STEVE GORDON is an entertainment attorney with over 25 years of experience, including ten years as a Director of Business Affairs for Sony Music. His current and recent clients include emerging and major record label artists, managers, music producers as well as entertainment companies such Time Life Films and Soul Train Holdings, and cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian and the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. He also represents television, film and web based producers and production companies.
Other areas of his practice include serving as an expert witness, counseling producers of and participants in reality TV shows, registering trademarks and copyrights, and advising on copyright infringement and contract litigation.
Steve also operates a music clearance service for producers and distributors of feature films, documentaries, ad campaigns, musical theatre, concert programs, audio compilations, and music based apps and websites.
Steve is the author of The Future of the Music Business (Hal Leonard 4th ed. 2015). The book provides a legal and business roadmap to artists, entrepreneurs and music industry professionals for success in today’s music business. Steve updates the book at www.futureofthemusicbusiness.com.
In March 2017 Hal Leonard published Steve’s latest book, The 11 Contracts that Every Artist, Songwriter, and Producer Should Know . The book focuses on the most common and important contracts in the music business — including management, production company, exclusive artist agreements, sync licenses, and producer agreements — all paired with introductions to contract and annotations highlighting the issues in negotiating these deals. Also an educator, Steve frequently lectures on entertainment law and music business issues, and he is the recipient of two Fulbright scholarships. As a Fulbright scholar he lectured and taught courses at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and Tel Aviv University in Israel.