What’s not to like about Carrie Underwood? I’ve been a big fan since I first saw her on American Idol. In the arena of glitter and glamour, she hasn’t’ taken to the glitter. The tabloids have tried their best to come up with untrue stories, but none worked. As reported in the Tennessean, Carrie was asked about her choice for the US President race, Carrie says, “There is someone I support, but I don’t support publicly. I lose all respect for celebrities when they back a candidate. It’s saying that the American public isn’t smart enough to make decisions themselves.” We wish more artist/celebrities could take the same stance. We all have television, radio and newspaper to help us make up our minds. We think you’ll agree.

So you think the music business is confusing? It is becoming more confusing every day. Recently Kix Brooks & Ronnie Dunn told a group of University of Tennessee students that the changing music business has created a need for good attorneys. We agreed wholeheartedly. We’ve spoken many times about illegally downloading, publishing/writer/management deals, but it’s a part of an even larger issue of changing the industry to accommodate new technology. Just this week I had a conversation with a writer/publisher who feels the main publishing company that is doing the administration for his firm is not paying his fair share of royalties and he’s looking for help in collecting these funds. Another artist called to ask our opinion about an investor who wants to back his career while starting a new record label. The investor has loads of money but doesn’t know anything about the music business. Yes, there is indeed a big need for legal help. However, if you choose a lawyer who also does work for a major music company….beware. If you get into a fight you feel you can with against a major firm, lawyers can quit on you or even get “bought off.”  This happens and we’ve seen it happen.