The “New” Music Industry - Access (and Pitfalls) for All

I recently represented a talented young musician in his negotiations with an indie label. The label wanted to manage him as a producer. The musician wanted to make sure he was getting a fair deal and also wanted to be able to independently pursue other musical endeavors (for example, he also had a band, but he did not want the band to be managed by the indie label). Both my client and I learned a lot about music industry contracts, and I wanted to share some of that knowledge over these past few blog articles.

Perhaps my biggest take-away from this experience is how the music industry has changed in recent years. It has become democratized. We’ve all heard of artists like Chance the Rapper ditching the traditional route of signing with a label and simply producing his own albums under his own company. As technology improves and production/recording costs go down, that sort of path is becoming a real option for more and more artists.

In addition, it’s easier for artists to promote themselves these days. Digital advertising is relatively inexpensive, and the worldwide reach of social media allows videos and songs to go viral in no time at all. In recent years, we have seen plenty of examples of songs becoming major hits before ever being spun by a radio DJ.

All of these developments put power back into the hands of the artists who create the music in the first place, and that is a great thing. Gone are the days of the goliath-like music labels who control the industry and make access difficult. However, those old goliaths also brought decades of experience and business knowledge to the negotiation table, which meant their best artists were legally protected when it came to things like fair deals on touring revenue, protection of intellectual property rights, and collecting on royalties when their songs were used in movies, commercials, etc.

Now, with the democratization of the industry, more artists are left to figure out all those issues for themselves. They would be wise to consult with counsel, but the entertainment business is a bit of a niche, and many up-and-coming young artists likely won’t be able to afford highly experienced entertainment lawyers. It will be interesting to see how the market fills that gap going forward.

It’s a brave new world for music artists. My advice? Well, I can’t put it any better than The Grateful Dead: “watch each card you play and play it slow.”