Steve Weaver's Negotiating Exclusive Songwriting Agreements

I have been meaning for some time to write about my friend Steve Weaver’s book Negotiating Exclusive Songwriting Agreements.  This is not really meant to be a review because I am biased.  I reviewed Steve’s manuscript and was honored to write a blurb for the back of the book.

                What I said in my blurb is true.  There are so many worthless books on the music business and precious few books that tell you exactly what stuff means and how it works.  Steve’s book is a step-by-step analysis of an exclusive songwriting agreement,  meaning he analyzes each paragraph of the agreement from both the writer’s perspective and the publisher’s perspective and explains why each party asks for certain things and resists certain things.  This is really important information for anyone who is trying to get a handle on how these agreements are supposed to work.  One of the other things I said in my endorsement was that I wish this book had been available at the beginning of my career.   As a young lawyer, it really can be difficult figuring out how certain entertainment contracts are supposed to work and it can be difficult to know when you are asking for too much or too little. However, this book is not just for attorneys.  Anyone with more than a passing interest in music publishing can benefit from this book. The only other book that I have found as helpful as this is Randy Poe’s A Songwriter’s Guide to Music Publishing and I don’t know if it’s still in print.

                Steve has indicated that he hopes to write other books in this series “Entertainment Law Mentor” and I think he could do a great service  for the industry if he does write similar books on such topics as  recording agreements, producer agreements, manager agreements, etc.

                As Webb Wilder says “pick up on it.”. It’s available here as a Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Entertainment-Law-Mentor-Negotiating-ebook/dp/B009INKQVS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353348800&sr=1-1&keywords=Negotiating+Exclusive+Songwriting+Agreements as well as in a physical format.

Two Views of the Current State of the Music Industry

A couple of weeks ago, I took part in a great panel discussion called “Taking the Pulse of the Music Industry.” The panel, held at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville was intended to help the students in the music business program get some perspective on career paths in the changing music industry.

I was excited to find that I was on the panel with Kissy Black who runs the company Lotus Nile Media. At one point in the not so distant past one would have referred to Kissy as a publicist, but she is much more than that. She is a 21st century marketing guru and an evangelist for convincing artists to take hold of their careers and promote themselves. Her explanation of how artists and entrepreneurs can and should use the internet to promote their careers, manage their fan bases and distribute their product was brilliant. I left that night feeling like I had seen the future of the music industry and it was going to be OK.

A week or so later, on April 4, I read my friend and fellow lawyer Steve Weaver’s blog post which cited a survey conducted by Reverb Nation and Digital Music News. The poll found that “3 out of 4 artists would love to be signed to a recording agreement.”

It’s an interesting dilemma; for the first time ever, many types of artists are not dependent on the major label platform (or the independent label platform for that matter) yet 75% of artists surveyed still apparently yearn for that traditional avenue. It’s hard to know how to advise artists in this climate. I can see both sides of this issue but I remain energized by Kissy Black’s presentation and what the future holds for artist and entrepreneurs.