid bad deals. I work diligently to make sure my clients various contracts with record labels, producers, managers, and band members are good deals.

I generally do not "shop" artists to record labels. Some attorneys do this, but few succeed unless they are working with artists who have already developed a significant industry buzz. Simply spending a fortune on a demo tape and an expensive lawyer will not guarantee a deal with a record company. Most likely you'll wind up with a well engineered demo and a lot less money.

If you have questions about music contracts, the music business, or any other general legal questions, please contact the Law Offices of Troy Sutton.