Music

/Overview

Nixon Peabody’s music lawyers advise clients across all facets of the music industry. We represent a diverse roster of artistic and executive talent, including recording artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, other content creators, booking agents, and talent managers. We also serve as trusted counsel to record labels, music publishers, rights management companies, concert promoters, game developers, celebrity estates, and production companies. Our clients range from legendary artists and global rights holders to emerging songwriters, independent labels, and investment funds acquiring music assets at record pace.

Our music practice builds upon the transactional strength of Nixon Peabody's Corporate practice group; the deep industry knowledge and relationships of its Entertainment and Sports team; and its Intellectual Property practice group's ability to protect, enforce, defend, and commercialize copyright and trademark rights around the world. That integration gives clients access to the firm's integrated services across global brand management—copyright, trademark, and brand litigation and intellectual property transactions—coordinated and led by one team.

Our attorneys are skilled negotiators who structure innovative, forward-looking deals, including some of the most significant catalog, merger, and acquisition transactions in the industry, amounting to many billions of dollars. For clients whose work spans music, film, television, and digital media, we coordinate seamlessly with our Entertainment Transactions team to deliver integrated deal counsel across the entertainment ecosystem. We draft and negotiate recording agreements, music publishing contracts, sync and other licensing deals, and distribution and administration arrangements; guide clients through the valuation, acquisition, protection, and sale of music catalogs; and secure and enforce copyrights and trademarks globally—from registration and clearance to brand protection and portfolio management to litigation when rights are challenged or infringed. As clients explore new platforms and revenue streams driven by generative AI, Web3, blockchain, and other emerging technologies, they turn to us for specialized counsel on copyright, sampling, rights clearance, licensing, and related intellectual property issues.

/Our music law areas of focus include:

• Music catalog acquisition, protection, and sale, inclusive of legal due diligence and chain of title analysis
• Record deals for artists and bands and music publishing contracts for composers and songwriters, anchored by our music contract and music publishing attorneys
• Recorded music distribution and music publishing administration and licensing
• Music copyright counseling and registration, including at the intersection of music, technology, and copyright law.
• Public performance rights and neighboring rights
• Assisting artists, songwriters, and their successors with the exercise of termination rights under the copyright law.
• Trademark clearance, trademark registration, brand protection, and IP portfolio management
• Copyright, trademark, and brand litigation
• Touring, live events, festivals, and merchandising
• Counsel on generative AI, Web3, and emerging music technologies
• Joint ventures and strategic partnerships
• Outside counsel to music publishing and record companies

Whether you are negotiating your first record deal, acquiring a catalog, or defending a copyright, our music lawyers work with artists, bands, labels, publishers, producers, songwriters, creators, and investment and rights management companies across every genre, platform, and stage of the business.

/Representative Experience

• Advise Grammy-winning recording artists, music producers, and songwriters on negotiating recording agreements, distribution agreements, publishing agreements, and catalog sales.
• Provide counsel to the world’s leading concert promoters, talent agencies, music venues and festivals, and live-streaming companies.
• Provide music counsel to top video game developers, publishers, and eSports companies.
• Negotiate agreements related to every facet of the music industry, including, but not limited to, music recording, music publishing, copyright termination, touring, merchandising, sponsorship and endorsement, talent and production, television, modeling, talent representation, licensing, content creation and monetization, and Web3 ventures.
• Help clients structure and launch new business enterprises and strategic partnerships with national and multinational brands.
• Provide strategic counsel to clients expanding beyond the traditional entertainment industry into consumer products, digital media, gaming, branded content, live experiences, and other adjacent markets.
• Provide comprehensive trademark advice, brand protection counsel, and intellectual property management, including trademark clearance, registration, licensing, portfolio management, and enforcement.
• Negotiate, draft transaction documents, and perform legal due diligence for numerous music catalog acquisitions.

/Recognition

• Matt Finkelstein recognized by Billboard as a Top Music Lawyer since 2022.
• Matt Finkelstein recognized in Chambers USA for Media & Entertainment: Music: Band 1 since 2023.
• Matt Finkelstein recognized by the Legal 500 United States – Intellectual Property: Copyright; Boston Elite, Tier 1 for Intellectual Property.
• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Media Law in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.