64 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 2 4 , 2 019
BACKSTAGE PASS / Top Music Lawyers
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Jeffrey Harleston
General counsel/executive vp business
and legal affairs, Universal Music Group
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY,
SCHOOL OF LAW
As the world’s largest music company continues
to expand into China, Africa and India, Harleston’s
business/legal affairs team has established
“beachheads” in regions primed for music-
business growth, says the 57-year-old executive.
“Not only [signing] acts — that’s a part of it,
for sure,” he says. “I’m talking about having
professionals on the ground who can help develop
the business model.” That means identifying
sources of hits; “securing repertoire,” as he puts it;
and boosting the acceptance of streaming services.
PRESSING ISSUE
”In the last 12 months, we’ve had a watershed
moment legislatively for the content industry,
specifically the music industry. In the U.S., we had
the Music Modernization Act; in the European Union,
we had the Copyright Directive. The most significant
issue facing the industry in the next 12 months is the
implementation of those pieces of legislation.”
Paul Robinson
Executive vp/general counsel, Warner
Music Group
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
In his global role for WMG, Robinson, 61, lobbied
stateside and abroad for copyright reform
during the past year. He represented Warner
in successfully calling for passage of the
European Union’s Copyright Directive and joined
industry colleagues in urging Congress last
September to enact the Music Modernization Act.
Both measures aim to improve royalty rates and
help artists and labels fight copyright violations.
“It never felt like a sure thing,” says Robinson
of the MMA. “It was a unanimous vote, which is
almost unbelievable, given the divisive politics
we have in the U.S.”
RECENT MEMORABLE CONCERT
“A workshop concert performance for a theatrical
production called The Wrong Man, written by
Warner Chappell songwriter Ross Golan. It’s
opening in October.” (See story, page 54.)
Julie Swidler
Executive vp business affairs/general
counsel, Sony Music Entertainment
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
Swidler, 61, and her department oversaw more than
100 deals for SME during the past year. She took
personal satisfaction in Sony’s mid-2018 relaunch
of Arista Records, where she previously had run
business affairs under Clive Davis. An attorney with
three-plus decades of music-business experience,
Swidler serves on The Recording Academy’s task
force on diversity and female inclusion. She also
played a key role in upgrading Sony’s artist royalty
portal, which, later this year, will offer new features
allowing acts to view their earnings and get paid
faster. “It affects tens of thousands of artists,” says
the New York City native. “I said to our finance
people, ‘That is a game-changer.’ ”
FREE LEGAL ADVICE
“Educate yourself as much as possible about the
business and how labels work and how you get
paid. The better-educated the artist is, the better
relationship we have. I really like it if an artist is
well-informed and understands how it all works.”
White represents K-pop stars BTS, whose
success has been both a commercial and
cultural milestone for the music business.
Harleston
Swidler
In recognition of an extraordinary year
fostering the success of BTS and Big Hit as well
as a clientele that includes Chinese technology
and entertainment giant Tencent; Citi; Bank
of America; Uber; Ty Stiklorius’ management
company, Friends at Work; British legends Duran
Duran and The Who; and artists Melanie Martinez,
James TW, Emily Ann Roberts, Tomorrow x
Together and Spektor — White has been named
Billboard’s Lawyer of the Year for 2019.
BTS’ most recent album, Map of the Soul:
Persona, topped the Billboard 200 in April, the
group’s third release to do so. In the United States
alone, the band’s catalog has accumulated
5.4 billion on-demand streams and 3.1 million song
downloads, according to Nielsen Music. BTS spent
most of the summer on its Love Yourself: Speak
Yourself Tour, which launched in May and has
grossed $99.3 million with a series of U.S. stadium
doubleheaders, according to Billboard Boxscore.
The tour required White to keep her bags
packed. She oversees all business aspects of
the group’s lucrative deals on a daily basis —
while constantly guarding against bootleg BTS
merchandise reaching its fan army.
Serving as the band’s outside counsel, she
negotiates all North American deals, as well as
the global distribution deal for its 2017 concert
film Burn the Stage and follow-up movie Bring the
Soul, which has grossed over $4.5 million stateside
since its domestic release on Aug. 7, according
to IMDb Pro. (Big Hit announced Aug. 11 that the
act will take a break after the tour “to present
themselves anew as musicians and creators.”)
For The Who — which now includes original
members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, plus
supporting musicians — White handles all North
American deals, including the band’s Moving On!
Tour with Live Nation. For Martinez, she has offered
guidance as the Queens native readies a new album
and self-directed film, both titled K-12, for a Sept. 6
release. For Stiklorius, she handles all business
affairs for Friends at Work.
“I literally don’t sleep,” says White, who is in
frequent contact with her clients. “They will text me
and it will be two o’clock in the morning, and I just
respond, ‘Hi.’ ”
At a young age, White knew she wanted a career
in entertainment but thought it would be in the
spotlight. Routinely cast as the lead in plays at
summer camp, she learned a hard lesson during
a Wizard of Oz tryout when a classmate scored
the role of Dorothy and she was cast as Glinda the
Good Witch.
“I thought, ‘I’ve got to figure out something
because I don’t think I’m going to be the star,’ ” says
White.
She chose to advise stars instead. White
attended New York University School of Law,
graduating not only magna cum laude but as a
member of the Order of the Coif, a society that
recognizes law students who achieve distinction.
White began her career at Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett as a corporate lawyer. Her break came
when she got a call from a headhunter to meet with
renowned music attorney Allen Grubman. After a
six-month interview process — and after agreeing
to a pay cut — she was offered a position. A decade
later, having learned the trade with that firm,
making partner and honing her skills with such
clients as Whitney Houston, Duran Duran and John
Mellencamp, she decided to focus on building her
own client roster and joined Loeb & Loeb.
“I had my Jerry Maguire moment when I was
leaving Grubman and said, ‘Is anyone coming with
me?’ ” says White, who was pleasantly surprised
when client Duran Duran agreed to follow her. She
says it took four long years before she started to
bring in other big clients, but then her hard work
and determination paid off.
Whether she’s advising stadium-packing
superstars or rising singer-songwriters, White
is watching broader industry trends and battles.
She calls the Copyright Royalty Board decision to
increase the rate of payments by streaming services
“long overdue and a step in the right direction for
songwriters and artists who write their music.
“If the CRB decision stands,” she adds, “Spotify
and other services will be scrambling to find new
ways to keep their music business profitable. I
think we might see increased subscription rates to
consumers as a result.”
White credits her success to her New York
attitude and straight-shooting business acumen.
Her tell-it-like-it-is approach is refreshing — honest,
forthright and transparent. She has no qualms
about explaining to a new artist that getting a
record deal is not a quick meal ticket to success,
but that the best route is to focus on growing an
audience and building momentum gradually.
“I’m not sugarcoating them, beating around the
bush, and I’m also not a paper-pusher,” she says. “I
think you really have to rely on yourself and look at
yourself in the mirror and make sure you are doing
the right things so you can sleep at night.”
Then again, she adds, “I don’t sleep at night
because I’m concerned about what’s going on in
Korea and China.” —CLAUDIA ROSENBAUM
Robinson
Note: Profile subjects whose ages are not included declined to provide them.