When you own a copyright, you are the only one that can do whatever you want with your work.  If anyone else wants to use your work, they have to get your permission.   If anyone else wants to make changes to your work, they have to get your permission. (Since you may be wondering, there are still the fair use and parody exceptions if they apply.)

Musician Walsh’s attorney has sent a letter to Candidate Walsh.  The letter is absolutely true in its statement of law, but written in a manner that is hysterical.  My favorite part is where Peter Paterno (Musician Walsh’s attorney) says “Now, I know why you used Joe’s music — it’s undoubtedly because it’s a lot better than any music you or your staff could have written. But that’s the point. Since Joe writes better songs than you do, the Copryright Act rewards him by letting him decide who gets to use the songs he writes.”   I applaud you, Mr. Paterno.

Click here to read the article and be sure to click on the link within the article to read the full letter.

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The new company, called Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. will thankfully be subject to conditions, such as the separation of ticketing and concert promotions services. However, it will still be one insanely large company with a stake in concerts, ticketing, merchandising and even the sale of recorded music.

What this means for artists:   The industry is shifting to a model of large companies handling all aspects of an artist’s career.  I personally think this is a bad idea because instead of having a company dedicated to performing one service well, you will have one company performing many services on a mediocre level.  You wouldn’t want your dentist to also be your carpet cleaner and personal stylist, would you?

An artist needs the people servicing each part of his career to be experts in that area.  It is fine if one company employs experts in each area it handles and services the artist with the artist’s best interests in mind.  However, this is not always the case.  Artists need to make sure whatever company they sign with is competent in all services it provides and does not screw the artist over by taking too large of a cut from some or all areas of service.

What this means for consumers/concert attendees:  It is said this merger will also be better for the consumer because ticket prices will come down.  AEG, a promoter behind Live Nation is also established as a competitor of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. under the DOJ’s imposed conditions.  This is good because the DOJ is trying to not let this new venture have a monopoly over the concert and ticket industries.  However, I will believe that ticket prices will come down when I see them coming down.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.

To be continued…

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Ellis had a recent gig at Saint Rocke’s this past week and I stopped by to say hi and catch his performance. Somehow I only took photos of him playing guitar, but most of the set actually featured Ellis on piano.

D*J*E and Ellis

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I passed the California Bar Exam and have been officially sworn in as an attorney. Thank you all for supporting me during this process, and for remaining loyal listeners to Electric Effect.

I am thrilled to now be able to represent artists as their attorney, help them protect their rights and further their careers.

Best,

D*J*E, Esq.

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I would really love to know what you think of this one, so please let me know!

Rock on,

~D*J*E

P.S. IMPORTANT FACT CORRECTION! Regarding The Compulsions, Frank Ferrer and Richard Fortus are STILL members of Guns N’ Roses and Sami Yaffa is STILL a member of the New York Dolls. I had some misinterpreted information on this, which I announced on the show. Please be advised Ferrer, Fortus and Yaffa are CURRENT members of these respective bands.

Here is the playlist for Show #15:
“California” by Will Champlin
“Prayer for the Faithful” by Zarathustra
“Magnolia Street” by Zarathustra
“It’s Too Late” by Heavy Glow
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Johnny” by The Compulsions
“Wolves in the Garden” by The Deadly Syndrome
“Short Pants for Fatty” by The Reigning Monarchs
Background music also by The Reigning Monarchs

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I went to see Toy Robot’s gig at Crane’s on October 7th and it rocked!  I could definitely hear every one of TR’s songs on the radio and the band has SERIOUS potential.  Here is a iPhone photo of me and my friend Loren, lead singer and guitarist of TR:

Loren and I are also working on getting the band’s songs cleared for airplay on Electric Effect, so I hope to be playing them soon!

Toy Robot also has a gig tomorrow night, November 14th at The Bootleg Theatre (2220 Beverly Blvd), 9:30 PM, 18+, $5 with the flyer below ($10 without the flyer - so save some money and print the flyer!)

I look forward to hearing your thoughts after the show!

Rock on,

~D*J*E

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I am thrilled to let you know that Your Industry Insider, a great entertainment industry website, has written a profile on me! Please visit them and subscribe at www.YourIndustryInsider.com. You can view the profile on me here, or read the text below. Many thanks to Jenny at YII!

Rock on!

~D*J*E

from YourIndustryInsider.com:

Making It Happen: DJ & JD Erin Jacobson

When YII met DJ Erin (Jacobson), we were impressed not only be her passion for music, but how she’d found ways to incorporate that passion into her daily life in college and then into her post-collegiate plans. She was very clear about what she wanted and we think other readers could learn a lot from her focus and commitment to turning music into a long and satisfying career for herself.

Current Situation: Waiting for Bar results.

College: USC- Major in Psychology, minor in Music Industry

Internships: During college, I interned at Capitol Records in catalogue publicity, and with Rick Dees doing the Weekly Top 40. I also DJ’d at USC’s radio station, KSCR. During law school, I interned for a music publishing company and a couple music law firms.

Early Love Of Music: I was the kid in the 3rd grade that was Elvis Presley’s biggest fan. I got into all different kinds of music because I loved exploring the influences of the artists I already liked. Until I was in college, I didn’t know about the different areas of the music industry and ways to be involved professionally.

Awakening: USC’s Intro to Music Industry class opened my eyes to the roles of agents and managers, lawyers, all the people who make the careers happen for the people onstage. I loved the contracts and copyrights, the legal side of it, and I started DJing, too. I felt I’d found my niche.

Making it into a career: I took all the entertainment law and music law classes in college, eventually with an eye toward going to law school. I took a year off and developed my podcast, Electric Effect, which focuses on unsigned and independent artists, mainly in LA. I love finding and then promoting new artists. (A few new, great, and local bands are Kiss the Girl, Run Through the Desert, featuring an artist named Yogi, and The Reigning Monarchs, Greg Behrendt’s band.) I went to law school at Southwestern Law School in downtown LA and really dove into entertainment law. I took as many entertainment electives as I could, was president of my school’s Entertainment and Sports Law Society and was the student liaison to the American Bar Association’s Forum on Entertainment and Sports Law. I also recently took the Bar exam and am awaiting the results.

Dream job: As long as my career has to do with music, I’m happy. My dream job would probably be at a law firm repping and working with artists, negotiating their deals and counseling them on their careers. I also really like and understand music publishing.

Now: I’m doing consulting for bands, writing reviews and working on my next podcast for Electric Effect. By the way, I’m always looking for new bands to play and good new interns to help me.

Erin can be reached through her website and her podcast can be found through her website or at iTunes.

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Will this happen at the gig? Show up to find out!

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