Music Law — Blog — Whitman Legal Solutions LLC

Beyond the Fine Print: What Businesses Overlook in Contracts

What do a messy collection of sheet music and a band agreement have in common? The tendency to focus on the obvious and overlook “everything else.”

When organizing my music collection, I focused on my violin music, only to realize that I also have a huge collection of music for "everything else" - other instruments I have played over the years. Band members may agree how they create music and split provits but not on what happens when disagreements arise, they need more money, or plans change. In a contract, the answers may be buried in contract provisions that people dismiss as standard boilerplate boilerplate.

But business relationships aren't standard, and boilerplate can make the difference between harmony and discord in music and in business. Before signing a contract, have your attorney look at “everything else" - it could become the most important part of your agreement.

Business Law, Music LawElizabeth WhitmanNovember 18, 2026Boilerplate, music law, business law

Finding Harmony: What Musicians Can Teach Lawyers About Business Negotiations

A jazz pianist, an Appalachian fiddler, a saxophonist, a dream-grunge artist, a folk singer-songwriter, and a choral director walk onto a stage. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but that's pretty much what happened at Strathmore's recent Artists in Residence concert. Although the musicians came from different backgrounds they found a way to create something amazing.

Their collaboration resembled what business and transactional attorneys should do. The other party in a negotiation shouldn’t be viewed as an adversary but rather, as a business partner-to-be. The focus should be on building relationships and finding common ground. And sometimes, that means making compromises so that everyone gets what they need for a win-win result.

Business Law, Music LawElizabeth WhitmanNovember 9, 2026Strathmore, collaboration

How the American Music Tourism Act Could Affect the Music Industry

Bobby Troup’s 1946 hit “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” helped make an American highway a tourist destination in its own right. The recently passed American Tourism Act is designed to give music tourism a similar boost by encouraging travel to concerts, festivals, museums, and other music destinations across the country. More visitors could mean bigger audiences and increased revenues for musicians and venues, as well as more business for adjacent hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-business.

However, the Act provides no additional funding for music organizations. Nor is there a no clear way to measure the Act's success.

Flying With Musical Instruments: What US Law Says and Tips for a Positive Air Travel Experience

Musicians traveling in the US are fortunate that federal law provides rules that help them bring their valuable instruments into the cabin. However, musicians should remember that their instrument will use their carry-on baggage allotment and is treated the same as all other carry-on baggage.

Music Law, Music BusinessElizabeth WhitmanAugust 5, 2026music law, music business, musical instrument

You May Not be Able to Post Your Own Photo Online – Here’s Why

It's more than an artistic decision when a coffee shop's ad features a simple photo of coffee with the patrons in the shop blurred in the background. Although the shop may have purchased the copyright from the photographer, that doesn't mean the shop can use people's faces in an ad. By blurring the people's images, the shop need not worry about obtaining consents. On the other hand, since a photographer owns the copyrights in photos they take, even a person who is featured in the photo can't post or copy it without consent. Read our newest article to learn about these and other pitfalls individuals, businesses, and music groups may face when they post photos on social media or use them in promotional materials.

When Life Delivers Squirrels – How an Attorney Can Help You Future-Proof Your Business Relationship

I bought a bird feeder and mounted it on a tall, narrow pole because I wanted to keep the squirrels away from the birdseed only to discover the squirrels had no trouble climbing the pole. So, I bought a cone-shaped device called a baffle that's supposed to limit how high squirrels can climb. But that didn't quite go as planned. The squirrels quickly learned they could jump on top of the baffle and use it like a springboard to launch themselves onto the feeder. Then, on a rainy day, I saw a very content squirrel was comfortably eating the birdseed that had fallen to the ground while staying completely dry under the “squirrel umbrella” I had unwittingly installed.

People are naturally optimistic when starting a new business relationship or band -- that’s the way it should be. Most people may not have to deal with talented squirrels, but the hard reality is that all relationships changes over time. By working with an experienced attorney who can ask the hard questions at the beginning of a relationship and help develop a solid agreement that can help future-proof the relationship through its successes and challenges.

John Cage Meets Goldilocks – Deciding Much Detail Should be in a Contract

For most of us, ASAP means to hurry up and rush to completion. In contrast, Cage's organ composition ASLSP means "as slow as possible," which has been taken to an extreme with a performance on the Halberstadt organ will last 639 years. Yet, extremes are rarely the best option. Moving too quickly can leave important questions unanswered. Moving too slowly can turn a useful project into an academic exercise. Attorneys face a similar dilemma when preparing contracts. Contracts aren't one-size-fits-all; they must be customized for each situation and relationship, and finding the amount of detail that's "just right" is what turns contract drafting from a science that can use a form or be performed by AI into an art that requires human input.

Business Law, Music LawElizabeth WhitmanJuly 23, 2026John Cage, ASLSP, Halberstadt, contracts

Beethoven’s Late String Quartets, AI, and the Art of Law

Beethoven's late quartets were transformative but not necessarily well-received because they didn't conform to the technical expectations of the time. Law is like music in this respect -- document preparation requires both technical competence and an artful approach to create a structure that meets the clients' and transactions needs — and the artistic part of law is often underappreciated. Some view AI as a replacement for conventional legal advice -- they believe they can rely upon software to write their wills or create basic business documents without the benefit of an attorney.

However, this viewpoint overlooks the skill and art involved in lawyering. AI is dependent on the knowledge and skill of the user in crafting instructions — skill that attorneys develop only after years of experience. Although AI can be valuable tool that addresses many of the the "scientific" aspects of law and frees attorneys to focus on the art of creating documents customized to their clients' needs, AI isn't yet a replacement for sound legal advice.

Music Law, Business LawElizabeth WhitmanJuly 11, 2026Beethoven, string quartet, AI

What Violinmaking Teaches Us About Crisis Planning

During a recent performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto in Finland, conductor Matthew Halls accidentally knocked soloist Elina Vähälä’s 18th-century Guadagnini violin out of her hands. The audience gasped. Time seemed to stop as the violin worth millions flew through the air and landed on the stage. Vähälä inspected the instrument and, after a few minutes, tuned it and signaled that the performance could continue. She later explained that the violin wasn't seriously injured because it was constructed so that rather than the wood cracking, a seam will come loose when the violin was under pressure -- the violin had a built-in crisis response plan. Violinmakers know what many teams don't -- that careful upfront planning can prevent a crisis.

What a Japanese Television Drama Teaches Musicians About Band Agreements

In the Japanese television drama Quartet, four musicians form a string quartet. Each comes to the group with hidden goals and agendas, but without a mutual agreement about how their quartet will operate. That uncertainty makes for good television drama as the musicians’ private problems and personal agendas begin to affect the group’s rehearsals, performances, and relationships. But bands and other musical groups don’t need that kind of drama. They need a customized written agreement that minimizes drama so they can focus on creating and building their brand. Before accepting their first gig, musicians should work with an attorney who understands that groups and musicians are unique and can help them create an agreement that's reflects their culture and goals. With a good agreement in place, the group then can focus on creating music, rather than the distractions and drama that come with misunderstandings and disputes.

Business Law, Music LawElizabeth WhitmanJune 19, 2026quartet, quartet doughnuts hole, band agreement

Bach to Business

Our award-winning blog draws from Elizabeth Whitman’s passion for music to illustrate how we find creative solutions for complex legal challenges.