If you’ve picked up this book, there’s a pretty good chance that you are a musician of some kind. Taking a very philosophical approach to the world, I suppose that one could say in some form or another, regardless of talent, proficiency, experience, or professional status, we are all musicians—singing and dancing to the melody and beat of our individual self-expression. If you accept that broad definition of the term “musician,” this book can be relevant to your coveted place in the Universe as a person who shares whatever form of talent or artistry you bring to the world and to know how your work is affected by the sometimes complex workings of the law.

For purposes of simplicity, I use the term “musician” in the title and throughout this book as a loose, catchall term with the intention that it be interpreted as inclusive rather than exclusive. Allow me to give you a few examples of how using the word “musician” may dissuade some people from the benefits of learning from this book. Since vocalists are not playing a musical instrument, some people (sadly, including some vocalists themselves) do not think of themselves as musicians. While not instrumentalists, vocalists are still regarded as musicians in my mind. I treat songwriters the very same way. Many songwriters cannot read a note of music and can barely play a musical instrument; however, the multibillion-dollar music publishing industry depends on these songwriters to provide musicians with songs to share with the world. Music businesspeople in their roles as managers, agents, producers, and record label executives all perpetuate the sharing of talent, artistry, and products created by musicians; so for purposes of using this book, I consider them musicians, as well.

In short, regardless of your level of involvement in the music business, almost anyone can fit into the definition of “musician,” so if you want to learn something about the music industry, you can benefit from this book. You can be a friend, a family member of a musician, or someone who works closely with a musician. You might be a songwriter, an artist manager, a fan, or an employee of a record label or production company—essentially, a musician or any one of a number of individuals who interact with musicians in a personal or business capacity. Perhaps you aren’t involved with the music industry in any way at this moment, but you are trying to gather enough information to make a decision about diving in. Even you are a musician, as far as I’m concerned. Depending on the context, throughout this book the term “musician” may be used interchangeably with terms such as “artist,” “songwriter,” or some other term describing an artist who creates and shares their skills in the music industry.

Allow me to begin by telling you what this book is not going to do. It’s best to get this out of the way so you won’t be frustrated later when you get the bad news that there’s no magic formula, fairy godmother, effects pedal, pill, or contract that guarantees success in this industry. Some people sadly enter into the entertainment industry thinking fame, fortune, fans, and friends will come without having to work for it. That is simply a fantasy.

This book is not going to make you a better musician. Some musicians are under the mistaken impression that a no-talent artist who is business savvy or is surrounded by astute businesspeople somehow has a better chance at “making it” in this industry. It is important not to confuse artistic excellence with business success. Don’t succumb to that temptation. Even if you are investing time in getting your business acumen together, it is crucial that you keep practicing and improving as an artist. As you will read in Chapter 5, “Artist-Management Agreements,” a great business management team is valuable, but the greatest management team on earth can’t keep an artist’s career going if it is not backed up with some kind of identifiable, growing, and expanding talent. That part of the equation is totally up to you. Time and time again, you can see artists in every genre of entertainment that either refuse or are afraid to grow, so they repeat over and over again what made them successful. While some can sustain a career from this by having a loyal audience that wants to be reminded of “the good old days,” it could be artistically disastrous for you. The best way to eliminate the possibility of suspended animation as an artist is to continue to push your creative envelope.

This book will not replace a lawyer, make you a lawyer, or eliminate legal fees. It is crucial for you to have a grasp of the legal workings of the music business. However, don’t think that after reading this book and understanding the concepts you will be ready to handle all of the legal matters required in your career. Before trying to save the money on legal fees by handling legal matters yourself, consider the lost time and the music that you could have created during the period of time it took you to learn the art and craft of music law. You should add to that the frustration that comes with learning a skill that you might not necessarily want to learn, plus the fact that you won’t do as good of a job as a trained professional. For most people who don’t have the desire, attitude, or aptitude for law, handling the major legal issues that could come up in a musician’s life is the equivalent of trying to do a major brake job on your car after reading a book about it. It’s best to leave some things to the experts while having a clear understanding of what they are doing and why. There is no substitute for the effectiveness of a trained, experienced, and committed entertainment lawyer. This book will give you enough information to navigate the industry and discuss your legal situations more intelligently with others whom you encounter in the business, including your lawyers.

This book is not going to keep you completely up to date on the very latest trends, cases, or interpretations of the law. All you need to do is read the newspapers every day to figure out that our industry is one of the quickest moving industries in the entire world when it comes to how the law changes and how the industry is configured. Like any book trying to keep you up to date with the latest in gear technology for musicians, a book that includes the most recent legal cases would be out of date and obsolete before the ink dries. Legal and industry periodicals do a great job of keeping you informed on the latest legal issues and interpretations. Use them.

This book will not be a substitute for paying your dues. Success in the entertainment industry requires putting in a lot of time and hard work. The hoops you have to jump through, the fires you need to put out, and the artistic, financial, physical, and emotional obstacles that you face are yours and yours alone to overcome. Some people focus far too much on the legal woes of famous (and sometimes failed) artists rather than focus on what made those legal woes occur. Signing contracts without understanding them, entering into agreements with the wrong people, fearing success, acting irresponsibly, making promises that you never intended to keep, and then blaming it all on being a creative artist or businessperson who doesn’t want to be bothered with such details are not legal issues—they are personal issues that all fall under the category of paying your dues as a human being and an artist. These issues cannot be sidestepped; they are all part of growing up and becoming a more responsible person. I will try to point out a few of the obstacles you may encounter in your music career and help you overcome them more easily. The information you pick up from this book could help you avoid a situation that could sidetrack your career. If so, great—then we’ll both have accomplished something of significance. However, you’ll still have dues to pay, so be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Finally, this book will not in any way, shape, or form attempt to discourage you from pursuing something that is important to you. If that “something” is being a happy, creative, and well-rounded professional musician—whether for a $20 gig as a musician for one day of your life or for a 30-year career of royalties, platinum records, and a retirement plan—then by all means, give it a shot. Some books similar to this one paint such a scary picture of the entertainment industry that many musicians use them as a reason not to pursue a musical career. I mean this sincerely—if you’re one of those people looking for a reason not to try, stop reading now and put this book back on the shelf. Save yourself the time. You’ll eventually find your reasons to give up—if not in this book, then somewhere else. It is unrealistic and irresponsible for me to even begin to convey that everyone who wishes to carve out an artistically fulfilling and financially successful career in the entertainment industry will be able to do so. All I know is that during more than two decades in this industry, I’ve come across many people who have managed to make a portion of their living from the music business while maintaining some measure of sanity and happiness—enough people that I will never say it can’t be done.

Enough of what reading this book won’t do for you; let’s take a look at what it will do. This book will walk you through the music industry using a relatively simplified approach. Both practicing a musical instrument and practicing law have taught me to take what appear to be very difficult challenges and break them down into workable components. I’ve designed this book to work the same way. It is divided into four major sections, with each section broken down further into individual components. The first section is an introduction that gives you a broad overview of the various types of legal rights that affect the music business. The second section contains overviews and explanations of the four major contracts that entertainment lawyers negotiate regularly when representing clients in the music field. The third section deals with some of the business interactions that musicians have with each other and with third parties. Part four offers a checklist of legal issues independent musicians commonly face when putting out their own product and presents a chapter on how to effectively work with a lawyer.

While the title and the point of view of this book suggest a purely legal approach to the industry, this book is intended to give you a well-rounded overview of the business. To understand the way the law works within our industry, it’s important to develop an understanding of how the industry works in general. Law is never written or interpreted in a vacuum; it is usually a response or reaction to how a business evolves. The music business has evolved as a result of a combination of the development of technology, art, and society—going clear back to the printing press, up through player pianos, radio, all forms of phonograph records, and beyond to the incredible computer, telephone, and satellite technology being developed as I write this book. For example, sampling technology and the use of samples by artists in recordings led to the enforcement of copyrights affected by sampling. The enforcement of those copyrights (which included actual litigation or the threats of litigation) led to the development of standardized business practices for sampling. The resulting combination is the current practice of having to clear the use of a sample legally with the original copyright holders of both the master recording and the composition. These standards may change over time, just as many other industry standards have evolved. At the end of the day, however, it starts with the creation of a musical work and the person who created it. These are unique because every person who creates is unique. What makes the negotiation and interpretation of the law within the context of you—the creator—and the industry so interesting is that it is not static but rather ever-changing.

Another thing I set out to accomplish in this book is to introduce you to some new vocabulary, business concepts, and ways of thinking that are unique to our industry. I’m a firm believer that kindred spirits attract each other. Drummers, for example, have a unique understanding and approach to music that almost seem to spill over into a language, walk, and secret handshake that belong only to those in the “drummers club.” The same goes for the business side of the music industry. With this book, I hope to demystify the legal language and concepts that often serve to confuse rather than clarify agreements between musicians and those who work with musicians. The more you can understand the language of the business, the less intimidating it will be, which will leave you more confident in making good, solid business decisions.

While it might be useful to read this book in sequence, chapter by chapter, it isn’t necessary. Unless I have included a cross-reference to another chapter, you can read and use each of the chapters as a standalone unit. My hope is that this approach will make the book a good legal reference for years to come. For example, if you encounter an issue with your band’s partnership, you can go straight to the chapter on business entities without having to read the rest of the book to gather most of the material that will apply. Of course, the information from the other chapters will help you make some decisions that may affect how you create and maintain your business entity, but for the most part, you won’t have to read everything leading up to a particular chapter to understand it.

The book has been intentionally laid out with large margins to give you room to jot questions or notes into it. When I was a young French horn student, I had a teacher who encouraged me to mark up my music books because he felt is was important that I be reminded what I learned while practicing and playing the same pieces over and over. Years later, when I saw what I wrote, I could savor the artistic, emotional, and intellectual insights that had occurred. Don’t be afraid of the margins—the notes that you write are probably the most important pieces of information that you will get from this book.

Each chapter will open with a short hypothetical scenario related to the general business and legal concepts covered in that chapter. Most of these hypothetical situations have been recreated as composites from actual cases that occurred in the industry at one time or another. These hypothetical situations will not cover all of the issues in the chapter; rather, they are intended to give you a quick idea of the troubles that can crop up if you don’t attend to those legal issues properly. As you read each chapter, I recommend reviewing the hypothetical situation to put the theoretical and legal issues into context with the factual issues.

You will also find Companion Questions at the end of each chapter. As with the hypothetical situations, these questions are not intended to be complete checklists for your business deals; they are designed to be a starting point for the free exchange of ideas, fears, and concerns of individual parties when entering into creative and business relationships with each other. The Companion Questions are not meant to be exhaustive; once again, I encourage you to mark up the book with your answers and some questions of your own. Each deal, each person involved in the deal, and the circumstances that brought the parties together are unique and should be approached in that manner. One way to do this is to ask yourself questions that are unique to you and your deal. Taking a “companion” approach to this book, think of the Companion Questions as an experienced hiking guide asking, “Have you tried this road?” or, “What do you think will happen if you stepped on those loose rocks over there?” The questions are based on my own experiences and the number of stories—both good and bad—that I’ve heard from others who have traveled the path before you. Companion Questions are not intended to result in definitive directives for you to follow blindly; they are concepts and concerns for you to take into account when making your own decisions and working through your goals, actions, and deals in the business.

The most effective way to use this book is as a catalyst to learn as much as you can about the industry as a whole and each individual component of your musical career. Your goal in reading this book should be to ensure that the business relationships and the accompanying deals that you enter into throughout your career are sensible, clear, fair, and well-thought-out—commitments that you are proud to honor.

Come with me; let’s take a walk together and be companions for a while.