In November 2007, Loyola University, New Orleans hosted a series of workshops and discussions by NARAS (The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) on how to survive and build a career in today’s music industry. In this session, entertainment lawyer Ken Abdo moderates a panel about record deals in the digital age. Panelists Robin Mitchell Joyce Suzette Becker, Tanya Butler and Erin Frankenheimer discuss: what it takes to get signed in today’s music industry, what labels look for in artists they consider, how to make yourself attractive to a label, what a good managers should to do on behalf of his or her artist to develop their career, what a management contract should look like, and – most of all – what rights artists are now entitled to in the United States and to know what you’re entitled to and what you can bargain for when sitting down with a label to negotiate your recording contract.