Mark Quail Artist Bio

Behind the music world is a structure that allows creativity to flourish, and behind that structure are entertainment lawyers like Mark Quail — a producer, writer and lawyer whose path to the union of music and law played out more like an imperative than a job search. A lifelong musician (then: punk rock, now: Detroit techno and electronica), Quail grew up in the split streams of left and right brain, drawn to the worlds of law and music both, forming a synthesis that would guide his career.

Called to the Ontario Bar in 1990, Quail spent his pre-law years fascinated by language and music, working as a writer and delving into the music history that would ultimately inspire him to put his legal interests to work in protecting musical artists from the career-crippling pitfalls that seemed all too common in the entertainment industry. Noting that most successful artists relied on key people behind the scenes to keep creativity flowing, Quail knew that he could bring his particular understanding of both worlds to assist, protect, advocate and anticipate on behalf of artists in a way that many other entertainment lawyers couldn’t. Working both in the capacity of private and in-house counsel since 1990, Quail has been representing musicians full-time from his own private practice since 2001.

Quail sees his role as not simply a negotiator but as a creative problem-solver who is trained to soothe problems before they even happen. A music business arrangement is much like a marriage contract, says Quail — “If somebody’s not happy, they’re not going to be able to perform their side of the bargain.” And Quail’s background in litigation fuels the knowledge that if he’s done his job right ahead of time — nobody should ever have to end up in court.

The changing pace of technology keeps Quail’s job as interesting as the music itself — beyond the excitement of crafting unique solutions, music lawyers today need to be good at predicting the future. And armed with the reality that history repeats itself in music as much as in any other part of life — and that the past has already been here before — Quail relies on insight and adaptability to inform his approach to innovative, future-ready law.

Outside of the law office, Quail spends his time working hands-on producing and distributing music on his assorted record labels, speaking at industry conferences, and hosting the first music industry podcast in history. A vital participant in the current music scene as well as a lover of the past — Quail’s even in the Canadian Antique Phonograph Society.

By providing insightful, forward-looking legal protection to the musicians he works with, Mark Quail is able to free these artists to concentrate and create.—and what could be more inspiring in a day’s work than that? Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.