Legal advice to businesses creating and exploiting music through all media.

The music industry has undergone a period of intense change - and is no longer recognisable from the vastly profitable industry sector of 20 years ago.  That change has prompted a number of reactions - record companies diversifying into other business areas and maximising new revenue streams; looking to cut costs, by outsourcing and joint venturing non-core aspects of their businesses. This has also led to closer co-operation between record companies and artists across a range of projects - not just creating and marketing records; and consolidation - at the heart of each of these, you will find Olswang.

Olswang is rare among major law firms in having a deep understanding of the music industry. Add to this its involvement in all other aspects of media which the music industry touches and we are able to offer a unique breadth of experience.

Our commercial lawyers have been at the cutting edge of digital music exploitation since the first music-led websites were launched in the late 1990s; they handle negotiations between digital music businesses, rights owners and collecting societies as well as working with our e-commerce team on consumer and data issues.

Our corporate and tax teams work on acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures and also work closely with the commercial team to handle the rights licensing and assignment that inevitably forms a major part of many of these deals, as well as undertaking due diligence reviews.

Our litigation team also understands the music industry and deploys this understanding in a range of disputes from skirmishes between record labels and artists through to "bet-the-industry" Copyright Tribunal litigation.

Advising and representing ITV in a Copyright Tribunal reference challenging the terms on which the Performing Right Society and Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society license ITV's use of music in its programmes / services.

Olswang LLP advised Chrysalis PLC on two major corporate transactions, including its take-over by BMG Rights.

In April 2010, Chrysalis acquired the entire issued share capital of First State Media Group (Ireland) Limited ("FSMG"), a music publishing business operating through a network of subsidiaries and sub-publishers in seven countries, from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and management (the "Sellers"), for a total consideration of US$16.5million (the "Acquisition").

FSMG controls over 45,000 music copyrights comprising, amongst others, the catalogue of Sheryl Crow, the former "Dreamworks" catalogue and the "Wind-Up" catalogue. 

Olswang also advised Chrysalis on the terms of a recommended cash offer for its entire share capital from a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMG Luxco, a joint venture between Bertelsmann and an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P

Advising Ansco Arena Limited  (part of the AEG Group, which controls and hosts various events and concerts at the O2 arena in Greenwich) regarding a dispute with Lastminute.com in relation to a Sponsorship Agreement under which Ansco Arena granted Lastminute certain sponsorship and ticketing rights in relation to the O2 arena. 

CSC Media Group Limited v Video Performance Limited

We acted for Video Performance Limited (VPL) in relation to its long-running litigation with CSC Media Group (CSC) concerning the licence terms pursuant to which CSC's seven music television channels use VPL's repertoire of music videos.

Universal Music Group

We advised on the establishment of Future Records, a joint venture with Take That songwriter Gary Barlow to set up a new record label and TV production business.

Other clients active in the direct and indirect exploitation of music whom we advise include the UK record industry trade body, the BPI, Warner Music Group and Global Radio plc.