Manatt’s L. Lee Phillips, a senior partner in the firm’s media and entertainment practice, music co-chairs Gary Gilbert and Jeff Biederman and music partner Jordan Bromley were included on Billboard’s 2018 Top Music Lawyers list. This year’s list features 93 lawyers who continue to move the music industry forward.
The publication’s profile of Phillips highlighted not only his high-profile clients including Randy Jackson and Neil Young, but also his work in bringing Journey frontman Steve Perry back into the music domain with a Concord Music deal for his new album.
Gilbert told the publication that mining the boom in catalog music sales is one of the practice’s biggest niches, adding that “We did the Smokey Robinson [catalog] deal with Primary Wave, which was [for] $20 million.”
Highlighting Biederman’s experience in publishing sales, the publication noted his work with entertainment and media partner Michael Rexford to close a $150 million Kobalt Capital purchase of SONGS Music Publishing deal. Biederman said, “Probably after the Carlin Music sale [to Round Hill Music], it was the biggest sale in publishing of the entire year.”
In its profile of Bromley, Billboard noted his push to create a distribution network that focuses on streaming services for his clients, which include Major Lazer and Diplo. “You can expect anywhere from $30 to $50 out of every $100 coming to the artist’s pocket with this new model,” said Bromley.
View the full list here.