Leonard Lowy qualified as a solicitor in 1978 at one of the relatively few firms that specialised in the entertainment industry in those days. After gaining experience in private practice for a few years, he left to take on the position of Head of Legal Affairs at Island Records Limited, Chris Blackwell's world-famous and ground-breaking label, which was then still independent and very much at the cutting edge of popular music.

In 1985 he was appointed to the Board of Directors at Island. In 1987 he left Island to return to private practice, joining a prestigious music law firm in London's Mayfair, eventually becoming joint senior partner in the practice before leaving in December 1998 to set up Leonard Lowy & Co.

Between 1997 and 2006 he was also a Director and co-owner of Bond Management, the management company which represented, among others, the internationally successful and multi-million selling recording artists Dario G (of "Sunchyme" and "Carnaval de Paris" fame).

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Leonard Lowy & Co. specialises in all aspects of the music industry. With many years' music industry experience both "in-house" and in private practice, Leonard Lowy offers sensible, pro-active, effective legal and business affairs advice and assistance, quickly, competently and economically.

His previous dual role in artist management makes him particularly attuned to the relationship between artists and managers, and its attendant tensions and problems.

The firm advises also on recording, publishing, production, remixing, video, "live" performance, merchandising, copyright, new technology, and all other areas of the music business. We are particularly involved in all aspects of the digital side of music, assisting clients with various types of online operations such as aggregators, digital stores, and digital music and image libraries.

The office is located 2 minutes' walk from Camden Town Underground Station, with quick and easy access to and from Central London. Camden Road London Overground station is also just a few minutes' walk away.

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Contracts are complicated things. Music industry contracts, perhaps especially so. The recent digital revolution hasn’t made things any simpler. There’s a whole raft of different rights that need to be considered, and unless you’re careful these different rights have the potential to conflict with each other, with the potential of causing considerable problems.

Then there are territorial complications. Very often, different parties own rights in the same work or product for different parts of the world. There may be conflicts between those different rights holders. And the laws and regulations of the EU have a lot to say about what you can and cannot do in terms of trade between member states.

It can be a veritable minefield, and you need the help of someone who is experienced in navigating around this type of situation.

Contracts can sometimes run to 60 or 70 pages or more. Or, alternatively, they might be no more than a single page in length. Each of these brings its own particular problems. The very long contracts need careful and detailed attention, to ensure that everything holds together properly, that there are no inconsistencies and that the contract does actually reflect the parties’ intention. On the other hand, with very short contracts the problem is more likely to be with what it doesn’t say, and in those cases it is important to identify the gaps and to put in whatever you feel is needed to protect your client’s position.

Clients sometimes tell me, variously: “I didn’t bother getting any legal advice, because we were mates” or “They assured me it was a standard contract, and so I just assumed it was OK” or “I read through it, and the bits I understood seemed OK, and so I just signed it.” Don’t take risks with your career. Take proper advice. It will pay dividends in the long run.

I’ve worked with, and against, some of the most formidable legal minds in the business but the most accurate and telling description of a contract that I ever heard is provided by the great Tom Waits, in his song “Step Right Up” (from the album “Small Change”), in which he famously (and caustically) remarked: “The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away…”. It’s a lesson I took to heart very early in my career, and in that respect I can honestly say that I’ve bought the T-shirt.

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Arguably the most important contract a successful band will ever sign is the one between its own members. Surprising, then, that organising one is so often overlooked, even by lawyers busying themselves negotiating lucrative recording, publishing and other deals for groups.

But consider: what do you do when your lead singer announces on the eve of your first major tour that he's quitting the band?

How do you react when two or three band members suddenly declare that they're leaving to set up a new group; oh, and by the way, they're taking the name of your existing group with them...?

Or one of the band members suddenly decides that he or she ought to have a bigger share of the group's earnings, and is going to be awkward unless and until you agree?

And what do you do with a band member who's no longer pulling his or her weight in the band? Can you sack them? What claims might they have against the band if you do?

And what if you are the expelled member? Do you have any rights?

These (and others like them) are very familiar scenarios to music industry lawyers, some of whom do very nicely out of the disputes and court cases that sometimes result from them.

Once members of a band go into battle with each other, it is generally "game over". Even successful bands often find themselves unable to withstand the financial and emotional pressures of internecine warfare. And you'd be amazed how quick record companies can be to distance themselves from a band at the first sign of trouble.

Whilst nothing in this life is foolproof, an agreement entered into by band members with each other is often a successful preventative measure against subsequent fall-out.

Obviously, differences (musical or otherwise) can and do arise, and as in any personal relationship nerves can fray and rifts can appear, but help is at hand.

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These are difficult times for business in general, and for the music industry in particular. Long-serving employees suddenly find themselves made redundant, struggling companies go to the wall, and even the multinational majors find it necessary to lay off hundreds of members of staff and seek mergers in order to offset costs and stabilise their balance sheets. It's a jungle out there.

Increasingly, record labels are becoming reluctant to sign new artists before those artists have created some kind of a 'buzz' for themselves, either by releasing records independently or by an aggressive touring schedule, or by attracting press attention (not necessarily for their music).

If every cloud has a silver lining, then the upside of this particular depression is that there are now genuine opportunities for people with motivation and talent to start up their own business and take advantage of current market conditions. Historically, it has always been the small independent companies at the cutting edge; by their very size and structure, the big boys are unable to react as quickly as independents can.

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