Culminating Experience:
Looking at the Music Industry
Through the Lens of the Law

Hannah J. Lebel
Master’s Candidate, 2017
Reflection Paper

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Table of Contents
I.

Summary

II.

Initial Expectations

III. Results: How The Project Did and Did Not Align
With Expectations
IV. Process
V.

Contribution to Educational and Professional
Development

VI. Next Steps & Conclusion

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I. Summary
As a Master’s Candidate for a degree in Music Business and
Global Entertainment, it is my honor to present the project I have
been working on and toward during my year at Berklee Valencia.

For

the duration of the spring and summer semester, I have been
participating in an Externship with Frascogna Entertainment Law,
located in Jackson, Mississippi.

The Externship as a Culminating

Experience is designed to provide the company with valuable work
products and advancements, in exchange for contributing to the
student’s educational and professional development.

As a future

legal professional, a partnership with a law firm was a natural
choice, and I was partnered with Martin F. Frascogna, who served as
my boss and mentor throughout the Externship.

The set-up of this

project was such that we had weekly meetings via FaceTime, in order
for me to provide a report of the past week’s progress, success, and
hiccups.

Martin assigned weekly task lists, which I would complete

to the best of my ability.
Outside of these meetings, I was encouraged to solve problems
on my own, and seek help when necessary, the firm’s goal was to
teach an entrepreneurial mindset of solving problems creatively.
Most of the tasks to complete were not time-sensitive due to the
seven-hour time difference, but on occasion it was required to work
on a tight turn-around time.

Throughout the semester working with

Martin, I experienced a variety of projects that Marty was involved
in and was able to dip my toes into each one to get a feel for what
the job was like.

As is natural for a first-timer, not everything

went perfectly, but overall it was a successful partnership.

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Working with Marty was an experience that has helped shape my
educational development in the G.E.M.B. program as well as helped
define my professional goals.

Through this partnership I have

learned that being an Entertainment Lawyer is a multi-faceted job,
and it requires a deep understanding of many aspects and job
functions of the Entertainment Industry in conjunction with a
complete legal understanding.

This has, in turn, solidified my

conviction to pursue this career path, and a part of that I owe to
Marty.
II. Initial Expectations
Before beginning this project with Marty, I made a list of
initial expectations and hopes in order to track my progress and the
alignment with Frascogna Entertainment Law, as well as compare
thoughts before, during, and after the process.

These expectations

were based upon my loose understanding of the work Marty regularly
completed along with my assumptions about Entertainment Law.

They

were as follows:
- Gain knowledge about acting as a business manager and/or manager
for artists in the music industry
- Learn how to secure and solicit sponsorships and endorsements
- Understand the language of contracts and the process of red-lining
and negotiating
- Be of significant assistance/value to Marty in aiding with new
client referrals, using my network of contacts, putting more time
and effort into select projects than would otherwise be possible
-Develop my communication skills
- Observe the way the music industry functions through the lens of
the law

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-Be involved with contract signing and disputes
Quite honestly, I had high expectations.

As a person who

enjoys learning, and desires to know everything, I was ready to
ingest and soak up any piece of information I could discern from my
experience working for Marty.

In retrospect, it was unfair to make

any assumptions, but useful in helping me now gauge the outcome of
my externship.

III. Results: How the Project Did and Did Not Align with
Expectations
As far as my expectations went, most were met.

I absolutely

gained knowledge about the business management of artists, developed
my communication skills, and succeeded at observing the
functionality of the music industry through the lens of the law.
those three things I am sure.

Of

I developed some new hard skills in

terms of endorsement work, became slightly more familiar with
contracts, and was, I think, an overall asset, allowing Marty to
focus less on the small necessities and more on the large
opportunities.

I was unable to participate in any actual contract

signings, as I do not have the qualifications to do so on my own,
and the geographical difference made this process difficult to
align.
I learned quite a lot about securing endorsements and
sponsorships.

With this, however, one of the largest skills I

learned was how to cold email people, and also that you often fail
or get zero responses in this portion of the job.

It is difficult

to capture and build the interest of major companies such as Nike or

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Adidas with an artist who has not yet reached superstar level.

So,

I had a lot of experience with un-returned emails, and only minor
success with securing actual alignments.

In the same vein, I alone

was unable to see any of the partnerships through to the end,
instead I turned it over to Marty, as we did not want to spoil the
opportunity and thus lose the partner.

This was slightly

frustrating because I like to understand exactly how things work,
and what tactics and language Marty used in order to get the company
hooked into an official agreement.
Those small disappointments aside, I learned an incredible
amount about how to sell an artist and how to use their numbers to
make them look attractive in the eyes of almost any company I could
think of.

It is a matter of positioning your pitch well, and Marty

helped me develop a much better hard skill in this area.
In the realm of contracts, I felt torn about my experience
during this partnership.

I jumped into this externship incorrectly

thinking that I truly had enough legal knowledge to intellectually
understand everything Marty would throw at me.

My, how I was wrong.

After receiving the first long-form contract to review I realized I
was in deep and needed to step back and take my time reviewing and
trying to understand and break down the information in front of me.
This was entirely ego-driven, however, the expectation of immediate
understanding.

Marty did an incredible job mentoring me through the

process and answering all questions I asked to the best of his
ability.

I read and underlined and studied more than ten contracts

ranging from two pages to sixty pages.

This was helpful in terms of

familiarization with language, style, and content, but I still have

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many questions.

As this externship was not set up to be a mentoring

program, there was no requirement for Marty to take the time to
teach me at all, so even though it did not align perfectly with my
expectations, it would be incorrect to assume that I did not benefit
from or enjoy the learning experiences.
Part of the overall goal of this externship was to provide a
company with a free employee; someone who could help the company
grow, function more efficiently, or help solve a problem.

In this

area, it would be better served to speak with Marty to see if I was
an actual asset.

In my opinion, I was able to complete many time

consuming tasks that, in turn, helped Marty out greatly.

On the

other hand, he put a lot of time and effort into teaching me, and
coming up with projects for me to work on in order to be involved
with as many different aspects of his day –to-day life.

It could

only be for him to say whether or not the amount of assistance I
provided was worth the time he invested in me.

Regardless, I do

feel as though I was an asset.
Something I was never involved in was the actual signing and
finalization of any contracts.

This is an activity I am sure I will

be a part of many times throughout my career, so I was hoping to get
a jump start on gauging the atmosphere of the situation including
the attitudes and rapport of the parties involved.

Understandably,

it would have been impossible to be there physically, but it would
have been beneficial to have even been on speakerphone.

So this was

the only expectation not met by my externship with M. Frascogna.
Excellent odds, I might add.

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All of these experiences came together to give me a great view
of the music industry through the lens of the law, which was the
ultimate expectation.

I went into this with merely one course of

study in the law under my belt, and I came out with the
understanding that the role of an entertainment lawyer is not just
about contract management and billable hours, but about a full-on
ability to manage an artist’s business, deciding when to make
investments, when to back off, and when you’ve done your job fully
and to the best of your ability.

IV. Process
The process we used throughout our partnership was in constant
evolution.

As it was Marty’s first time with a proper Berklee

extern, we were in constant communication about how the process was
functioning, and both very open about what worked and what didn’t.
First, let’s go back.

I secured this externship thanks to our

program director, Emilien Moyon.

When I approached him to explain

my interest in pursuing entertainment law he immediately suggested,
and practically insisted I connect with a lawyer named Martin
Frascogna – Berklee Valencia’s American Ambassador, as it were.
This simple connection turned from a Skype call into a great working
relationship, which is likely continuing into the future after I
have graduated from this program.
We began our process by first setting up the previously
mentioned weekly FaceTime calls.

This became an absolutely integral

part of the partnership, as it allowed us to break down any issues
or concerns and mold the externship to the parameters that suited us

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both the best.

During these meetings, I would first report to Marty

about what I was able to accomplish during the past week, and then
he would answer any questions I had, and then he would lay out the
next week’s task list.

This was a good opportunity to discuss the

workload, and whether or not the externship was working well for
both parties.

This was the process throughout the externship, and

we just fine-tuned it and tailored it as necessary.
V. Contribution to Educational and Professional Development
My Culminating Experience contributed significantly to both my
educational and professional development.

Within the Global

Entertainment and Music Business Program, it was specifically
pertinent, helpful, and complimentary.

It allowed me to put into

practical use the skills and information I had been learning
throughout the program.

In terms of professional development, it

was equally, if not more beneficial, because I could more
realistically envision my probable, and now certain, future.
My interest in the idea of doing an externship with an
entertainment lawyer was triggered by my experience in the
Entertainment Law and Contract Management course.

I found the

teacher engaging and intelligent, and realized that I had an
aptitude for the content.

Thanks to the encouragement from Berklee,

I chose to pursue this newfound interest, and develop it into my
Culminating Experience.

Thus I used my experience with learning

about Contract Management as I looked over contracts for Marty,
continuing my skill development beyond the classroom.

I also used

my knowledge about copyright in trying to understand the basis on

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which new cases that came along, or to unpack issues regarding
Spotify and copyright infringement.

I was also able to use my

experience working with a Contemporary Performance student to prep
me for some of the issues artists needed clarified.

It allowed me

to feel comfortable with some of the content, even if I did not yet
know how to navigate the solutions.
In tandem with what I had already learned in the fall semester,
the Record Practicum experience was a sure compliment to my
externship.

Acting as the head of legal for the student-run record

label, I became ultimately responsible for taking care of legal
issues for the artists we were trying to sign as well as for the
record label itself.

Interestingly enough, I also ended up working

with the Berklee Administration in this role, increasing the value
that I got from Berklee to add into my skill set, and ability to do
my job for the externship, and thus my educational development.

On

the other hand, the tasks I was completing for Marty helped further
my development within my courses, thus creating a mutually
beneficial arrangement.
Collectively with my coursework, the guest lectures we had as
part of the Music Business Seminar gave me valuable insights into
the real problems within the industry for which a lawyer would be
necessary, and also proved the multi-faceted role that an
entertainment lawyer plays, and allowed me to imagine where I may be
able to insert myself in the future as an asset for various
companies based on what I have learned from the combination of
Berklee and my externship.

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Each week progressed and I became more comfortable in my dual
role as student and employee, applying courses to work, and work to
courses, as I learned more about the industry and how to apply
multiple levels of skill to my externship.

I found that this

externship was one of the top aspects of my year here at Berklee as
it truly allowed hands-on experience, and even opened a door into
further collaboration, as Marty and I have been talking about
continuing to work together.

VI. Next Steps & Conclusion
“Esse quam videri,” is Berklee College of Music’s motto, and is
translated as “to be, rather than to appear to be.”

This is an apt

description of the school’s mentality, and the Externship program
specifically.
application.

It is not just about learning, but about practical
The ultimate goals of the G.E.M.B. program are to

further our education and thus, help us secure a job.

There is not

a more perfect way to illustrate these goals being achieved (in my
opinion) than by looking at the way my externship was begun,
executed, and wrapped up.

It started as a vision that appeared to

be possible, then I began working for Marty and the vision became
reality, and now that it has concluded, the externship and the work
“was”, it did not “appear to be”.
The largest takeaway from this experience was a far better
understanding of the role of an Entertainment Lawyer.

It is not

just a matter of sitting at a desk and red-lining contracts.

It is

not about placing yourself above your client and exploiting them for
money.

It is not about billable hours.

It is about developing a

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business relationship with your client.
talent.

It is about investing in

It is about breaking down the perceived barrier between

lawyers and artists.

I realized that each and every skill I already

possess combined with those I have learned during this past year,
have come together to form the perfect basis for pursuing a career
in entertainment law.

All is meant to be built upon and expanded,

and working with Martin Frascogna taught me just that.

It showed me

the versatility necessary to thrive in the music industry.
It would be wrong to speculate about what the next steps would
be, if the externship were to go on longer, because I am lucky
enough to be continuing my work with Marty in some capacity.

We

have had a professional, communicative, and positive relationship
throughout this experience, and he is currently trying to figure out
a way to continue working together, building the position of a
‘remote law clerk’ within his firm.

With that as the final proof of

how effective and beneficial this experience was, I bid you hasta
lluego, Berklee Valencia.