Also called: Music Lawyer, Film & TV Attorney
Negotiates contracts for musicians, actors, athletes, and studios.
Entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville read record deals, film contracts, and streaming agreements. A day might be negotiating an artist's royalty rate, then reviewing who owns the rights to a movie script. Relationships matter as much as legal skill.
Top lawyers for celebrities earn a percentage of deals and can earn far more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 7 years after high school. Bachelor's degree, 3-year JD, and passing the bar exam.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Music Business, Film Studies, Communications, Business, English.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years). BLS projection for all lawyers (2024-34); niche areas vary.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI drafts and compares standard contracts; relationships with artists, studios and agents and tough negotiations stay human.
Classes: Music, theater or film class, AP English Language, Business CTE class, Speech and debate.
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.