John Branca

John Branca
John Branca at the London premier of Bad 25.
Born	John Gregory Branca (1950-12-11) December 11, 1950 Bronxville, New York, US
Alma mater	Occidental College (BA), UCLA School of Law (JD)
Occupation	Entertainment and Corporate Attorney
Years active	1975–present
Children	3

John Gregory Branca (born December 11, 1950 in Bronxville, New York^[1]), is an entertainment lawyer^[2] who specializes in representing rock and roll acts, as well as independent investors, music publishing catalogs, and independent music labels. He has represented over 30 acts in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, Carlos Santana, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Bee Gees, Earth, Wind And Fire, John Fogerty and The Doors, which is believed to be more than any other entertainment attorney.

Other clients have included Alicia Keys, Berry Gordy, Martin Lawrence, Dick Clark, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake and the Backstreet Boys. Among his clients outside the music world: Forbes magazine, Penthouse magazine, Playboy magazine, investor Ron Perelman, MCI and Mike Tyson.

In recent years Branca has been involved in the sale of some of the music industry's most prestigious publishing catalogs, including Berry Gordy's Jobete Music, Leiber & Stoller, and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.

Branca was also involved in the formation and sale of Interscope Records, the sale of Rhino Records, and represented Rick Rubin and his American Recordings label. He also has served as counsel to numerous music industry investors, including Vivendi, Matsushita and Richard Branson.

As a partner and head of the Music Department in the entertainment law firm of Ziffren Brittenham,^[3] Branca is one of a handful of attorneys to have been included in all editions of the prestigious Best Lawyers in America.^[4]

Branca is currently the chairman of the large corporation, The Michael Jackson Company, and serves as Co-Executor of the Michael Jackson Estate.

Billboard Magazine named Branca its 2016 "Lawyer of the Year/"

Background

His mother, Barbara May Theresa Werle (October 6, 1928-January 1, 2013) was an entertainer and Harvest Moon Ball winner who danced on The Ed Sullivan Show. She moved to Los Angeles when Branca was four to pursue her show business career. Branca lived with his father, also named John, who later served as the New York State Athletic Commissioner. (His uncle, Ralph Branca, pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers for many years, including the 1947 World Series.^[5] He is portrayed in the Jackie Robinson biopic "42" as one of Robinson's earliest supporters.)

At age 11, Branca moved to LA, and at 13, started a rock band, The Other Half, for which he played guitar. Three years later, he played with a band that occasionally opened for The Doors at LA’s Hullabaloo Club.

He majored in music at Los Angeles City College before transferring to Occidental College. Upon graduating, he enrolled at UCLA School of Law, serving as editor-in-chief of one of the law reviews, and received his degree in 1975.^[6]

While working as an estate planner at the firm of Kindel & Anderson, Branca came across a Time Magazine profile of Elton John which mentioned entertainment lawyers. Branca realized that this field of law was his true calling.

Career highlights

Michael Jackson

Branca was instrumental in the production and release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller short film. Before Thriller, music videos typically had budgets of $50,000—however, Jackson spent over $1 million on the music video of Thriller. Branca financed it by persuading Showtime to pony up $1.2 million for a Making of "Thriller" video, the first "making of" documentary for a music video.

In the video, Jackson turns into a werewolf. At the time, Jackson was a Jehovah's Witness, and church elders berated him for promoting demonology. Jackson ordered Branca, who had the sole copy, to destroy it. Branca told Jackson that Bela Lugosi, whom Jackson adored, and who played Dracula in the movies, was also religious and had put a disclaimer at the beginning of Dracula stating that he didn't endorse vampirism. This anecdote persuaded Jackson to put a similar disclaimer on Thriller and allow it to be released. In the five days following, the Thriller album - already out for 1½ years, sold another million copies. Ultimately, Thriller sold an estimated 110 million copies.^[7]

The success of the video caused rock groups and record companies to consider music videos an essential part of the way rock music was packaged and sold.

Branca helped Jackson to purchase ATV Music Publishing in 1985 for $47,500,000 (which held the copyrights to The Beatles' and Little Richard's songs).^[8] Within a few years the catalog was worth more than $400,000,000. Branca was also instrumental in facilitating the merger of ATV with Sony, creating one of the world's largest independent music publishers.

In 2016, Sony agreed to buy the Estate’s share of the catalogue for $750 million. Billboard estimated that, in addition to the $750 million, Jackson and his estate collected another $560 million over the years from its Sony/ATV investment. ^[9]

Shot Tower Capital analyzed the investment and concluded that the Estate’s investment averaged a return in excess of 30 percent annually from its inception in 1985 to the 2016 sale. ^[10]

In the Michael Jackson probate case, Branca produced Jackson's final will and testament, which designated Branca as executor. The Jackson family filed a preemptive probate action in the Los Angeles Superior Court, based on the allegation that Jackson died "intestate," without a valid will. Branca filed the will in Los Angeles on July 1, 2009 and was appointed co-executor. ^[11] After initially contesting the appointment of Branca and John McClain as executors of Michael's will, his mother Katherine withdrew her objections on November 10, 2009. According to the Associated Press, her attorney, Adam Streisand, said Mrs. Jackson felt it was time legal fighting ended and that her actions were in the best interest of Michael's children.^[12] In an interview published in December 2010 she was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying that Branca and McClain are doing "a very good job" managing the estate.^[13] Projects for the Estate that Branca initiated include the concert film This Is It, Cirque Du Soleil's "Immortal" which is touring Asia in 2013, a second, permanent "Cirque" show, Michael Jackson: One at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, which opened in June 2013 and of which he is also a producer, a best-selling Ubisoft video game, a Spike Lee documentary, Bad 25 and the 2014 #1 hit album XscapeThe “Slave to the Rhythm” “holographic” MJ performance was featured at the Billboard Music Awards, the first of its kind. Since Jackson's passing, the Jackson Estate has generated $600 million in income, erasing the $500 million debt it maintained at the time Jackson died. In May 2013, the CBS news show 60 Minutes did a segment about the estate and called this turn-around "the most remarkable financial and image resurrection in pop culture history."^[14]

Artist Representation

For the Rolling Stones’ 1989 Steel Wheels tour, Branca crafted a deal which, for the first time, centralized ticket sales, sponsorships, promotions and logistics with a national promoter, rather than numerous local promoters. Today, virtually all major concert tours follow this model.

In 1991, Branca put together what’s considered rock’s first mega-deal, a four album deal for Aerosmith with Sony, estimated to be worth $50 million.

In 2005, Branca brokered a ground-breaking 360 deal between Korn and EMI, which made EMI a partner in all of Korn’s operations. EMI earned a stake in all of Korn's touring and merchandise, instead of only handling the band’s CDs, which has typically been the record company's role. This synthesis increased the record company’s incentive and ability to foster the group’s success in all endeavors. A few months later, Branca, with his partner David Lande, expanded the circle to include concert promoter Live Nation. The duo has since put together Live Nation 360 deals for Shakira and Nickelback.

He serves as co-counsel for Justin Timberlake.

Music Publishing

In 1985, Branca facilitated one of the most famous music publishing deals in history, the purchase of ATV Music Publishing for Michael Jackson.^[8]

In 2008, changes in the tax law that allowed songwriters to pay a small capital gains tax instead of a larger income tax prompted Branca to advise some of his clients that this was the perfect time to sell their music publishing catalogs, thereby establishing new precedents in valuation. Ensuing sales included: Kurt Cobain and Nirvana copyrights; Steve Tyler's Aerosmith publishing catalog of 160 songs to Primary Wave Music Publishing for $50 million; Julian Lennon's share of The Beatles' royalties, and the catalog of the legendary song-writing team of Leiber & Stoller to Sony/ATV, which created a new yardstick by which the worth of catalogs was measured. He also sold Berry Gordy's Jobete Music to EMI, which changed the method and standard by which catalogs were valued.

In 2009, in a highly watched move, Branca beat out Wall Street investment banking houses to represent the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and sold their catalog for an excess of $200 million, despite predictions by the Wall Street Journal and others that the catalog wouldn't fetch more than $150 million.

He also represented Sony Corporation of America in the $2.2 Billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing and EMI and Sony ATV in the sale of the Virgin Music catalogue.

In addition, Branca helped songwriters such as Don Henley of The Eagles regain copyrights of their songs, or to help them secure royalties that they’ve lost, as he did with John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

These deals prompted Marty Bandier, CEO and chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, to call Branca the "number one music publishing lawyer in the country."

Personal life

At Branca's first wedding, Michael Jackson was Best Man and Rev. Little Richard Penniman served as minister.^[15]

Branca currently lives in the gated community of Beverly Park in Los Angeles, California, and is engaged to Jenna Nicole Hurt, age 32, a runway and fashion model. He has two sons, John Connor,14 and Dylan Gregory 12,from his second marriage, and a daughter, Jessica, 28 from his first.

Public service

Branca helped Buddy Arnold form the Musicians Assistance Program, which later merged with MusiCares, which provides help to members of the music industry who need treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, as well as assistance for other financial, medical and personal crises.^[16] He currently serves as Chair Emeritus of Musicares. For his support, the Grammy Foundation honored him with its 2012 Service Award. Additionally, he is on the Board of the Grammy Museum, the Board of Trustees of Occidental College^[17] and on the Executive Committee of UCLA's Pauley Pavilion Renovation Campaign Committee, the goal of which is to transform the pavilion into a world-class sports and cultural facility for the university and community. He also supports Club 42, an integrated youth baseball league.

Hobbies

Branca is an ardent baseball card collector, and has many rare cards.^[18] He also has a noted collection of Italian antiques,^[17] and is an ardent basketball and music fan.

References

Sources

• Website: www.johnbranca.com
• Musicares and Musicians' Assistance Program Merge To Provide Assistance
• The Emotions and Magnificence of John Branca's Card Collection
• John Branca Represents Musicians
• Recording Stars Challenge Record Labels
• Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine – 2005 – Profile of John Branca