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Mondo.NYC Speaker

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Michael Poster

Michael Poster

Chair of Music Acquisitions & Financing and Partner, Michelman & Robinson LLP

Michael Poster is Music Acquisitions and Financing Chair and Managing Partner in Michelman & Robinson LLP’s New York Office, where he specializes in catalog acquisitions, corporate M&A, debt and equity financing transactions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and other deals where the music industry and corporate dealmaking converge.

As a transactional attorney with over 25 years’ experience, Michael has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed a broad range of corporate deals with an emphasis on the music industry. Michael’s music catalog experience spans the length of his career, and includes buy-side and sell-side catalog transactions across nearly every deal size, rights type, and genre in the marketplace, and involves clients including major and independent labels, private-equity backed buyers, top industry executives, hit-making songwriters, and key sources of debt and equity financing. He has been named in Billboard’s annual list of Top Music Lawyers each year from 2018 through 2024 and has been included among its listing of top legal dealmakers in music catalog transactions. Michael was also recognized as a “Power Lawyer in Music” by The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, included in Variety’s “Legal Impact Report” in 2023, and recognized by his peers in both “Best Lawyers” and “Super Lawyers.”

Michael has been referred to as “the most evil lawyer in the world,” “one of those ‘New York’ lawyers,” and “the most effective dealmaker in the music industry” (we will leave it to you to figure out which was from a client).

Michael is honored to have served as chairman of the Mondo.NYC annual CLE event, and has previously been chair of other NY-based entertainment and media law programs for more than 10 years. In addition, he has spoken and published articles on copyright, corporate finance, entertainment, and licensing issues and is frequently quoted on music and copyright law issues in Billboard, the Wall Street Journal, Axios, Law360, Forbes, Bloomberg, World IP Review, and other publications.

Catalog Shopping 2024

10/18/24, 6:00 PM

The market for music catalogs continues to thrive, with continuing sales directly from creators as well as a very active trade in secondary sales (portfolios of acquired catalogs). This panel will discuss trends and developments in the catalog market, including deal structures, pricing trends, secondary sales and financing.

Bringing Creative Talent to Music Investments: A Fireside Chat with Charles Goldstuck, Mike Posner & Michael Poster

10/18/24, 4:00 PM

We're proud to present a fireside chat with Charles Goldstuck of Goldstate Music, singer/songwriter/producer Mike Posner and Michelman & Robinson's Michael Poster. Join us for an enlightening conversation at the intersection of creativity and strategy, addressing how these two perspectives can complement each other to maximize investment success in the music industry.

CLE 2023: Fractional Music Interests: Opportunities and Challenges

10/13/23, 7:00 PM

An increasing number of companies are offering sales of fractional music rights, or micro-slices of rights in a composition or recording. These offerings are designed to provide liquidity to creators while simultaneously allowing fans to participate in real ownership of an artist’s work. However, these offering also come with complex legal challenges under both securities law and copyright law. This panel will discuss these legal issues, and how some of the companies in this space are addressing them.

CLE: Catalog Deals 2022: Evolving Models and Shifting Markets

10/14/22, 5:00 PM

As more catalog acquisitions occur, the marketplace is becoming more sophisticated. Buyers are becoming increasingly aware of previously unknown risks and inefficiencies, which are now being reflected in these transactions. In addition, the changing economic climate is simultaneously attracting new buyers while affecting pricing as a result of changing interest rates, exchange rates, royalty rates, and more. This panel will discuss many of these issue in depth form the perspective of experienced principals, attorneys and advisors. (Mondo attendees are welcome to attend all CLE panels.)

Catalog Shopping 2021

10/15/21, 6:00 PM

The catalog sale market continues to expand and evolve, with existing buyers expanding their holdings, the major labels getting back into acquisitions, and new players emerging on a weekly basis. In addition, the types of assets being acquired, and the deal sizes (both larger and smaller), are broadening in ways never before seen. This panel will discuss these changes in the marketplace and will feature the voices of several prominent buy-side and sell-side experts as they discuss how these changes are affecting the deal-making process.

CLE: The New Music Acquisitions Market

10/16/20, 4:00 PM

The M&A market for music catalogs and companies has evolved significantly over the past few years. New buyers are entering the marketplace on a regular basis, with funding from a range of domestic and foreign investors. Writers and rights owners who had not considered selling are now rethinking those decisions as sale multiples continue to increase. As the economic impact of streaming continues to develop, valuation models continue to evolve in ways that are more favorable to sellers, especially of more recent material. All of this is complicated by the COVID-19 crisis and its current and predicted effect on licensing income and the consumer market. This panel will cover how the M&A market continues to develop and how it is likely to be impacted by these changes to industry economics.

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