One-on-One with Attorney Shannon Ligon

To all that know me, know that my ultimate passion is to become an Entertainment Lawyer. I have had the pleasure of building a professional relationship with Attorney Shannon Ligon of Ligon LawGroup. No one can tell me that Twitter IS NOT AN AWESOME NETWORKING TOOL, because this is how I came to know Attorney Ligon. Since establishing a relationship via Twitter, I was instrumental in bringing Attorney Ligon to Full Sail University to speak with our Black Student Union. She was awesome and very insightful. Attorney Ligon received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Florida State University while spending time abroad studying International Business at the Universidad de Valencia in Valencia, Spain. She is not a stranger to the Entertainment field. She also has her certification in Television & Radio Broadcasting from CSB School of Broadcasting in 2004. Attorney Ligon has worked in the entertainment and sports industry for the past 8 years. She has been involved in management (artist & sports), A & R, as well as has numerous trusted networking contacts over the past 9+ years.

In speaking with Attorney Ligon, I became to look up to her more and more. She expressed to me the many liabilities that she had encountered while being in the entertainment business from acquiring endorsements from artists as well as athletes, copyright infringement, to ensuring that you, as the attorney, are upholding the law and your duties to your client.

While working with Richard DeLuca (Integrated Sports Management Company) her eyes were opened to endorsements deals. Having to negotiate for her clients was based off their needs as well as the needs of the companies being endorsed. She stated that Copyright infringement, can be a very “slippery slope”. Take for example, a beat was mixed and used, however the beat is not making any money, you may send a cease & desist letter rather than suing the individual. One of the ways you can ensure there is no “bad blood” or “black balling” is to consider using that individuals beats in the future. Just because someone may possibly infringe on your intellectual property doesn’t mean that you will never want to work with that person again, you just want to be either recognized for his or her work and/or compensated. Always be careful who you decide to sue, you never want to rub the “right person” the wrong way. She also stated that there are plenty times that major artists may find a beat, want to use it and can not find who originally created the beat. The producer is then not found until they possibly hear their beats on an album.

As an attorney you have a duty to uphold the law at all times, this can pose a serious liability if you are possibly working with high risk clients and/or some one who’s has limited knowledge of the business but is adamant that they are correct in different matters. It is not that you want to go against your client at all, but you are unable to go against the law you promised to uphold. When getting into any type of business make sure that you research all of the liabilities and ways to limit those. In closing, Attorney Shannon Ligon gave the Full Sail Black Student some great advice when she came to speak and I now leave it with you. “Always be excellent with whatever you do and never be afraid to lose, but never give up.”


Thank you for taking the time for my interview Shannon.

http://ligonlawgroup.com/

The Three Essentials of Management

When recently visiting Artist House Music “Helping Musicians and Music Entrepreneurs Create Sustainable Careers” I came across an article by George Howard titled “The Three Essentials of Management”. I found this to be a very interesting read and wanted to share a few points of the article that I feel would have the most impact or influence.

George Howard recognizes that passion, connections, and capital are the three essentials needed to be a successful manager. The advice given in this series of articles is meant to be directed towards an artist in search of management. However it is said that it could be beneficial to anyone also seeking an interest in artist management.

The article asks, “Why Passion is Important”. When one seeks a manager, one important thing that should be prevalent is how passionate one is about their client’s music. If an artist isn’t as passionate or more passionate then the “relationship” may be short-lived. “Passion combined with energy (often youthful) is a very potent mix that often knocks down many barriers and allows and artist to experience real career growth” It was said that managers who are more passionate find alternative methods of enhancing a clients career or more “innovative strategies that further idea of career development”. When a person who has a true passion for your (the client’s) work you are better off and their ways of finding funding via certain connections can also are beneficial.

That leads us into our second essential, connections. It is thought that the strength of the connection is often as powerful as the strength of the music. As a manager your main duty is to ensure that your client has as much exposure as possible. Therefore most managers utilize various web resources and or social media to make that happen. While some connections “just happen” most connection are those that are developed over a period of time and must be properly cultivated. When choosing a manager, you (the client) must research the manager’s connections so that you may know if they are essential to your particular style of music. A manager and a client normally form a type of symbiotic relationship where each others connections have some sort of benefit to each other. Through the proper connections you may be able to find proper funding for current or future projects.

Managers typically get paid from their client based on a certain percentage of what is made from different shows and any money that is paid from a label (if the client is signed to one) Not all artists have paying gigs when up and coming, so a way to secure payment for their manager is to offer some of the publishing rights to them. This ensures the manager a paid percentage of any money made. This is generally used strictly for insurance. “Money is a significant factor in creating effective artist/manager relationships” A manager typically is the source of funds for their client prior to them getting signed by a major label. Being a manager to up and coming artists is very similar to start up businesses.

When searching for a manager it is important that you look for someone who has a passion for your music as well as for the business, a person who is well connected and or properly financed, but most of all understands what your ultimate goals are as an artist.

Source: Artist House Music

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/the+three+essentials+of+management
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/the+three+essentials+of+management+the+importance+of+connections
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/the+three+essentials+of+management+the+importance+of+money+how+management+gets+paid