Law surgeries to put music businesses on sound footing | 17 May 11

FREE legal surgeries are being offered by law firm Ward Hadaway to attendees at one of the UK’s leading music festivals and conferences.

Experts from the firm’s specialist Creative Industries team will be giving delegates at Liverpool Sound City 2011 the benefit of their advice and expertise at a series of legal clinics this week.

Ward Hadaway will also be offering its expertise at a special Dragons Den-style funding pitch event at Liverpool Sound City on Friday.

The events form part of a packed programme of activities being lined up for the festival by Ward Hadaway as part of its role as Official Entertainment Law Firm for Liverpool Sound City 2011.

Members of the UK Top 100 law firm will also be attending a Meet The Buyer event, as well as a string of conference activities, networking events and live performances at Liverpool Sound City, widely recognised as one of the leading music and digital industry showcases in the UK.

Laura Harper (pictured left with Ward Hadaway colleague Carol Isherwood), partner and head of Creative Industries at Ward Hadaway, said: “Our free surgeries are a great way for musicians, music businesses and digital enterprises of all kinds to get a real insight into a range of issues which directly affect their work.

“We will be addressing a broad spectrum of topics including recording contracts, publishing contracts, copyright issues, royalties and any other issues which people want to talk about.

“We hope the surgeries will be useful to musicians and music businesses of all sizes and we are looking forward to meeting everyone who comes along.”

The surgeries are being held in Room 3 of the Hilton Hotel Liverpool and take place from 10.30am to 1.30pm on Thursday 19 May and Friday 20 May.

Appointment times can be booked by contacting Laurence Fenlon on 07717 750879 or laurence@liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

On Friday 20 May, the head of Ward Hadaway’s corporate finance team, Martin Hulls, will be one of the panellists at an event called Perfect Pitch.

This takes place in the main conference room at the Liverpool Hilton from 4.15pm and will see five companies each give a five-minute pitch presentation to a live audience and a panel of professionals with the aim of getting them to back their business idea.

The winning company will receive free business mentoring sessions from Ward Hadaway as well as six months’ free desk space at Liverpool Innovation and Science Park.

Laura Harper said: “As well as a great international showcase for bands and musicians, Liverpool Sound City 2011 also has a very strong and increasingly important business side and events like Perfect Pitch demonstrate how the festival is looking to develop music and digital businesses of all kinds.

“The conference side of the event has lined up some fantastic speakers and panellists from the business sector, including the co-founder of internet radio giant Last.fm Michael Breidenbrucker and some of the world’s leading app developers, and it’s estimated that over £5m worth of business will be generated during the course of the festival.”

An eclectic mix of live performances, conference events, exhibitions and panel discussions, Liverpool Sound City is increasingly regarded as a must-attend event for major players within the music, creative and digital industries in the UK and internationally.

Alongside over 300 live bands at 30 venues across the city, Liverpool Sound City 2011 will also see delegates from 23 different countries attend three days of music and digital business conference events.

Artists including Florence + The Machine, The Wombats and White Lies have previously played at Sound City while this year’s line-up includes The View, Young Knives, Miles Kane and Black Lips and some of the most hotly-tipped new music acts including Yuck, Dels and Spark.

Liverpool Sound City 2011 runs from Thursday 19 May until Saturday 21 May with full details at www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

For real-time updates on Ward Hadaway's activities during Liverpool Sound City 2011, please head to our Creative Industries team Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/WardHadCreative

* Find out more about our Creative Industries services and our Music Law services.