Musical America Blogs

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: I have several visa petitions pending as well as applications for Central Withholding Agreements. What impact will the government shutdown have? Do I need to be worried? That depends on whether or not the lack of an operational government worries you. Granted, it hasn’t been that […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: If a foreign singer (who is not a citizen of a country that is eligible for the visa waiver program) gets a record deal in the USA, what kind of visa would they need to apply for? And if the singer is currently living in a […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder I work for a venue that engaged an artist for a concert. I agreed to pay for hotel and travel. After the engagement, the artist told me that she decided to stay with friends and drive. I can’t get my money back. Can I deduct my […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder Do non-US artists need artist visas when they come in to perform a showcase at a booking conference? They don’t get paid. Its just to get bookings. In fact, the artists lose money doing this. Can they enter on a tourist visa or do they have […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. I am writing you about a question we have in regards to the length of stay that USCIS grants for O-1B visas.  In the past few years, it has been our experience that USCIS will not grant 3 year visas for a time period that has gaps from anywhere to […]

By Robyn Guilliams Dear Law and Disorder, I have been in artist management for a long time, thought I had seen it all, but something just came up for one of my artists that has me completely stumped.  My client was sent a 1099 for a hotel stay that the presenter provided for an engagement.   […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: If I am booking an artist, whose job is it to draft the contract? Some venues ask me to send them my contract, but other venues seem to have their own. What’s the normal practice? Since you asked for the “normal” practice, I shall tell you: […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: I heard that US Immigration will no longer be giving foreign artists the little white card they used to get when an artist entered the US. The cards were stamped with the artist’s visa category and the date they had to leave. It was my understanding […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: May a non-resident alien (Russian) musician here for an advance graduate school degree on an F-1 visa be paid for playing some off-campus recitals? Are they considered “Curricular Practical Training” which is supposed to be allowed, if approved by the Designated School Official? (Of course, 30% of the gross […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: A successful duo I represent has recorded a CD which is being released by a record company. Although the artist made attempts to obtain a contract, because of time restraints, according to the record company, it was only possible to give a contract AFTER the recording […]