Cat's Mother of the Month - Sonia Diwan
Introducing another one of our powerhouse CM’s, Sonia Diwan.
Named as ‘one of the most influential women in music’ by Music Week & UK Music in 2014, Sonia has continued to soar her way through the industry’s law game, and we’re here for it.
Sonia’s focus remains firmly within pop/urban/dance/grime genres and her current clientele reflects that. These include the likes of Jonas Blue, Chase & Status, Shiftk3y, Netsky, Naughty Boy, WizKid and Ill Blu; a stellar list of producer-writers such as Stargate, TMS, Fred Ball, Sam Dixon, Nana Rogues, Clarence Coffee Jr, Martin Sjolie, Dayyon Alexander, Edd Holloway, Nick Atkinson, and Noisia; newly signed artists such as TSB, T-Mulla, Cian Ducrot, Wes Nelson and more…
What was your route into the music industry and what was it that drew you to music law?
I have just celebrated my 25th year as a music practice lawyer. I guess that makes me a veteran in this business (aka “old”) but it also reflects the fact that I was fortunate enough to fall into a speciality within the law, which 25 years on, I still enjoy and can still challenge me.
As a Cambridge medicine and then law graduate, I really had no clear idea of what I wanted to do. Having worked at a magic circle law firm in the City and then made the transition to train as a film and TV lawyer at a smaller specialist entertainment law practice, it was only then that I realised that music lawyers existed. Growing up as part of a small Indian family, in a tiny mining village in South Wales, one of the few escape routes for me and a way of trying to fit in with an all-white community, had always been music. It struck me that I could combine my legal skills with an area of the media that I loved and so I re-trained as a music lawyer.
Having made that decision, I was just very lucky that a music position at one of the leading music and entertainment law practices in London, Lee & Thompson, became available, and I managed to persuade them to offer me the job, despite my lack of experience. Working primarily for artists, songwriters and producers, I found that I enjoyed the more immediate and personal relationships which I developed with clients, far more than I had been used as a film and TV lawyer. As I gained more experience, I came to realise that as a music lawyer for talent one has to combine one’s skills as a lawyer, commercial advisor, manager and therapist – often draining and exhausting but still rewarding and ultimately fulfilling for me.
What does an average day at Sound Advice look like for you?
No day is ever the same, apart from it starting early, and finishing late. I never quite know how my day is going to enfold (despite the endless lists I prepare every morning), but it will always encompass advising on/ structuring management deals, record deals, publishing deals, producer deals, distribution deals, label deals, employment agreements and everything else that a client wants to talk about. That and mentoring other lawyers within the firm and trying to deal with the usual administration that any business requires to allow it to function.
Tell us about some of your proudest achievements to date?
Becoming a partner at Lee & Thompson in 2000. Then leaving to co-found Sound Advice back in 2008. Despite the ongoing headaches of running one’s own business and constant stress of ensuring that your clients and staff are looked after, I am really proud that 15 years on, Sound Advice continues to thrive as a small boutique talent music law practice, looking after a diverse client roster, based all over the world.
Being a small part of the journeys of my clients’ respective careers culminating in, by way of example, only, being side of stage when Chase & Status performed on the other stage at Glastonbury, Jonas Blue hitting 5 billion streams, Naughty Boy’s number one with La La La, Stargate’s never ending hits, TMS being nominated for a Grammy. I just feel extremely lucky being on the periphery of helping to navigate my clients through their respective experiences within the industry and hopefully making a difference.
Knowing I have added some value to a deal, makes the job worthwhile for me.
What common challenges do you come across in your role and how do you get around them?
Working in an industry, which in the mainstream is white and male, means that as a female of colour, you know you are always going to have to work harder. I think the bigger challenge for me has been to make sure that every one of my clients thinks that they are my only client and they come first.