Music Law Conference attendees were able to give tastemakers a sample of their music at last weekend's conference. From left are Michelle Fantas of Sony/ATV, producer Paul Trust, Alex Ploegsma, Esq. and Jeff Levin of Atlantic Records. (Photo by Vincent Massaro)

By Gillian Leytham
Special to FlaLaw

Over the past decade, the music industry has transformed significantly due to a number of advances in digital technology, as well as changes in policy, law and attitudes within the industry. On March 26, the University of Florida Levin College of Law Music Law Society addressed these issues at the Ninth Annual Music Law Conference.

The conference, entitled “DON’T PANIC: Navigating the Changing Universe of the Music Industry,” focused on the marked shift in the fundamental tenets of the music industry. The conference brought musicians, lawyers, students, academics, policy makers and entertainment professionals together for a conversation on how to handle these shifting dynamics.

“Today, we hope to shed some light on new developments in copyright law, explore what potentially lies in the future, tackle do-it-yourself in a digital landscape, identify new challenges in legal ethics, and look at the ins and outs of operating in today’s market,” Music Law Conference Executive Director Stephanie Falcon said during the opening statements of the conference.

The conference hosted a variety of panels and breakout sessions that were comprised of experts and professionals from many areas of the music industry, from entertainment attorneys and record label owners to producers and recording artists.

A few of the topics discussed in the panels included online music sharing, do-it-yourself techniques versus traditional commercial avenues, contract negotiation, changes and adaptations of the copyright law and a demo listening panel.

The first panel focused on the emergence of do-it-yourself techniques in the primarily digital landscape. Jeff Levin, an A & R manager for Atlantic Records; Vlad Vludovek, a co-founder of RocketHub; and Seth Horan, a singer/songwriter, participated in this panel, which was moderated by Falcon. The panelists discussed the use of Apple iTunes and social media to advertise, as well as a method to attract fans and followers.

“Is the record label dead?” Falcon asked.

“No, it’s not dead. It’s just evolving,” Levin said. “As long as we own catalogs, and as long as we have a bank of music, publishing companies and record labels can’t die. To take a band internationally is almost impossible without a major label. It’s just changing. It won’t go away.”

Horan disagreed about whether musicians need support from a record label in order to be successful internationally.

“You definitely need investment behind you if you are going to go international,” Horan said. “You need some form of infrastructure, and you do need somebody doing your events work. But it doesn’t necessarily have to come from a (record label). It could come from five college interns who just want to be a part of something and who have the energy and the time. It could come from a company that’s not necessarily a record company … I capitalized on companies that make musical instruments … People see me do it and they go ‘now we wanna buy it.’ It’s marketing by example.”

The second panel, led by UF Law Negotiation and Mediation Professor Jill Womble, focused on contract negotiations and discussed parts of a typical record or “360″ contract (a deal that gives the record label touring, merchandising and publishing rights as opposed to strictly rights to the music itself). The panel also emphasized the importance of having a lawyer and advised musicians and professionals to have a friend (who is also a lawyer) or an attorney who may agree to work pro bono, since it is not advisable for musicians to handle legal issues on their own.

During the third panel, a variety of industry players discussed perspectives on the future. While some believe that the major label is going to die, others suggest that it is merely changing and embracing a new method of profit. The panel also discussed the emergence of the 360 deal.

Greg Galloway, an entertainment attorney from Orlando who has represented many high-profile clients including Matchbox 20 and Taproot, was the keynote speaker for the conference and focused on what others in the industry are saying. When he suggested that social media is not the “end all, be all” of online networking, some audience members disagreed and brought up Susan Boyle, Justin Bieber, and Rebecca Black – sensations who have garnered worldwide attention mainly because of social media venues.

The fourth panel, which focused on copyright law, was by far the liveliest of the academic panels and consisted of a number of copyright attorneys and professors. They discussed the role of Disney in shaping copyright law and how to combat claims of infringing.

The final event was the demo listening panel, which allowed attendees to play their music for professionals at the forefront of developing and promoting artists, including Michelle Fantus, an A & R director for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Jeff Levin.

The conference also sponsored two nights of live music showcases on March 25 and March 26 with more than a dozen Gainesville bands playing at :08 nightclub, Common Grounds and Rum Runners. Some of the featured bands included rockabilly band Hollowbody Hellraisers, Big Boat, Pedagogy and the Kadets.

For more details on the showcase and conference, visit the Music Law Conferencewebsite.

Josh Greenberg

The digitization of music has transformed the music industry, marginalizing the role of record labels and placing greater power in the hands of consumers. This sea-change in how music is marketed was the topic of the day at the eighth annual UF Music Law Conference, held at the UF Levin College of Law on Feb. 27.

Musicians, entertainment lawyers, students and others participated in a full-day discussion on issues relating to the digitalization, monetization, licensing and sharing of music online.

With an impressive list of panelists — including keynote speaker Josh Greenberg, co-founder of Grooveshark.com, one of the fastest-growing Internet music services — the conference tackled a variety of issues affecting the music industry.

With the collapse of the record labels’ outdated business model of tightly controlled artists and retail distribution, one of the biggest challenges now facing the music industry is the monetization of digital content, a topic that emerged as a common thread among the panelists’ discussions.

File sharing and the illegal downloading of music may have contributed to the consumer mentality that music downloads from the Internet should be free. Panelists during the first session, “File Sharing: The Uploads and Downloads of Music Sharing,” however, rejected the commonly-held belief that piracy and the use of illegal networks have led to the current disarray of the music industry.

Davey Spicciati, associate for the Orlando firm, Triveti & Associates, noted that the availability of music online in digital format has dramatically changed customer buying habits. In the past, consumers were forced to buy an entire album, she said. Now, they can purchase a digital single of their favorite song from an album.

“There are also a lot more “players” who want to piece of the digital pie,” said Brian Mencher (JD 02), founding partner Beame & Mencher, UF College of Law alumni and founder of the Music Law Conference These players are the artists, the new tech companies, and the record labels and music publishers.

So, if the monetization of content is the problem, how does the music industry create sustainable economic platforms in the new media environment?

In the session, “Musicians’ Perspective, Digital Media Strikes a Chord with Musicians,” which included singer-songwriter Ravi as a panelist, the consensus was that music industry professionals will be forced to develop alternative avenues of revenue stream.

“Music has almost become a promotional tool for the rest of what you do — be it the show, the concert, the merchandizing — it’s kind of the giveaway,” Ravi said. “It’s no longer a durable good, it is a consumable good. To me, that is great opportunity because you can keep making it over and over again, and people will keep on buying.”

Ravi said merchandizing and brand development and management are essential commodities to the artist.

Attoney Chrissie Scelsi understands the importance of an artist maintaining and controlling his own image. In fact, brand management is the crux of the licensing and litigation issues at the center of her research on music video games.

Video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have spawned a whole new set of lawsuits, launched by recording artists such as Courtney Love on behalf of Kurt Cobain, and Gwen Stefani. The lawsuits claim “inappropriate” uses of artist names and likenesses. In her lawsuit Gwen Stefani claims her likeness was depicted doing things she, the actual performer, would have never agreed to do. Courtney Love has likewise threatened to sue Activision, the developer and publisher of the game, for the posthumous use of Cobain’s likeness.

Contracts outlining use of an artist’s likeness are extremely detailed, right down to hair style and way the person is dressed, Scelsi said.

“Sometimes a little bit of humor emerges with technology going before the courts. I can see both sides on this, but, even if you’re a savvy manager, how far out of the box do you have to think? How much research into the technology could you possibly do? And even if you did your research, unless you’ve played the game for hours and hours upon end — you might not know how the character could be used and the implications of the license,” Scelsi said.

One of the highlights of the conference was hearing from Josh Greenberg, the co-founder of Grooveshark.com, an online streaming music service that allows users to search, stream, and upload music instantaneously and free of charge.

Although the company was founded in March 2006 by three UF undergraduate students, it is now one of the fastest-growing online music services on the Web, striving to be the “YouTube” of on-demand music streaming, Greenberg said.

“In order for a service to truly compete with the illegal networks, it has to be better. So what is better?” Greenberg said. “Well you have to start with what peer-to-peer offers. …. If you could have an illegal network get you a song in 30 seconds, then you have to have it in two seconds legally, and these are areas that Grooveshark has taken very seriously.”

“All that having being said, the future is not on your computers — the future is in your pocket. And that’s why Grooveshark has put a lot into mobile development,” he said.

The one-day event, “Music Law Conference 2.0: Out of Beta,” in UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (room 180) will explore legal issues that surround downloading and sharing music files and licensing music for video games and Internet radio. Panelists also will share their strategies for effectively promoting local bands through social networking and the Internet. Following the conference, which is free to UF students and faculty, there will be a reception from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. and a live music showcase featuring local and regional bands from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the Common Grounds in downtown Gainesville. Tickets for the music showcase are $6 if purchased before the event or $8 at the door. Add $2 for those under the age of 21.

Special to this year’s conference will be keynote speaker Josh Greenberg, co-founder, chief technical officer and vice president of products for Grooveshark, a Gainesville-based online music search engine and streaming service. According to the company’s Web site, Grooveshark was founded in 2006 by three UF undergraduates and now streams 50 to 60 million songs per month to more than 400,000 users. Greenberg’s presentation is titled, “Digital Music: Law and Technology.”

“Music consumption has changed radically within the past decade,” Greenberg said. “Peer-to-peer distribution caused a disruption that shook an entire industry and created a radical shift in music consumption. Meanwhile, as artists and record labels started to recognize the potential for monetization through digital music, innovative new business models were created that would have been unimaginable a few years earlier.”

Stephanie Falcon, a second-year law student and vice president of the music law conference, said the conference will offer seven CLEs and the opportunity to network with some of the sharpest legal minds working in music and entertainment law.

“The UF music law conference has really opened a lot of doors for me in the entertainment law industry,” Falcon said. “Last year’s conference allowed me to broaden my knowledge of music and entertainment law issues and provided me the opportunity to meet the leading experts in the field.”

To view the conference and music showcase schedule, speaker bios and to register, visit www.law.ufl.edu/musiclawconf.

The 6th Annual UF Music Law Conference, held on Feb. 16 in the Chesterfield Ceremonial classroom, explored 360 degrees of the music industry and how the music business is integrated with everything from film, television and changing technologies to music sharing and merchandising.

The Live Music Showcase hosted on Friday night at Side Bar gave everyone involved with the conference a chance to sit back and mingle with people from the industry while enjoying different genres of music.

The conference titled, “Music & Mixed Media,” was organized into five panels which focused on entertainment markets, ethics, protecting rights, new distribution and commercial markets. Two of the five past Music Law Conference directors served on these panels. Brian Frankel (JD 07) and Mencher discussed the entertainment markets and ethics involved with being a successful young lawyers in the business. Also attending the conference were past directors Jason Gordon (JD 04) and Andrew Kanter (JD 06). (Pictured below from left to right: Gerard Kardonsky, Brian Frankel, Andrew Kanter, Jason Gordon and Brian Mencher)

Whether the panelists were attorneys, musicians or businesses executives, it was clear that their passion for protecting and creating music was the driving force. All of the panelists emphasized the importance of networking, establishing relationships and not being afraid to take chances.

“It’s the people you know who will get you the jobs,” said Frankel, who is an attorney working in D.C. and past director of the 2007 Music Law Conference. He emphasized the importance of location in the industry and getting involved with volunteering. Frankel said the most important piece of advice is to learn to barter with clients stating, “getting paid is not nearly as important as getting known.”

Director Gerard Kardonsky said he was very pleased with the turnout that attracted an excellent crowd from diverse backgrounds. “I am sure that everyone regardless of whether they are musicians, business owners, lawyers or students all left a little bit more prepared to deal with their futures in entertainment,” he said. “The panels where extremely stimulating and provocative this year.”

The director of Legal & Business Affairs for EMI Televisa Music, Oswaldo Rossi, served as the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. Nick Nanton, a UF Law graduated and award-winning songwriter also served as a panelist for “New Distribution.” Dean Robert Jerry, Associate Dean Kathie Price, Professor Andy Adkins, Dean Rachel Inman and Professor Elizabeth Rowe served as moderators for the panels.