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Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have begun to spread throughout music applications, from conveying pictures to transferring ownership documents. The buyer should beware, as many of these will likely be scams.

In unusual cases, such as the US capture of Gen Manuel Noriega and the ongoing battles for Hong Kong’s autonomy from China, music has played a prominent role, by governments and protestors.

While Britney Spears’s conservatorship is the best known of such legal strategies, it is in a long trend of entertainers having such legal relationships because of personal circumstances.

After 50 years, the authorship of this classic song was contested, and Roy Head’s former bandmember finally received the proper writing credit.

Within the massive shift in monetizing artists’ archives, with many millions at stake, legal issues arise on how to apportion rights and credits. Fleetwood Mac is a good example, as the band had many personnel changes over its successful life as a group and solo careers.

Frank Zappa’s will left management of his large musical archives and rights to his wife, who set up a corporation for their children, with unequal shares. This led to confusion over how performing rights would be handled, especially when she died.

The COVID pandemic struck the music industry very deeply, especially in issues of how to tour and perform safely, for bands, employees, and fans. While most entertainers after the hiatus were compliant with complex public health protocols, a number were not, setting up legal challenges. And insurance companies were sued regularly by affected venues, with results still uncertain.

Shakira has been in a long-running tax dispute with Spanish authorities, turning on her residence and tax domicile. While hers has played out in public, this is a common legal issue for international stars.

Most concerts have complex legal affairs, and Coachella has used “radius clauses” to limit its participants to time and distance factors, to ensure its own fresh image. Lawsuits ensued.

A number of successful songs were performed by groups that were not actual bands, but “fake” groups, assembled for projects that grew bigger as the songs became popular.