David Vodicka Closes Media Arts Lawyers, Launches New Firm

MELBOURNE, Australia — David Vodicka has a new law firm.

The Melbourne-based independent music chief and preeminent music lawyer launched David Vodicka Music & Entertainment Lawyers on Wednesday (July 1)

The new firm rises from Media Arts Lawyers, which Vodicka shutters after more than 25 years.

“I’ve spent much of my career inside the music industry, not just advising it. As a lawyer, record label founder, music publisher, broadcaster, board director and industry advocate, I’ve had the opportunity to see this (entertainment) business from a few different angles. That experience will continue to inform how I think, how I advise, and what I value,” Vodicka writes in a post on LinkedIn.

“Over time, it’s reinforced something I’ve always believed: the most valuable advice comes long before a contract is negotiated, a dispute emerges, or a transaction reaches the table,” he continues. “It comes from understanding the industry, recognising the dynamics that matter, and helping clients navigate the decisions that shape careers, businesses, and creative assets — at all stages.”

As principal and founding partner in Media Arts Lawyers, Vodicka was a regular entry in Billboard‘s list of Top Music Lawyers, while the business represented the likes of Courtney Barnett, Flume, Gotye, Tame Impala, Kylie Minogue, Daniel Johns, AIR, and many others. The business was active in artist and talent representation, rights and licensing, music industry transactions, acquisitions and complex commercial negotiations, including more than A$300 million ($207.2 million) in mergers, acquisitions, catalog sales, investments and transactions involving entertainment, media and creative industry assets.

Vodicka also serves as the board chair of the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) and serves as board member of ARIA and RISING.

Through his new venture, Vodicka will continue to work alongside artists, rights holders, executives and entertainment businesses on “significant negotiations, transactions, disputes and strategic decisions,” reads a statement, “bringing decades of industry experience to matters where outcomes are shaped as much by insight and perspective as they are by contracts.”

A statement on Media Arts Lawyers’ website reads: “After more than 25 years advising clients across the entertainment, media and creative industries, Media Arts Lawyers has reached an important milestone in its evolution.” The partners “will continue their practices through their respective new business entities.” Two of those partners, Julian Hewitt and Rob Glass, are behind the new firm, Hewitt Glass Law.

“Media Arts Lawyers was an extraordinary chapter,” Vodicka continues.

The Melbourne scene builder and legal veteran adds: “To everyone who was part of the Media Arts Lawyers story: thank you. It was a privilege. To clients, friends and industry colleagues, I look forward to continuing the conversation.”

Visit davidvodicka.com.au for more.