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<\/p>\nBy Dick Dahl<\/p>\n
When baby boomers were young, many of them built their lives around the unholy trinity of \u201csex, drugs, and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d Now that the boomers have grown gray and begun to shuffle off this mortal coil, Minneapolis entertainment lawyer \u00a0suggests perhaps the old incantation deserves an update: \u201cOccasional sex, prescription drugs, and what\u2019s left of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdo\u2019s tongue-in-cheek assessment is not meant to disparage a musical form he has long loved. He has been devoting his law practice to musicians, mostly of the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll persuasion, for several decades, and that won\u2019t be changing any day soon. What IS changing, however, is the nature of his work on their behalf as they approach\u2014and reach\u2014the ends of their lives.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m fortunate enough to be old enough and young enough to work both sides of the fence\u2014the legacy acts AND young artists,\u201d says Abdo. By \u201clegacy acts,\u201d he is referring to the recognized, older name-brand acts on his client roster at Fox Rothschild\u2014Kool and the Gang, Toto, Three Dog Night, the estates of Muddy Waters and Count Basie.<\/p>\n
While most musicians have estate plans, Abdo says, some notable ones do not. Minneapolis musician Prince, for instance, died in 2016 at age 57 without a will, leaving much uncertainty about who gets what. Abdo represented three of Prince\u2019s presumptive heirs. \u201cI think Prince\u2019s death was a reminder to those who do have assets that they better get to it and make a plan,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Abdo says that for most of his legacy clients, estate-planning is not about the money. \u201cTheir concern is not so much about themselves anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re really concerned about their heirs, but they\u2019re also concerned about their legacy in the lexicon of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll. They don\u2019t want to be forgotten. It\u2019s about \u2018How can we preserve the work that we\u2019ve done?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For instance, Abdo says, he works with the estate of Bill Haley (of Bill Haley & His Comets) and has discussed possible “artist branding” options– such as anthologies, books, or a movie\u2014to help make up for declining revenue from recordings and to provide greater insight into Haley’s history.<\/p>\n
For many of these artists, the transition of the music business from product sales to monthly streaming subscriptions has caused significant income reductions. Abdo says he loves broad access to music as much as anyone, but he believes efforts must be made\u2014such as significantly increasing the cost of monthly streaming subscriptions\u2014to put more money into artists\u2019 pockets.<\/p>\n
His work at Fox Rothschild is essentially focused on doing precisely that. In January, he and five other lawyers from his previous firm, Lommen Abdo, transferred their entertainment law group to the much larger, 850-lawyer firm. Abdo had spent his entire career to that point in the firm his father created in 1936 and which his brother, Robert, also joined.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy for the niche that I\u2019ve been able to carve out,\u201d he says. \u201cUnless I\u2019m missing something, there\u2019s no other law practice in the Midwest that\u2019s quite like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dick Dahl is a freelance writer and editor in St. Paul.<\/em><\/p>\n
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