Helen Yu Speaks at the Music Biz Annual Conference

The Music Biz Annual Conference took downtown Nashville by storm last week (May 15-18), continuing its legacy as a hub of inspiration and collaboration in the music industry for over six decades. Industry executives gathered to connect, collaborate, and share valuable insights.

Helen Yu was featured as a speaker on the “Music & Money: What’s Boomin & How to Get Paid in Music” panel, hosted by Sound Royalties. She spoke on the considerable uptick in catalog purchases over the past few years & where the market is today. 

 Helen was also highlighted as a Thought Leader at the Allyship Roundtable “Diversity In The Music Industry,” and led a meaningful discussion on fostering diversity and inclusivity within the music industry.

Billboard Names Helen Yu of Yu Leseberg As A Top Lawyer For 2023

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Founder, Yu Leseberg

Yu negotiated client Paulo Londra’s 2022 label contract with Warner Music Latina after managing litigation that freed the Argentine rapper from label Big Ligas. The resulting album, Back to the Game — his first in three years — arrived in November. The firm also closed exclusive apparel deals for client Westside Merchandising with hip-hop supergroup Mount Westmore (Snoop Dogg, Ice-Cube, E-40, Too $hort) as well as hip-hop magazine The Source. Yu’s diverse roster includes Ty Dolla $ign, Diane Warren, Jeff Gitelman, Gerardo Ortiz, members of the Black Eyed Peas and Adrián Chaparro. Yu says that as the first Asian American woman to lead a music law firm, she is passionate about inclusion and creating opportunities for underdogs.

“It’s a privilege & honor to once again be named as a Billboard Top Music Lawyer.  Our passion and commitment to our clients as trailblazing advocates for creatives remains unwavering.”

BILLBOARD: Billboard’s 2023 Top Music Lawyers Revealed

Billboard Names Helen Yu of Yu Leseberg As A Top Music Lawyer for 2021

April 5th, 2021 (Los Angeles, CA) – Helen Yu, Principal of Yu Leseberg, Entertainment Attorney and music advocate is named for a second year in a row to Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers 2021. Helen Yu’s inclusion on Billboard’s Top Lawyers list reinforces recognition of her successful legal career spanning over twenty-five years in the entertainment industry. 

I’m truly honored to be acknowledged again this year by Billboard as one of the top attorneys on this elite list.  Being recognized for my legal acumen and commitment to our clients is particularly gratifying as my firm & I strategically navigated thru unprecedented times.  We look forward to continuing our unyielding advocacy and successes for our clients and the entertainment industry.”

During her remarkable career, she has executed deals resulting in billions of sales, downloads and streams, and numerous #1 chart-topping hits, all while maintaining a firm stance on advocacy for artists, songwriters, producers and music companies she proudly represents.  Helen Yu’s commitment and tenacity are unmatched, being known for her vigorous negotiations on her clients’ behalves and strategizing architectural business moves.

Whether its recovering record setting copyright estates on behalf of heirs, such as T. Rex/Marc Bolan, Jimmy Holiday,  Helen Yu has been a consistent trailblazer in music business history. 

Early in her career, Helen Yu served as the legal force behind producers and songwriters for superstar acts including Tupac, Post Malone, Fifth Harmony, Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, will.i.am, Big Sean, Tyga, 2 Chainz, Migos, Junior Mafia, Britney Spears, Drake, Wiz Khalifa, NSYNC, Justin Timberlake, Back Street Boys, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson, and P. Diddy.  Helen Yu has also been on the forefront as a legal eagle moving hip-hop’s culture forward for the past 25 years among many in her legal representation of:  Ty Dolla $ign, YG, Mustard, Snoop, BAS, as well representing some of the most prominent Latin stars of today and yesteryear:  Joan Sebastian, Gerardo Ortiz, Paulo Londra, and Silent Giant Entertainment.  

TheSource: “Music Attorney Helen Yu Talks Music Business in the Age of COVID-19”

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Interview By: Rhett Butler

(https://thesource.com/2020/06/26/music-attorney-helen-yu-talks-music-business-in-the-age-of-covid-19/)

Date: June 26, 2020

With the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism both on everyone’s collective radar, music creatives are operating in a new space.

Helen Yu Leseberg, the principal attorney at Yu Leseberg, is an advocate of artists, songwriters, producers, and creative talent in the entertainment industry.

“I’m a minority, i’m a woman of color, i’m Asian, and those are definitely challenges. But it just drives you. For me, I never looked at it as a barrier. Because if I really thought about how many succesful Asian music attorneys are in the business representing the talent side; it would just be me (laughs).

“There might be little pockets of people coming up here and there. But if I looked at it as being white male dominated, insider’s business, I just wouldn’t have done it. You just do what you do, have the faith in yourself and do better work than your colleagues. You don’t do equal work, you do better work.”

ADDRESSING CHALLENGES

Yu also founded North Hudson Music, LLC, a finely-curated music publishing administration company whose clients include Tupac, Robin Thicke, Estelle, YG, and many others.

“The hardest part for everybody, with the front line artist about 75% of their income probably comes from touring. It’s been difficult because everything’s cancelled.

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“Some things are getting rescheduled but even the things that are getting rescheduled, like our European dates, are getting rescheduled again. Everybody knows that nothing is going to happen until 2021 sometime. It’s a very big hit in the income.”

Decades of experience have made Ms. Helen Yu Leseberg a noted authority on entertainment business strategies and contract negotiation. This background has made Ms. Yu Leseberg a skilled navigator of the challenges and nuances faced by artists in the 21st century.

FORCED EVOLUTION?

“I don’t think COVID-19 will change the industry forever. This is just my opinion, I think it is just something interim. I think the artists that are going through it now on a personal level, this has been helpful for them in terms of their own personal finances.”

Yu knows that success can breed complacency when evaluating your spending habits and that might have been the blessing in disguise with COVID-19.

“When you’re an artist having a lot of success, especially if you have big shows on the radio, that means that you’re touring, your live performances have increased which means you’re making a lot of money and when you’re in the thick of a very successful run the money starts pouring in, more money that you ever thought and some artists spend like there’s no tomorrow.”

“They keep thinking i’m on a roll. I think its a way of resetting and figuring out a personal reserve. But in terms of how they operate in the music business in general, I think we are going to come out stronger and better. Shows and live performances, the desire to have that person-to-person connection in a live setting is going to grow even stronger.”

In response to these rapidly changing waters, Ms. Yu Leseberg’s focus has expanded to include brand marketing, technological innovation, worldwide publishing, lucrative licensing deals, and merchandising.

In 2014, under Ms. Yu Leseberg’s leadership, Yu Leseberg negotiated and lawyered more charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R & B 100 than any other law firm in the entertainment industry.

“We’ve had a couple clients participate in apps and online events and the quality isn’t there. It didn’t stop them but the experience for the fans isn’t there. If you want the fans to have a real experience then you have to figure out the technical issues.

THE TRAVIS SCOTT EFFECT

Fortnite and Travis Scott presented Astronomical back on April 23-25. Fans had a chance to “blast off into a one of a kind musical journey featuring Travis Scott and the world premiere of a brand new track”.

It was billed as an other-worldly experience inspired by Cactus Jack’s creations, built from the ground up in Fortnite.

“I think Travis Scott’s Fortnite event was amazing. One thing that I do know over the years in general in terms of music, because music moves culture so much, even when promoters have done deals with our artists and they’ve also taken the performance for a particular show but they’ve also gotten the broadcast or simulcast rights.

“Its a very interesting crossroads (concerts and gaming) because we do know that gaming on a subscription or a per-admittance fee basis is extremely successful.”

However, Yu sees limitations to certain aspects of the technology meets music intersectionality.

“About ten years ago they were trying to do pay-per-view. What I notice is that people are not willing to pay money for that concert experience. They may pay money for a stream but in terms of the same similar model of paying for ticket and “entering” a venue, its not going to transition. There is something about being around an artist with a crowd of people. Its not going to be a major revenue source.”

MUSIC CARES

In addition, Yu sees the music industry lending a helping hand during these times of extreme trauma.

“One label head actually called one of my managers and said, ‘look if you guys need any money, any advance, anything to get through this, come to us.’ I’m acually proud of the music business that they’re not completely exploitive (laughs).”

“Music has always influenced culture. You used to have musicians that had the natural sister businesses. A lot of musicians are really good visual artists like digital illustrators. A lot of them are really good chefs because that creative energy basically transforms into different types of media and also their brand.”

With technology aiding artists during this rough time, Yu looks at what is working and is hopeful that younger generations will keep oiling the wheel of success for artists of today and yesteryear.

“This TikTok thing. Its bringing old songs back to the forefront. In fact we had two songs that weren’t super legacy songs and it brought them back. I think its going to help music catalogues and new releases as well.

“I think its great for younger audiences to get familiar with older music. For the younger generation they don’t even need access to the physical products, the records, they can just get it over these new means.”

Remembering Deon “Big D” Evans on Tupac’s Birthday

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June 16, 2020 - Happy Birthday, Tupac. On this day, I remember one of my closest friends and an early believer in my ability to make the deals which help producers and creatives change their lives. Deon “Big D” Evans was one of Tupac’s most important team members as a producer and collaborator. “Big D” Evans (a true gentle giant) made me proud to handle deals on many of Tupac’s most iconic records: “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” “Ghetto Gospel,” and “Changes,” to name a few.

Ty Dolla $ign & J. Cole Hit RIAA Gold With “Purple Emoji”

Gold Certification: May 1, 2020

Yu Leseberg and Helen Yu, Prof. Law Corp has been working with Ty Dolla $ign for a decade now. Today, May 1, 2020, we celebrate the gold certification from RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for his single, “Purple Emoji,” featuring J.Cole  

Helen Yu notes “I’m always amazed and proud of how many hit records he’s been able to garner.” Ty also worked with well-known street artist, Gregory Siff on the cover art for “Purple Emoji.” The Brooklyn born Los Angeles based creative has made a slew of polarizing works of art drawing inspiration from anything like the Black Lives Matter movement to Vans footwear. Siff’s work has been featured in the pages of The New York Times and W Magazine, among many others.

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“Purple Emoji” debuted on May 20, 2019, yet the record’s ability to still gain recognition during this (awful and unfortunate) global pandemic, proves how much of an influence Ty has on his fans and the industry. In an interview with Beat 1’s Zane Lowe, Ty explained how “Purple Emoji” came into sonic fruition.

"I was at this studio called Jungle City in New York working on Yandhi with Kanye. And then just turns out Cole was in the room right next to me. When I saw him I was like bro I got something to play you," he said. "I’m like, 'Yo, I just did this one I thought would be crazy for both of us.' So he came in my room, I played it for him immediately and he did his verse in five minutes."

It’s that innate ability to recognize a hit when he hears one coupled with the dexterity of a song making mastermind that has set Ty apart from his peers, and has made his collaborations rise to the top.  

YG "My Krazy Life" Anniversary

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It’s been six years since Compton’s own YG has released his debut album My Krazy Life on March 18, 2014.

“March 18th for me marks a special day, the date serves for me as a good luck charm that I’ll always keep in pocket,” Helen Yu notes. “I’m proud to have been a big part of YG’s career especially our legal work on all the complex deals involving Drake, Nicki Minaj, Jeezy, Nipsey Hussle and many others on YG’s debut album on Def Jam.“ 

Yu has been able to help catapult his career from gangster rapper to a ubiquitous artist whose appeal transcends the palm tree lined streets that make up Los Angeles, the city, that birthed and raised him. He uses his LA roots as his muse for the music, and it’s proving to pay off.

“That’s why a lot of people respect me in L.A. that’s around my age group, because they saw me in the streets. They saw me at all these parties performing,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 2014. “Mustard was DJing. Ty [Dolla Sign] used to come perform with us. That’s how the sound that we have now was created — all the [stuff] we was doing when we was young, just our lifestyle. And when we sat back on it and looked at it, that’s how it was supposed to sound. It was some party gangsta [stuff], some real street [stuff] at the same time.”

“With an Artist like YG with deep LA hip hop roots there’s definitely a method to navigating the entertainment madness,” Yu concludes.