A Family Tradition of Helping Artists
If you are entitled to receive royalties from record or publishing companies and wonder whether you are being accounted to fairly, reach out to Machat & Associates for a free case evaluation. We welcome your call.
The Machat Legacy
Michael Machat grew up in the music business. His father, Marty Machat, was a pioneering music lawyer whose practice began in the 1950s. At a time when prominent white law firms stayed away from Black entertainers, Marty represented some of the most important and influential figures of the era, including legendary middleweight boxer Sugar Ray Robinson and artists James Brown, Dinah Washington, Brook Benton, Clyde Otis, and Sam Cooke. Marty and his clients were sometimes required to enter clubs through the back door because of the racial prejudice of the time.
Marty later represented numerous English artists, negotiating contracts for the Kinks, Herman's Hermits, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, and Phil Collins. His North American clients included the Platters, the Four Seasons, Sly and the Family Stone, and artist and poet Leonard Cohen, among many others.
In addition to negotiating contracts, Marty sued record companies on behalf of artists, fighting for unpaid royalties and, in some instances, their right to be released from recording contracts.
The Craft of the Contract
Michael learned the art of writing contracts from his father. Before laptops and personal computers, music agreements were much shorter than they are today, and every provision had to earn its place. Modern word processing has made it easy to include layers of boilerplate, sometimes leaving agreements burdened by outdated language and unnecessary terms.
Michael retains the ability to identify the essential business points and draft a focused memorandum on the fly, rather than relying on endless cutting and pasting. His approach is rooted in clarity, careful selection, and an understanding of how a music deal works in practice.
Renegotiating from Experience
Marty devoted a significant part of his practice to renegotiating artists' agreements. Ironically, the concise two-page deals were often the hardest contracts in which to find a loophole.
In the 1980s, Marty identified an opening in a long-form agreement and used it to negotiate what was then the largest deal in the music industry for Electric Light Orchestra, signing the band to CBS Records with Walter Yetnikoff.
Continuing the Family Tradition
Today, Michael continues his father's tradition of protecting artists with care and integrity. He negotiates and reviews contracts and litigates against record companies and publishing companies that are not fairly accounting to artists or their heirs.
Michael understands the stress and financial uncertainty artists can experience when royalties are withheld or accounting is unclear. If you suspect you are not being accounted to fairly, Machat & Associates invites you to request a free evaluation. Every artist deserves to be paid every penny earned from their work.
Active Precedent - Setting Work
Michael Machat currently represents the bass player James Kale and the drummer Garry Peterson of the iconic band "The Guess Who," along with BiCoastal Productions and others, in a precedent-setting case against BMI in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Michael's Own Music Industry Experience
Michael spent seven years in London managing Seal, Adamski, and Guru Josh during the rave and house explosion. Under his management, 'Killer' topped the European charts. He married British rock musician and writer Lisa Dominique. This is not an attorney theorizing about the music business; it is one who lived inside it.