Miller Barondess partners Sasha Frid and Skip Miller have been honored for the seventh consecutive year on Billboard’s exclusive list of Top Music Lawyers (login credentials required).
Sasha and Skip’s industry clients include entertainers, artists, labels, and music managers. Their unique broad-based music litigation practice has included representing Smokey Robinson, Nile Rodgers, Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Steven Tyler, Axl Rose, former Eagles member Don Felder, Mötley Crüe, Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee, Journey and Neal Schon, Bush and Gavin Rossdale, Pantera, Five Finger Death Punch, Steely Dan, Stone Temple Pilots, KISS, Universal Music, Warner Records, Warner Music Group, and Live Nation, among many others.
Sasha is the firm’s entertainment practice lead and is listed among the top commercial litigators in the country. He has a diverse practice, having favorably resolved lawsuits on behalf of Mötley Crüe, Five Finger Death Punch, Pantera, Tommy Lee, and Bush/Gavin Rossdale, as well as promoters and record companies like Live Nation and Universal Music. He recently won a federal jury defense verdict representing William “Smokey” Robinson against a former manager who sued the legendary singer/songwriter for breach of contract, claiming he was owed commissions on Smokey’s concerts and touring. Skip and Sasha also favorably settled a lawsuit for the founder/principal member of Journey against former band members over rights to the Journey name.
Victories have also included a jury defense verdict after a week-long federal trial representing Virtual Sonics, a cutting-edge music technology company that develops high-end digital music instruments used in films, video games, and other mediums, against former investors who sought millions in compensation, and successfully resolving a long-standing dispute on behalf of the Backstreet Boys against a Chinese concert promoter over performances in 2015 in China.
On the rise of artificial intelligence, Sasha recommends clients “be proactive to protect copyrights but also use AI’s ability to analyze data in order to release music that’s more likely to resonate with the artist’s target audience.”
Most pressing issue: “Due to the rise of streaming and search algorithms, as well as the vast availability of older catalogs,” Sasha says, “it is difficult for new and independent artists to differentiate themselves and find an audience.”