Being a music artist is sometimes about music and sometimes not. More than ever, rights and their value are born more of celebrity than from artistry, profoundly affecting the nature of the traditional relationship between artists and record companies. The panel will address the source of these rights, and their exploitation and valuation in a rapidly changing landscape.
Ken Abdo and the Lommen Abdo Law Firm have served as legal counsel to music, film, TV, theatre, literary publishing and media artists for over 25 years. The Firm’s clients include multiple Grammy award recipients, gold and platinum recording artists as well as Oscar, Emmy, Peabody and Spirit award winners. Ken is a voting member of The Recording Academy; a former member of the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter Board of Governors; the past Chair of The Grammy Foundation Entertainment Law Initiative; the past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries; an Adjunct Professor of Entertainment Law at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul; and is a contributing author to the law school textbook, “Law & Business of the Entertainment Industries” (Biederman, et al.).
KENNETH HERTZ, is a Senior Partner in the Beverly Hills law firm of Hertz and Lichtenstein LLP. Ken and his partners specialize in representing talent and new media companies in the sports and entertainment industries. The firm’s clients include Will Smith, Gwen Stefani, The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, Herbie Hancock, Jason Mraz, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, David Blaine, Shaun White and Alex Rodriguez. Prior to joining the firm, Ken was in charge of music -- business and legal affairs -- for The Walt Disney Company.
Ken is also a principal in Membrain - an entertainment marketing and strategy consulting firm. Membrain consults a number of firms engaged in businesses operating in the entertainment content, fashion, technology and marketing industries (Membrain’s clients include Intel, McDonald’s, Hasbro, BigChampagne and Coty).
Ken is a frequent speaker and commentator on the subjects of entertainment, marketing and convergence, is often quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal, has appeared on CNBC’s monthly newsmagazine “Business Nation,” has been an instructor at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, and an adjunct professor of law at USC.
