The WIMN’s Jenna Paone recently interviewed Erin. M. Jacobson, a music industry lawyer who works closely with music publishing, licensing, and copyright infringement. She represents a range of clients from Grammy Award winners to independent artists and companies. Erin has also been featured in Forbes and has her own firm called The Music Industry Lawyer. Watch our exclusive video interview below.
Erin explains that she did not know that a music lawyer was a job, but became aware after taking an intro to music industry course in college. She was then inspired to pursue this as a career because it combined her love for music, law, and passion for wanting to help people. Erin was also excited about this role because she wanted to work in music, but was not a musician.
Here, she also discusses the importance of hiring a music lawyer so that all rights are protected and musicians receive their full profits.
Because Erin is a lawyer in music, she works in two industry fields that are male dominated. She makes the point that law schools are 50% female now, but most firms are still mostly consisting of men. A lot of people Erin work with are men who have been in the same field for 30 years, and while most are respectful some say “inappropriate things” and “give her orders.” When she’s in this situation, Erin throws it back with “do it yourself.”
Erin also claims that it really comes down to the individual person, not just gender, but some people refuse to take advice from women. She also works with a number of women, but some are very competitive. She states that as women we need to support each other, especially in a male dominated industry.
You can contact Erin or learn more about her work on her website.
