Stephen Sessa
Reed Smith
Partner
Steve is co-chair of the Entertainment and Media Industry Group at Reed Smith. While Steve has a full-service music practice, he is considered one of the leading authorities in the music business on catalog acquisitions and copyright law.
Steve advises major and independent music publishing and record companies and private equity backed financial buyers in the purchase of copyrights, music-related assets, and revenue streams. As Concord Music’s outside counsel since 2005 (along with its affiliates and predecessors), Steve has led all of Concord’s major acquisitions, including, Phil Collins and Genesis, Round Hill, Downtown Music, Imagem, and Pulse, amongst hundreds of other transactions for Concord. In addition to Concord, Steve has represented many other significant buyers in the space, including, but not limited to, Lyric Financial, Kobalt, Iconic Artist Group (Irving Azoff), Shamrock Capital Advisors, Seeker, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Pophouse, Recognition, Catch Point, HarbourView Equity, Litmus, Opus, Flexpoint Ford, and all three major music publishers. Not limited to the buy-side, Steve has represented legendary songwriters in some of the biggest catalog sales in the last few years, including, representing Stargate, Will Jennings, The Estate of Thelonious Monk, Ali Tamposi, and Phil Lawrence in the sale of their evergreen musical compositions. Whether it’s been selling the Taylor Swift catalog or buying The Beach Boys rights, clients have sought out Steve for his knowledge of copyright law and the music business, his practical problem-solving approach to navigating issues, and his unparalleled experience in both size and volume of deals closed in the billions.
In addition to maintaining the world’s leading catalog practice, Steve has been a top talent lawyer for 30 years representing superstar artists such as Bon Jovi, Beyoncé, The Smashing Pumpkins, Cardi B, Kesha, Lil Uzi Vert, Korn, Megadeth, Morrissey, Muse and Blackpink. Steve also represents some of the most prolific songwriters in the world, including, Stargate, Linda Perry, Glen Ballard, Will Jennings, Delacey and Priscilla Renea Hamilton pka Muni Long.
The variety of experience Steve has had on both the artist side and the company side of the business has made him a go-to source for technology companies, digital platforms, brands and other entertainment companies who want to align themselves with artists and talent, to wit, the NFL has retained Steve for years to negotiate and complete all the talent agreements for all the artist performances at the Super Bowl.