Listen to the full interview here (via Spotify):
There is:
1. The music
2. The music business
3. The music industry
LOVE THE FIRST, LEARN THE SECOND, AND OUTSMART THE THIRD
– Unknown
It as my pleasure to be a guest on The Entertainment Engine podcast with Peter and Bexs! We had a lively discussion about my humble beginnings in the industry and growth in my legal practice, music specific topics like music publishing, and where I see the industry going.
Highlights:
- I was born and raised in Austin, Texas, once dubbed the live music capital of the world. The culture there is very music-centric and I think it definitely lived up to its name and reputation and gave me a great appreciation for music. I grew up around music everywhere going to SXSW, festivals, walking down infamous 6th street. I always had a connection to music even within in my family, there were touring musicians and my dad was road crew for a local Texas band when he was young. Almost every weekend, my parents and I would take road trips to see my parents’ favorite musicians and go to the dances, so that was always fun. I was always encouraged to be creative and music became my hobby.
- In law school, they taught us early on, that entertainment is a relationship business. It’s not so much about what you know as much as who you know. So I held that as a guiding principle throughout school. I was president of Music Law Society and Entertainment Law Society where I helped to host on-campus events like speaker panels, award show watch parties, and organized students to participate in off-campus events. It was just a great way to balance out all the studying and density of the law with fun, but important networking that can potentially set you up for success later. I was also fortunate enough to study abroad for a summer in London studying international entertainment law, which was such a blast.
- I always joke that maybe I was a Rockstar in another life, because I have such a love, affinity, deep respect and admiration for music artists and those who make music their life’s work. As I alluded to, music was more of my hobby and I played for fun. My parents got me started in piano lessons when I was 3 years old, and I did that for a number of years and that started my love for music. As soon as I could join band in middle school, I was very excited for that. My cousin had a clarinet she gave to me, so that was a logical choice for me and I played that in marching band all through high school.
- Understanding publishing is a great place to begin to learn about rights ownership. There’s a lot of technical knowledge that goes into it, but it is absolutely crucial you have some basic understanding and framework for understanding publishing.
- There’s so many of fun parts, but I think the most the gratifying feeling I get is when I hear or see the subject of the contract or agreement come to life. By that I mean hearing or seeing the physical manifestation. I always get chills when I see my clients play or show me the art that the agreement is for. I love to see my clients happy with the end result. I know I’m not technically part of the creative process, per se, but I feel like I am part of helping the creative process stay pure. I can help simplify the process and help my clients achieve their business goals so that they can focus their creative energy into their art.
- As for entertainment law, I think it definitely chose me. I think I took the time to learn that I enjoyed doing legal work and having those diverse experiences allowed me to learn what I didn’t like and what I didn’t want to do, so that’s beneficial. Being personable and outgoing I think my personality lends itself well to a career in this sector of the industry. Every attorney I have met in this field has some personal connection to entertainment and we really, really love what we do. I once read a quote that said, “if music is your life, make it your living” so I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that in a unique way. I heard the call and I went after it!
Check out the Medium Blog article by Peter Moore:
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The Entertainment Engine is soon debuting its 3rd season! Check it out to explore many different topics across the entertainment spectrum. The podcast is on many distribution channels from: Apple Podcast, Google podcast, Amazon Music, Spotify, Castbox, Deezer plus many more.
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Law Office of Melanie Rodriguez, Esq. | Entertainment Lawyer 