Music Lessons From Prince's Lawyer

A year after the artist’s death, an attorney for his estate urges creatives to know what their work is worth 

- Jason Boyarski

Throughout his career, Prince was a champion of artistic freedom. But in a horribly ironic twist, when he died on April 21, 2016, without a will, he hadn’t put in place a legal, financial or creative road map that would allow his estate to follow a direct, clearly delineated vision.

Last summer, I was brought in by the then-special administrator, Bremer Trust, because of my experience in music publishing, when it was looking to do a global deal for Prince’s entire catalog. Prince had signed individual contracts with dozens of sub-publishers around the globe, and there was some clean-up involved; it wasn’t about opening a vault and having to blow off the dust, but it still was complicated because of a web of various arrangements.

When I first looked at the music deals, I was surprised at their complexity. Prince didn’t just control his own rights; he also controlled those of other writers, including members of his band, The Revolution, and Sheila E.