You are wrong. Attorneys are not "fucked in the new system". We are doing better than ever. You are right that there are "fewer deals for fewer dollars" if you think that the legal practice in the music industry is limited to doing major label record contracts. You, of all
people, should know that is simply not the truth. Yes, we are doing fewer major label deals and the ones we do involve lower advances. But, we are doing many more deals for artists with other third parties - distributors, retail, independent labels, new media companies, ad agencies and their corporate clients that now pay artists directly for "content", production companies, ISP’s, the list goes on. The new boss may not be the same as the old boss, but there are many new bosses.

I think what most upset my associate was your statement that "when somebody says they’re on your team, just don’t believe it". That statement, as applied to the lawyers in my firm, is simply wrong. As major labels have lost their hegemony as the most powerful entity in an artist’s career and the manager’s role is becoming more important, the position of the attorney is more crucial than ever. I can name at least 6 or 7 artists (whose work I know you admire) whom I have worked with for over 10 years, through numerous changes of management, record label, publisher, and business manager. I have hung in there with some of them for years when they couldn’t afford to pay me and, yes, when they do get paid I also expect to be compensated. Handsomely, thank you. And I know that the same thing is true for each of my partners. The stereotype of the sleazy, grubby music lawyer who is only interested in an artist’s money is not applicable to the attorneys I work with and you do artists a disservice by encouraging them to distrust their attorneys.

Adjustment:

Steely Dan wrote some pretty catchy, and very crafty, songs that propelled them from AOR to the mainstream. Without those, I don’t know how many of us would have really discovered them. I think it was the hits that made it possible for them to remain a studio band for so long.

Addendum:

A. Artist

Lose the word. You are NOT an artist simply because you write, play and/or sing. You are a musician and a performer and you’d better be really good at both if you want people to pay you for it. To qualify as an artist, you need to create something that changes the way people feel, hear and think. Even in times when the people are pious, God may grant us a handful of true artists per age. The rest are entertainers. It is your job to entertain. That means being aware and respectful of your audience. You are there for them - not the other way around. The harder you work to please your audience and yourself, the better you get at what you do. And then, if you are really truly very special, one day you may have a transformative idea and will graduate from entertainer to artist. Until then, your shit stinks. Remember that.