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Paolo Catalano, the music lawyer who works with artists for their rights

The artists go up on stage to sing, but before the fateful moment of the show there are hours, days, years of work and dozens of people by their side. Managers, record companies, image and legal consultants, such as Paolo Catalano. Young lawyer, born in Abruzzo and Milanese by adoption, music lover and musician himself, today he works in the field of intellectual property, copyright and image rights. Alongside dozens of singers whose songs we listen to on the radio or watch at the Sanremo Festival, to protect their careers.

Making passion a job

  • Paolo Catalano, now a lawyer, has always had a passion for music: «With friends, we played together, composed songs. Then over the years they were successful, I became a lawyer », but he has never abandoned this world. «While I was working my way up in law firms and courts of law, my friends also became clients and I specialized in copyright law. So I was lucky enough to write successful songs for some great Italian artists (Fedez, J-Ax, Fred De Palma, Takagi & Ketra etc., ed.) and this led me to deal firsthand with copyright» – a sector that is still little known and for which one does not study in textbooks, but in the field, making him a pioneer in the sector, in Italy.

Collect royalties and manage influencers

Lawyer, consultant and attorney, Paolo works in the world of music, behind the scenes, and therefore professional secrecy is in force on the names of the clients. «There are dozens, if a manager works with a few artists, I deal with agreements, contracts and renewals, on a daily basis». Well yes, because if i contracts with record companies are signed from time to time, copyright and image rights, royalties and one’s image on social networks are a continuous work, which can determine an artist’s career. «Besides being a legal advisor, I assist authors, composers and artists in negotiations with brands, record companies, publishers. I take care of image rights management, which today is a business, because singers are influencers at the same time». Behind an artist there is a whole team of people who work so that he can freely express his creativity, can develop it over the long term and also protect it from an economic point of view. “Recovery of royalties” he says jokingly to those who don’t fully understand his work as a specialist.

Photo by Russevx – Styled by Corneliani

Photo by Russevx – Styled by Corneliani

How much the music business has changed

Today it is very complex, he explains to me, and it is also what he teaches in the Music Business course at the SAE Institute Milano (Milanese academy that trains various professionals in the musical world). There is the record industry on one side, which develops the works, and the publishing industry which disseminates it, in between the artists and authors. «I take care of the bureaucratic, contractual, administrative side, I understand how to earn money, where, I help plan the economic exploitation and protect the works, to have a long-term vision. I leave the work to the artists, which is devoting themselves to art». And I immediately understand that if at one time only a few had to manage these problems, only the big names, today it is a topic that must be managed immediately, in order to emerge. From the times of the big record companies and talent scouts, in which an artist was hired and managed at 360°, today young artists also achieve success in a lightning-fast way, from a talent show, self-promoting on social networks, thanks to the tamtam and Spotify. «Today everything is more meritocratic, but it is also a complex system. It is rare for the singer-songwriter to create the work alone. Making music is a team effort involving authors, melodist, producer and performer…». Managing everyone’s rights to that work, which accrue with every listen, with every sale, with every click, cannot be improvised because it is a heritage, fragmented and often with a “short but intense” duration. And Paolo talks to me about tax efficiency, atypical contracts and a series of clauses that make his job much less boring and much more creative than I thought.

Appointment Sanremo

Thanks to his work, he spends little time in the studio and a lot between travels, tours and appointments alongside the artists. «It is a relationship work, and the opportunity to deal with the management of the rights of dozens of artists offers me the possibility of having a broad spectrum vision. After all, consultancy is the sale of knowledge, therefore experience». He often goes to Miami, to follow the creative sessions of some of his clients, and obviously to Sanremo, where this year he will enjoy the show on board the Costa Smeralda, with Takagi & Ketra as guests of Salmo’s live show.

Photo by Russevx – Styled by Corneliani

Source: Vanity Fair

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