The In-Laws

The In-Laws: Trademarks and Your Band’s Name

Posted 02/01/2013 at 8:55am | by Ron Bienstock

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As an artist, your most valuable asset is your brand. Your professional name, your logo and your likeness make up several of the facets of that branding — the most important element being the registration of a trademark. Recently, when speaking at a music school, I was asked why a band should seek to register a trademark for its name when it seemed to be a “frivolous expense.”

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The In-Laws: Price Too Good to Be True? It's Probably a Counterfeit Guitar

Posted 11/09/2012 at 1:44pm | by Ron Bienstock

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You’re looking at some new guitars for sale on the web, and you come across a well-known, high-end, American (or any other high-quality instrument) branded guitar for $75. A great bargain? No. It's probably a counterfeit. A counterfeit guitar is one where an actual trademark of a well-known guitar company is placed on a cheap, inferior version and is foisted on the marketplace as the real, high-quality original.

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The In-Laws: When It's Time to Post a Video, Shoot for a Live Performance

Posted 10/04/2012 at 1:07pm | by Ron Bienstock

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So much of what counts for live performance on YouTube is actually the mere editing of a studio musical performance within live footage. A web audience cannot truly know if it you are capable of delivering your type of material in an evocative fashion with just a dubbed video.

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The In-Laws: Further Thoughts on the "Poor Man's" Copyright and Solid Proof

Posted 03/22/2012 at 12:17pm | by Ron Bienstock

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So everyone in 2012 is an expert. Recently, I was speaking on a panel concerning music business trends in 2012 (Easy: Record industry is slowly shutting down, the music business is fine). Then the subject turned to the issue I thought we've covered ad nauseam: “Poor man’s" anything.

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The In-Laws: Dispelling the Myth of the 'Mail Yourself a CD' Copyright

Posted 12/17/2011 at 12:17pm | by Ron Bienstock

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There are very few businesses in the world as dense and impenetrable as the music business. It is surrounded by so much mythology that Greek and Roman tales of godlike daring can barely compare. For decades, musicians have solemnly passed down incorrect information as if each piece of wayward advice were some type of nugget worth its weight in nickel and silver frets. Additional misinformation was then added by your bandmate Bob to create a further mutation of what was already incorrect to begin with.

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