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[Joe T. is on the road this week. Here’s a guest editorial from our friend, Carla Hall.]

Family Affair

By Carla Hall, MusicDish.com

So where have we heard this before? Recording artist gets involved business-wise with family members, and now no one is speaking to each other. Or, if they are speaking, no one has any money left. Hmm. Whitney Houston’s dad just sued her for $100 million for not getting compensated for helping her beat a drug rap. Country star Lee Ann Rimes sued her dad for millions she didn’t get, Britney’s parents even divorced for troubles related to the young diva’s career. And of course, Eminem put his Moms on blast, and she turned around and sued him. More family, more problems.

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According to entertainment attorney Scott Felcher, who handles Case and Mary Mary, family business arrangements can be tricky. “There’s just so much other emotional, social issues that come into play with these types of relationships,” says Felcher, “You can’t say ‘The artist messed up on this’ because you’re talking to the artist’s parent. That parent may think that the artist never messes up on anything. Emotion totally clouds the issue, and you can’t deal on a purely business sense.”

On the other hand, blood is supposed to be thicker than water, right? Tina Knowles, Beyonce’s Mom, aka Mama Bootylicious, went into being stylist and designer for her daughters in order to protect her kids like a mother Tiger, along with husband/manager Mathew. “Who can you trust more than your family? Remember that when the girls started, they were 10 years old. Who else could we trust to have their best interests at heart? People wanted to curse around the kids. They wanted to smoke around them. There were things that you really have to protect them from,” says Knowles, “And family can keep you very grounded. It takes someone who is not a yes-person to be able to tell you when you’re wrong, or when you’re trippin’ or when you’re being a diva. I’ve seen it over and over when entertainers act up and everybody around them is scared to tell them the truth.”

And The Clipse’s Malice agrees that there are other advantages to working with his brother Pusha T, “I don’t know if I could do this with anyone else other than my brother. There are things that we don’t even have to discuss, things that are just understood, being that we’re from the same school, basically, from under the same roof.” If you’re planning to go this route, take heed, and know the real deal.

Get The Goods. So this person may share genetic code with you. But does that mean they can handle your career? Know that ahead of time. “The artist should find out what a position’s qualifications are,” says Tina Knowles. “Ask them, ‘What qualifies you to be a manager? What experience do you have? What education and connections do you have?’ Just because someone wants to be your manager doesn’t mean that they can be your manager. If people’s feelings are hurt, you can tell them that you love them, and maybe you could find something else for them to do.” Guilt and gratitude are not good reasons to hire someone. This is your career.

Sign The Bottom Line. Even family members need to protect themselves with contracts. Don’t fly to the top of the charts without one. “I think on both sides there should be a formal agreement,” says Knowles, “Not just for the artist side, but also for the family member, to protect themselves. I think when people don’t have written agreements, people can feel like they’ve been taken advantage of. But if you spell everything out in the beginning, and you have a legal binding contract, I think everything works out fine.”

Family vs. Work. All that togetherness can get in the way if you forget to be a family. Remember that the family that plays together, stays together. “I’m always the person to say, ‘You know, we’re not going to talk about business today,” says Knowles, “‘This is a family day, and we gotta leave that alone.’ Especially on Sundays, we’ll go to church, we go eat and spend family time, and it’s against the rules to talk about it. Because once you say one little thing about ‘We have a concert next week,’ the next thing you know is that the whole family is talking about it. So it’s hard to get totally away from the business and not let it consume your family time.”

Make Room. Of course, when you know each other so well, you also have to remember that each person has their own opinions, as well as their own life. “We don’t crowd the other,” says Malice, “We do our own thing. As far as writing and coming up with the songs, we’ll go to the studio and discuss the topic, and we don’t write together. Pusha hops in his truck and I hop in mine. We just each listen to the beat. From that point on, we just play phone tag, and we’ll discuss what each of us has come up with. For the most part, we’re always on the same page. We just respect each other’s space.”

Know Your Role. How much can you handle in your quest for fame and fortune? Being family does not make you all-powerful. “You have to play your position,” continues Malice, “You have to know exactly what it is that you do, what it is that you’re good at, and you have to play that role. You can’t always be the chief. There has to be a give and take, and you have to know what your strong points are, and that’s what keeps everything in perspective. If there’s something you can do, then run the ball with it. If not, then you fall back. Just don’t take on too much.”

Leave ‘Em. In the end, you may just keep your family around not for business, but for moral support. There’s no shame in this. “A lot of artists are torn between people they grew up with, and someone new in their life, like an accountant or business manager who they’ve just met for two weeks, and have to trust,” says Felcher, “And I don’t think it’s the artist’s fault if they’re nervous. I just think the artist needs to get to know the business professional very closely, work with him, be in his face every day, and ask a lot of questions without being self conscious. They have to ask.”

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2003 - Republished with Permission

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