ENTERTAINMENT LAW PS, FINAL DRAFT :)
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:13 am
There were 30 minutes left until the New Years Eve count down and I was still on the bus from San Jose Del Cabo International airport with a 50 piece band that flew in from Guadalajara, Mexico. I went through the checklist of instruments for a fifth and final time, and finally began to change into my tuxedo in the back of the bus. Standing in the cramped bathroom, I was looking at myself in the mirror, mumbling “Murphy’s law”, chuckling as I walked out and shouted: “It’s show time people!”. We pulled into The One & Only: Palmillas, a small, exclusive hotel on the southern point of the Baja California Peninsula. I was met with the public relations agent of the hotel who bombarded me with names from a star studded roster of attendees; I could feel the nerves rising up the back of my spine as we walked from the kitchen entrance of the hotel to begin the setup. I was finally ready to be part my father’s team for his most important event: New Year’s Eve. His company had branched out from South Florida to Mexico, and similarly the talent base had expanded. We had flown to Canada, Argentina, and to cities all across Mexico to find the perfect arrangement of musicians for New Year’s. We were not prepared for what would happen this year.
As I walked through the kitchen doors I was stopped by the General Manager of the Hotel, who said “this is as far as you need to go”; the musicians continued to shuffle through the kitchen and out to the stage as I was paralyzed in horror. “What do you mean?!” I shouted, “we have someone that will be taking over from here” he said. A local talent management company had cut us out at the last minute. My father’s attorney in Mexico failed to inform him about signing a contract with the hotel beforehand and now our hard work in searching for a perfect arrangement of musicians had been stolen right from under our feet. Ultimately our company had no leverage to fight against this betrayal, our musicians had become someone else’s.
My blood boiled as I watched our musicians walk towards the stage, and security escorted me out from the kitchen. The question at this point was not “if” working without adequate legal counsel would hurt us, but rather “when”. It was evident from my experience that the music industry is one based closely on politics, friendships, and quid pro quo relationships, which could not be held to a standard on its own face. I realized that in order to have any kind of stability and substance in the business we needed the weight of law on our side.
My father has been in the music industry since he was eleven in his birthplace of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had begun as a musician and ultimately started his own entertainment management company primarily for hospitality chains. Music has been an integral part of my life since early childhood, with a musical instrument in almost every room of our house and my father always instilling the virtue that music could be anything you wanted it to be, a hobby, a friend, an escape, a provider and most of all a passion; it was no mystery as to how I came to have music become such a large facet of my life. Working alongside my father as a child, I was given small yet important responsibilities for several events until I was finally old enough work for him as an adult. While these tasks were not as demanding as my fathers at the time, I knew he had confided in me to do each job properly and thus there was a strong sense of responsibility that never left me, which led me to find my true passion aside from music: Law.
After my experience in Cabo San Lucas, the fervor for law I had felt was unlike that I had ever known for music. I viewed law as the sword needed to excel in the music industry, which has been a life long dream for me. Following in the footsteps of my father, my dream to work in the music industry finally seemed to have a more concise direction. During my Undergraduate studies, I realized that my passion for law, coupled with my experiences thus far, would give me the knowledge and the resources I would need to succeed in the industry as an entertainment attorney. XXXX University School of Law has a strong focus on labor and employment law, which I firmly believe is exactly what I need to make my dream of becoming an attorney more than just a dream, but reality. There is not a single doubt in my mind when deliberating which school would fit me best, XXXX is a clear choice. I would be honored in having the opportunity to attain my degree in law from XXXX University School of Law.
As I walked through the kitchen doors I was stopped by the General Manager of the Hotel, who said “this is as far as you need to go”; the musicians continued to shuffle through the kitchen and out to the stage as I was paralyzed in horror. “What do you mean?!” I shouted, “we have someone that will be taking over from here” he said. A local talent management company had cut us out at the last minute. My father’s attorney in Mexico failed to inform him about signing a contract with the hotel beforehand and now our hard work in searching for a perfect arrangement of musicians had been stolen right from under our feet. Ultimately our company had no leverage to fight against this betrayal, our musicians had become someone else’s.
My blood boiled as I watched our musicians walk towards the stage, and security escorted me out from the kitchen. The question at this point was not “if” working without adequate legal counsel would hurt us, but rather “when”. It was evident from my experience that the music industry is one based closely on politics, friendships, and quid pro quo relationships, which could not be held to a standard on its own face. I realized that in order to have any kind of stability and substance in the business we needed the weight of law on our side.
My father has been in the music industry since he was eleven in his birthplace of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had begun as a musician and ultimately started his own entertainment management company primarily for hospitality chains. Music has been an integral part of my life since early childhood, with a musical instrument in almost every room of our house and my father always instilling the virtue that music could be anything you wanted it to be, a hobby, a friend, an escape, a provider and most of all a passion; it was no mystery as to how I came to have music become such a large facet of my life. Working alongside my father as a child, I was given small yet important responsibilities for several events until I was finally old enough work for him as an adult. While these tasks were not as demanding as my fathers at the time, I knew he had confided in me to do each job properly and thus there was a strong sense of responsibility that never left me, which led me to find my true passion aside from music: Law.
After my experience in Cabo San Lucas, the fervor for law I had felt was unlike that I had ever known for music. I viewed law as the sword needed to excel in the music industry, which has been a life long dream for me. Following in the footsteps of my father, my dream to work in the music industry finally seemed to have a more concise direction. During my Undergraduate studies, I realized that my passion for law, coupled with my experiences thus far, would give me the knowledge and the resources I would need to succeed in the industry as an entertainment attorney. XXXX University School of Law has a strong focus on labor and employment law, which I firmly believe is exactly what I need to make my dream of becoming an attorney more than just a dream, but reality. There is not a single doubt in my mind when deliberating which school would fit me best, XXXX is a clear choice. I would be honored in having the opportunity to attain my degree in law from XXXX University School of Law.