Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
The Right Choice in Personal Management and Promotion Contract Lawyers
At the Law Firm of Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson, entertainment law, personal management agreements and promotion contracts are one of our primary areas of endeavor. We represent artists and individuals in a wide variety of aspects of the entertainment industry, including film, television, music, publishing, literary rights, social media, modeling and sports.
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has well over 40 years of experience both in California and in Great Britain. With dual law degrees in both the U.S. and Britain, Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has been named a Top Lawyer for the past 12 years in a row by Palm Springs Life Magazine.
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has also been rated “Superb” (their very highest rating) which rates attorneys across the country and has written for the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal newspapers. Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is also a published author.
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is also one of the most recognized modeling and celebrity attorneys in the U.S. and represents models, authors and other celebrity clients throughout the world. He is frequently asked to be interviewed and to assist journalists and reporters.
Prior to Shepard Smith’s resignation from Fox News was asked to appear on his show as a celebrity lawyer. He has also been requested to appear on ITV National News in London to discuss the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 23, 2020 by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex for invasion of privacy for photos taken of their son, Archie by unknown paparazzi.
If you’ve been provided with a personal management agreement, a promotion contract, a talent agency contract or an artist management agreement from any type of agent or entity in which they offer to promote or manage you, call us so we can review it. We’ve reviewed contracts from agents and companies which on close inspection indicate our client has more knowledge and experience than the person offering to manage or promote them. Save yourself some grief and always have Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson review any contract you’re offered before you sign it.
Promotion Agreements
There are two main types of promotion agreements. In the first type of promotion agreement, the promoter who offers services in the form of social marketing, online marketing, promotions and an awareness campaign promotes an artist, say a musician who has recorded a CD to drive sales of the CD and promote the talent of the artist. What differs in the two type of promotion agreements is how the promoter is paid. Some are flat fee promotion agreements, while other promotion agreements are based on a percentage of the earnings of the client.
Upon entering into either type of a promotion agreement, the client grants to the promoter the right to post, stream, distribute, publish and broadcast all of the client’s songs or other material, in the event the artist is not a recording artist. The promoter can use the client’s trademarks, and may even be able to remove or block access to any of the artist’s songs on the promoter’s website and if this occurs, to not be held liable for doing so.
Flat Fee Promotion Agreements
When an artist enters into a flat fee promotion, marketing and awareness agreement, the client undertakes to pay the promoter a certain fee monthly for the term of the contract. If the term is small, say only for a few months, the artist will be able to see if the promoter’s efforts have had any effect. But if the term is long, say a few years, with options to extend it for more years, the client had better hope he found a brilliant promoter because the client is going to be tied to the promoter for a long, long time.
Percentage of Earnings Promotion Agreements
In this type of promotion agreement, the promoter is entitled to a percentage of everything the artist earns for the term of the agreement and even after the agreement has been terminated, to a percentage of any earnings from projects or any efforts begun by the promoter while the agreement was in force.
The Trouble With Promotion Agreements
Today independent recording artists and other artists can find companies willing to distribute their music or other works for a small (20 to 25%) fee of the artist’s royalties. In addition, these new companies promote the artist as well. And by being in the global recording business or a business devoted to the type of content or works the client creates, is generally in a much better position to promote the client’s creative work than a promoter who has limited bargaining power or much fewer contacts in the field of entertainment in which the client is focused.
Plus, when an attorney like Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson reviews such a contract, they are written in the most general of terms.
For instance, with a recording artist, the contract may state that the promoter will “position the artist” or send text or email blasts, reach new audiences, liaison with other companies, and provide other such generalized services that anyone could claim.
And it is common for an artist to be required to provide the promoter with the artist’s power of attorney to negotiate and execute contracts and agreements in the artist’s name.
Partial Solution to Promoter Agreements
One way for a client to have some better understanding of whether a promoter’s services are worth their monthly flat fee or percentage commission, is to require monthly detailed reports from the promoter as to exactly what the promoter has done and what they have achieved in the past month.
In the case of songs or CD promotions, what has the promoter accomplished in the past month? This is the type of question client will be asking themselves as they cut monthly checks to the promoter or if they find after commissions are paid they are earning less than they did prior to engaging the promoter to give the artist greater visibility in an awareness campaign.
Obviously results do not come overnight. But if results aren’t apparent or the efforts of the promoter appear vague after a few months, the client should have the right to terminate the promotion agreement.
Personal Management Agreements
These agreements often mirror promotion agreements in many respects, and as a Personal Management Agreement and Promotion Contract Lawyer, I often have the same concerns with them.
However, sometimes as a Personal Management Agreement and Promotion Contract Lawyer, I have additional concerns. In some of the personal management agreements we’ve reviewed, the contract states that the manager will take on duties normally handled by an artist’s attorney, not their personal manager. An example would be obtaining a record deal with a major record label.
Negotiations over a record deal are long and hard in many cases. And obtaining a record deal today with a record label that requires the recording artist to hand over full control of the artist’s masters may not in many cases today, if not in all cases, be in the artist’s best interests. To make a deal with a major record label in which the artist retains full ownership and rights to their masters is something that should only be undertaken by a Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer or an Independent Recording Artist Lawyer such as Sebastian Gibson.
Personal Management Agreement Compensation When It’s Based On A Percentage of Gross Earnings
For a personal manager to be entitled to a large chunk of an artist’s gross earnings, especially when the contract provides that they’re entitled to that large percentage in perpetuity for all time with regard to any earnings derived from any engagements, contracts and agreements entered into or substantially negotiated during the term of the agreement is unconscionable in the opinion of Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
There has to be an end date to such compensation or an artist will be hamstrung in the future, especially if the artist is limited to a small percentage of their royalties by a record label, touring which is limited now because of Covid and a percentage of their merchandise all of which would could be further reduced in perpetuity because of the personal management agreement.
To accomplish an end to this compensation in perpetuity, a sunset clause is added to a personal management contract so the obligation to pay the personal manager’s commission does not last until the world ends or even after the world ends for that matter. A sunset clause can also provide for a decreasing sliding scale of commissions until a certain year in which no commissions whatsoever are paid.
In addition, a contract must often be amended to provide that money advanced to an artist by a label to pay for recording production costs, video production costs, or tour expenses does not fall under “gross earnings.”
Nor should any income the artist earns from any business investments the artist makes or any non-entertainment related activities be a part of “gross earnings.”
What would be best of all for an artist would be if the contract provided for the personal management entity to be compensated only out of the artist’s net earnings. However, net deals can be difficult to obtain.
Some personal management agreements even go so far as to demand a right to be named as a producer role, and to have the right to stock or membership interests if the artist becomes part owner of an entertainment package or company.
Other personal management agreements provide that the artist to have an accountant, business manager or agent to collect the artist’s gross earnings and to pay the personal manager their commissions.
Many personal managers also demand the right to be reimbursed for all traveling and living expenses of the personal manager whenever the manager, not the artist, deems it advisable to accompany the artist when the artist is on the road. That clause also needs changes by Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
Some managers demand the right to package an artist with other artists in entertainment programs with other artists managed by the same person or management entity. This type of clause simply cannot be allowed to be contained in a personal management contract.
Even when the personal manager is paid a significant percentage of the artist’s gross earnings, some still demand in their agreement to be reimbursed for any costs incurred solely in connection with the manager’s representation of the artist. Thus if the personal manager’s only client becomes the artist, the artist will be responsible for all of the personal manger’s expenses. That can’t be allowed either, even when the personal manager has other clients.
Examples Of Excessive Control of An Artist By A Personal Management Company or A Promoter
One contract Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has reviewed provided that the artist was required to sign the agreement for an initial term of three years (far too long) plus renewal periods.
In addition the personal manager was entitled to negotiate and sign contracts on behalf of the artist, even live concert performances for three consecutive nights without the artist’s approval if the artist was unavailable to sign such a contract, and any failure of the personal manager to obtain the artist’s approval is not considered to be a breach of the contract.
The personal manager was even entitled to hire “finders” to obtain and negotiate personal appearance engagements and merchandising licenses.
Other contracts we’ve reviewed require an artist to follow all advice provided by the personal manager to an artist. Not just reasonable advice, but all advice.
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson has a prestigious history of helping individuals with their entertainment and business matters.
If you need a Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer in the Coachella Valley, in Orange County, Los Angeles, Malibu, San Diego or anywhere else in California or internationally especially in London, or anywhere in England or anywhere in the U.K., in Ireland or in Europe, call Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
With law degrees both in California and in Great Britain, and decades of experience in California and internationally as well in areas such as trademark protection, business contracts, publishing, modeling, social media contracts, personal management agreements, promotion agreements, talent agency contracts, artist management agreements, all facets of entertainment law, and international law, Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is the attorney of choice by individuals with the need of an experienced Personal Management Agreement and Promotion Contract Lawyer.
Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson is one of the most recognized modeling and celebrity attorneys in the U.S. and represents models and other clients throughout the world.
With offices in Palm Desert and Newport Beach in Orange County, Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson can often save an artist or client in any facet of the entertainment industry from a world of grief by signing an entertainment agreement without first having it reviewed by Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson.
When you’re ready for an assist with your endeavors in the entertainment industry, call Personal Management Agreement Promotion Contract Lawyer Sebastian Gibson at (760) 776-1810.
