Entertainment lawyer Michael E. Barber
What he does: Entertainment lawyer. The only lawyer in town, he says, who specializes in working with musicians. His clients include more than 35 rock acts, such as Vendetta Red, Vaux, Acceptance, The Divorce, The Lashes, Hint Hint, Kinski, Brandy Carlisle, Ian Moore and The United State of Electronica.
He was a singer in rock bands in high school and in college, at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He formerly owned and ran a Seattle independent record label, Barbaric Records, which released recordings by The Pinehurst Kids and The Standard. He discovered it was better to work with established labels than try to develop one on his own.
How he does his job: Spends about three nights a week at clubs, checking up on his clients and checking out possible new ones. He goes to Los Angeles about once a month, to negotiate recording deals, his main function for music clients. He also helps out with their other legal problems.
"I'm the guy they call for anything and everything, and almost too much," he says, sitting in his office on the 48th floor of Columbia Tower, with a commanding view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. "Rock 'n' roll stars get themselves in trouble quite a bit. I don't want to reveal any stories, but there are quite a few of them.
"I do a lot more than what most lawyers do who just practice law. I actually work with an artist who's developing and get them to the point where they're ready to be looked at by majors, or even bigger indie labels. I basically develop them up to the point where I can put them on a label. Once I put them on the label, I set them up with a management team, booking agent and things like that."
What he looks for in clients: "Artists that have something going on," such as strong sales of independent recordings, the development of a fan base, a Web site and an e-mail list. "It always comes down to hard work."
How he goes up against major labels' tough, experienced lawyers: "Where you can actually get in and negotiate really favorable terms for the artist is when you have a competitive situation, multiple labels making bids on your artist, basically, and competing against one another, so you can play those offers up to get the best deal you can possibly get for an artist.
"Vendetta Red was a very competitive situation. We were able to secure amazing terms for the artists, because Warner Brothers, Island/Def Jam and Columbia were all interested. We ended up with all the terms that we wanted with the Warner deal."
Is there a basic recording contract?: "Not anymore. It purely comes down to what you can negotiate." He said that, generally, you can never get a deal for more than three firmly committed recordings, and that deals with a major label are for an advance of about $150,000, or $350,000 at the most. That's for a recording fund, some promotional money and tour support, and something for the band or artist to live on while recording. The label hopes to recoup that money from record sales. Generally, the artist makes nothing until the advance is paid back.
Where he sees the recording business going: "The major label system, or at least the foundation of it, is starting to crumble quite a bit. What you're going to see in the next five to 10 years is, major labels are no longer going to be at any level involved with developing artists. They're going to be a clearing-house for artists that get to a certain level that they feel they can take internationally and sell millions of units, whether it be downloading or whatever system comes along."
What he sees himself doing in the future: "I may be doing more in the direction of actually managing. The path is worn and it's almost time to pave it, because it's what I end up doing anyway. A lot of what I do now is actually taking on management functions and even executive-producer-type functions."
His best advice to musicians: "Don't sign anything without an attorney."
Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312, pmacdonald@seattletimes.com