Brian’s Song

Brian Witkin makes a living representing clients against people like himself. That may sound like something out of Freud, but it’s actually something out of Sha Na Na.

Both entertainment lawyer and record label founder, Witkin has a helluva musical pedigree. His father, Joe, was the original keyboardist for Sha Na Na, while his legal mentor was the band’s rhythm guitarist.

“I wanted to be a rock star from a young age,” he says.

In high school, Witkin played guitar, sang in bands, and self-produced a record. On a whim he put a label name on it: Real2Reel Records. Friends thought the band landed some lofty deal but he always came clean. “I’d say no, I just did that myself. Real2Reel Records is me.”

That label eventually became Pacific Records, which Witkin took to market as a business in 2004. He signed bands, put out albums, promoted artists. Over the years they’ve worked with around 60 acts; they’re usually handling 15-20 at any given time.

But something about the business suggested a new path. “The best-paid person at Pacific Records was always the attorney,” he says.

This was Elliot Cahn, the Sha Na Na rhythm guitarist, who represented and managed such bands as Green Day and The Offspring. “I’ve known Elliot since I was young and he inspired me to get a law degree,” Witkin says. 

So in 2015 Witkin enrolled at San Francisco Law School, took classes at night, and finished in four years. Along the way, he accrued a volume of insights about the music business. One thing he advises all musicians is to resist the allure of a multi-album deal. It may sound like a gold mine, but it’s a sinkhole. “Artists think that the number of albums is good for them but it’s not. The label gets to choose whether they do the next album. It’s upside protection for the label,” he says.

Another trap to avoid is sampling without proper approval.

“Musicians think because they’ve paid $50 for a beat and rap over it that it’s theirs. But they don’t read the fine print. I can sense problems before they happen just based on what clients tell me. If a song gets successful, an artist can potentially end up paying all the revenue to the owner of the sample. You really have to know how to read a licensing deal,” he says.

One might assume that, with J.D. in hand, Witkin now serves as general counsel for Pacific Records. Nope. He wants to keep that lane clear of any conflicts with his legal career. 

As record impresario, he’s recorded at Dave Grohl’s famous Studio 606 and gotten to know Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, whom he asked to officiate at a friend’s wedding. “My son was the ring bearer. That was an amazing day,” he says.

As an attorney, he represents content creators in all entertainment fields—from music to literature to film—but it’s mostly music. In his heart, he still feels closely aligned to the needs and desires of musicians. And his background gives him a leg up in landing clients.

“You can’t be a competent music business attorney without knowing how the business works,” Witkin says. “It is its own world. There’s customs and practices and different kinds of entities, people involved with collecting and accounting, there’s so much. I can help get the best deals for clients because I know the intricacies and nuances.”

He’ll never forget the first time he represented a client against a label. That was a full circle moment. “I knew right where to hit the label because I had been on that side of the table.”

Witkin is still a musician. He plays bass, drums and piano, and sings, and he performs regularly with Slack Key ‘Ohana—a Hawaiian term for family. Appropriately, the band includes his father, mother and younger brother. “I’m living the dream, man,” he says.