Dina Lapolt article about an entertainer's Brand and Navigating the music Industry

[john]

I found this it is really old but it gives you a sense of Dina and how she got to be a lawyer. She too was a starving artist.

http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=6496

It is an old article so a lot may have changed, but I found the article quite interesting. This is from part two:

[Gabrielle Hewson] Tell me a bit about your clientele.

Dina LaPolt We have basically three tiers of clients here at the firm. Tier A clients who are basically real successful recording artists who have sold millions and millions of records. Tier B clients who earn steady income that no one knows about, like writers, producers and people who always have agreements on the table that we negotiate, but no one knows who they are, like executive type people. Then there are our Tier C type clients. And these are the artists that we develop that are the Bs and As of tomorrow. We actively shop Rock, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal, Singer-Songwriter, Pop. We have a lot. Keeps us busy.

[Gabrielle Hewson] You work on flat fees and contingencies instead of the traditional "billable hour," contrary to the conventional and traditional law firm structure. Nonetheless, how do the C tiered artists/bands afford you?

Dina LaPolt I don't ever want a client of mine to not call because they're afraid they can't afford it. I'm not motivated by money. However, we will not take on Tier C type clients unless one of the attorneys here really likes their music and what they are doing, or the artist comes to us from someone in the industry who we really respect.