Should I invest in a music attorney??

[KIRBIE]

Should I invest in a music attorney to shop my music? I really do love taxi and I have learned a lot from it (and plan to continue doing so). But while most people are here for film/tv placements, I'm not. I'm trying to get my music into the hands of people at record labels. And the problem with that is taxi only sends your stuff to the label if your songs are close to perfect, not because you have "it" or a good vibe or whatever

for instance, Ke$ha (extremely successful, and I love her lol) had connections and had her songs sent to producers and what not. They didn't really like her songs....but in one of them she rapped a little. Though they didn't care for the songs, they saw the star quality, she stood out to them because of that and they went forward from there.

Well I just wanted to ask you all if you knew of any music attorneys who do their job really well, and how much they cost. And when I mean good music attorneys, I mean the kind who don't just shop anyone; the ones who shop you if they think you have potential.

thank you, I know I'll probably be waiting forever for the answer to this lol!

[Casey H]

Hi Kirbie
Good question. Shopping yourself as an artist is obviously more challenging and complex than writing for film/TV (duh)...

You could seek out a music attorney or agent to represent you. First you'd have to impress a good one that you have the potential and depending on the deal, it could cost you a lot of money. Ideally you should only pay someone a percentage of income to represent you. Some music attornies charge a monthly fee ($500-$1000/mo) plus expenses. That's where it gets a stickier because someone is making money off you regardless of success... I'm sure there are some very good ones out there who charge like that, but you have to be much more careful.

My suggestion (with limited info about you) is this... First get out there doing regular gigs and put out a CD on your own. Build a buzz about you, even if only at a local level. If you can find a manager to help accomplish this on a percentage basis, that would be good. When you have some buzz about you, you have many more options.

I will send you some info off-line...

Best
Casey

[KIRBIE]

thanks casey!!

Yeah I was thinking of getting one that you pay hourly....sounds good to me! What do you think??

[Casey H]

thanks casey!!

Yeah I was thinking of getting one that you pay hourly....sounds good to me! What do you think??

Good idea if you find a way to tunnel into Fort Knox...

Maybe step back for a second and look at what obstacles you need to overcome to:

* Get gigs (or more gigs if you are already doing some)
* Produce a CD

The caveat on making a CD (beside the cost) is get feedback on the songs/tracks first so you are investing in the best possible & polished material.

Music attornies can be very expensive. And without a CD, you may have trouble getting one interested. They need material to work with-- a professional looking and sounding CD is probably a minimum requirement.

This is not at all my area of expertise... just some opinions. I hope lots of others will chime in with their thoughts.

You have a lot of talent! I'm a fan and rooting for you!

Casey

[simonparker]

Well Kirbie....you bring up a good point...Taxi has more success with Film/TV at a much larger ratio than they do having an artist sign to a major....

Also, I like your wording in this..."Invest" in a music attorney, rather than pay...so chalk up a point to you for mentioning such.

Now in answer to your question. There are music attornies that will have no problem taking a check from you, putting your CD in an envelope and shipping it off to the A&R departments of the labels, where it either gets filed away, or thrown away, depending on the attorney's relationship with that label.

However, there are "real" lawyers that will "shop" your music, under a few guidelines, that I think, for you, unfortunately, you're going to find them much like Taxi screeners. Most lawyers in this category are working at creating a network to create business for themselves with both artist and labels. They can help with contracts, formulate compromise from both artist and label knowing the ins and the outs. They also have a reputation of having "good ears" and will only send the absolute "best" music they get their hands on, to the A&R.

So, in response to your comment about having music that's not quite "close to perfect", I think you're going to find it difficult to have a credible shopping lawyer pitch your music, unless you're at that point.

In regards to cost, many of these lawyers use a retainer system. The retainer that my attorney has charged me is in excess of $3,500. For shopping, it could easily go up to $5,000. Then you're paying on an hourly rate of over $400 per hour. All that, with no guarantee that you're going to get signed - only that the song will be pitched along with other tunes to A&R folks. Are you willing to pay such an amount?

The other item I wanted to respond to, was your comment about Ke$ha. Your comment is not 100% correct. Ke$ha has been around with a lot of producers before getting her record deal (and work with Katy Perry's video and vocals with Flo Rida, which was created through Dr. Luke/Max Martin's involvement). As I understand it, from one of my co-writers who has written with one of the writers on her Animal CD, Kesha was working with Jimmy Harry, Jonathan Rotem, Evan Bogart, Toby Gad, and Ric Ocasek to name a few, well before she garnered enough interest for a label consideration (despite supposedly working "immediately" with Max Martin/Dr. Luke). She was working with some really skilled producers to get her to the level she needed to be to get A&R listening to her work. She also was doing this in LA, as opposed to being outside that city...

So perhaps you want to consider all avenues and approaches before reaching out to an attorney? Why not try to get your music to be as good as it can possibly be by being "perfect" as you suggested, and then, if Taxi is not cutting it for you in terms of connections and opportunities, then reach out to an attorney? I suspect, in your pursuit of getting your music to where it needs to be, you're going to cross paths with some excellent producers, perhaps some that I've mentioned above, and that will eliminate your need for an attorney.... best of luck!

[Kolstad]

IMHO Absolutely NOT!, Kirby.

Ever heard of the term 'risk society'? Today there are no, NONE, that will 'believe' in your 'talent' and 'invest' in your 'potential'! If they say they will, you'd better watch out, because they will likely be a sweettalker with no clout, con artist or be looking to pull some scam off of you.

This is exactly why shows like American Idol are big now. There, every contestant will have to PROVE these buzzwords with otherwise no real meaning to them. You have 'talent' if you can impress people with your performance. Performance is what counts, nothing else. You have 'potential' if you gain fans by your performances. They will 'invest' in you when they are absolutely sure there's no risk to it, just like in American Idol. The winner get's a (economically very poor) record deal, and the artist has gained so much popularity from the tv show that the first release is preordered to an amount that'll at least draw even, for the record company (many artists are on the brink of bankruptcy and looses money today, due to the heavy expences on marketing and distribution). You will get a chance, when there's no risk what so ever, for the ones with the wallet.

Some artists have been known to get lucky if they can show a track record and 50.000 fans on MySpace (Taylor Swift as an example), but you just can't shortcut it with a lawyer, Kirby. You have to be the full package right off. Plan your steps wisely one at the time after that.. gather a 'team' that'll bring you ahead. It's all about relationships (with other artists, writers, producers, managers ect.), not formal contacts through lawyers. They will rob you blind, and just move envelopes IMO When you are to sign an actual deal, it's another story.

If your songs are not there, and you want to be a performer anyway, team up with great writers, or team up with a band that can do amazing covers, get a web prescence, promote yourself on YouTube, market yourself to get more fans (not money), be ready to document all the praise/fans/performances you get, and do it in order to SHOW it to the record companies. They want facts, not just a 'vibe'. The old maids tales about being 'discovered' are sleeping pills, and not likely to happen in todays environment. Times has changed, and other values counts now.

We live in a 'risk society', where everyone tries to avoid taking risks. If you try to sell yourself on a 'vibe', you are likely to look like a potential hazard. In stead, collect some undeniable facts about your songs, your team, your performances, your fans ect. and 'show them the money'..

Just my opinion!

[japaneseprincess]

Simon has good points.. and it sounds convincing he hee.

i might go little off topic from music attorney but there are other ways to plug yourself than spending lots of money without knowing if you will succeed or not. i give you one example..

my fellow performer friend (im not going to name her for her privacy) plays in public in busy hours, she is licensed to perform in subway (tube) stations in London, i am also licensed too.

she was approached by 2 different excectives from Major labels (EMI and SONY) when she was singing in a busy location. because she has the voice and the look and the whole package, even she was playing and singing with one acoustic guitar. top A&R people can spot her star quality from simple performance. she didnt have managers or lawyers, she just plugged herself by playing.


by the way, she didnt go for the offers but chose to make music for film industry by herself and film making friends. she loves it and she is will be writing with me later this year.


anyway! there are many ways to plug yourself as an artist. youtube, playing shows, website, having a great demo CD. myspace should have just 2-3 of your best songs to represent your talent, that was well advised by Jimmy Smith from Parlophone, who discovered Coldplay and lots of other top bands. there is no shortcuts to it. there are just too many talented artists and singer songwriters out there, the standard is very high !


Good luck, girlie !

[mazz]

When you're ready, the lawyer will come and will be on your side. Sure, you can buy your way up the ladder, but at some point you'll have to deliver the goods and you may just not be ready, even as talented as you are. You may only get one shot and you want to have all your ducks in a very straight line when that time comes.

I think you need to do as others have said and make your songs perfect, hone your performing chops (because you'll be doing a lot of that!!), become very professional in all your dealings, learn to collaborate and create a buzz around you so that the lawyers and producers will absolutely have to work with you. The best time to get an attorney is when you don't need one, but when they need you. Then you have the bargaining power and the industry knowledge that you gained by doing it yourself for a while and you won't be so easily swayed or able to be taken advantage of.

TAXI doesn't get proportionally as many opportunities for artists as they do for film/tv because there just aren't as many out there. The reality of the business is that there is something on TV 24/7/365 and it all needs music, but there's far fewer slots open for artists at the major label level. The development budgets aren't there and the artist has to do a lot of that themselves.

If you continue to work on all aspects of your craft and build a team that wants to work with you instead of having to buy them, I think your growth will be more organic and when the time comes you'll be ready with everything in place.

Go for it!!!!

Mazz

[KIRBIE]

thanks everyone!
I wasn't planning on going through with getting one until I had my finished songs. And I agree with the touring part. It's just soooo hard to find dependable people to play for me (and not many want to be in a "background band" )

And it really sucks because i think performing is what I'm best at. For some reason I sound better (I hate hearing my voice played back) and I have a lot of fun and people tell me I have good stage presence. It's hard getting my sounds like that though. Maybe when go to a real studio it'll be better

yeah I know I have a lot of hard work to do. UGH i'm so impatient too. I feel like time is running out...

[jfraizer]

When you're ready, the lawyer will come and will be on your side. Sure, you can buy your way up the ladder, but at some point you'll have to deliver the goods and you may just not be ready, even as talented as you are. You may only get one shot and you want to have all your ducks in a very straight line when that time comes.

I think you need to do as others have said and make your songs perfect, hone your performing chops (because you'll be doing a lot of that!!), become very professional in all your dealings, learn to collaborate and create a buzz around you so that the lawyers and producers will absolutely have to work with you. The best time to get an attorney is when you don't need one, but when they need you. Then you have the bargaining power and the industry knowledge that you gained by doing it yourself for a while and you won't be so easily swayed or able to be taken advantage of.

TAXI doesn't get proportionally as many opportunities for artists as they do for film/tv because there just aren't as many out there. The reality of the business is that there is something on TV 24/7/365 and it all needs music, but there's far fewer slots open for artists at the major label level. The development budgets aren't there and the artist has to do a lot of that themselves.

If you continue to work on all aspects of your craft and build a team that wants to work with you instead of having to buy them, I think your growth will be more organic and when the time comes you'll be ready with everything in place.

Go for it!!!!

Mazz

EXACTLY!!! I was going to comment, but I cant give any better advice than that.