Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world.
The 2018 edition of Marquis Who’s Who® shows John Branca as N#1 Music attorney!
The fans knows Branca as one of the executors of the Michael Jackson Estate since 2009 and responsible for deals with Sony for “This Is It”, “Michael”, “Xscape” but also the deal with Cirque du Soleil helping to bring to the world “Immortal World Tour” and the “ONE” show in Las Vegas.
Often hated by a large part of the Michael Jackson fan community for a foggy right to be in charge of the Estate, including fake songs to posthumous album and aloof to the fans. This new status is a hope for the fans for John Branca to deliver not only more new music, products and shows but also to be able to put down one and for all those issues we all know too well, like with the latest documentary from HBO & Channel 4.
Here the press release from Marquis:
Partner and head of the music department at the prominent entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham LLP in Los Angeles since 1981, Mr. Branca is truly a luminary in the world of entertainment law. Working with #1 artists and record labels throughout his career, Mr. Branca has represented over 35 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Elton John, Nirvana and The Rolling Stones. He has also represented the estate of Elvis Presley, sports figures such as Mike Tyson, the comedians Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, the Sultan of Brunei and the Vatican, independent record labels such as Interscope Records and Rhino Records and industry investors such as JVC, Matsushita and Vivendi. Most notably, Mr. Branca had a longstanding professional relationship with Michael Jackson, and since the singer’s passing in 2009, he and music executive John McClain have served as executors and managers of the Michael Jackson Estate.
With his areas of specialty including asset acquisition, artist representation, live performance and touring, and royalty recovery and copyright law, among others, Mr. Branca has helped numerous artists resolve complex situations in their favor. In two notable instances, he helped Don Henley of The Eagles regain copyright of his songs and John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival to secure lost royalties. Mr. Branca is also responsible for the centralization of ticket sales, sponsorships and promotions for tours with a national promoter, creating a new paradigm for the touring industry.
Capable of working in a number of capacities, as Michael Jackson recalled in his autobiography, Mr. Branca has worked in production roles for multiple creative projects. Mr. Branca was the production driving force behind Michael Jackson’snow iconic “Thriller” music video and the executive producer of Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,” which quickly became the most successful concert film in history. Additionally, he is the producer of Michael Jackson The IMMORTAL World Tour, a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil that is one of the highest grossing concert tours in history, and Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil, the acclaimed top selling live show in Las Vegas.
Not initially planning on entertainment law becoming his legal specialty, Mr. Branca pursued an education at Occidental College in Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science, cum laude, in 1972. Following this accomplishment, he continued his academic efforts with a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1975 and was admitted to the State Bar of California the same year. It wasn’t until he began his career with Kindel & Anderson in Los Angeles that he found his calling in entertainment law. Upon this realization, Mr. Branca left Kindel & Anderson and joined the entertainment law firm Hardee Barovick Konecky & Braun in 1977.
A founding member of the Musicians Assistance Program, Mr. Branca also served as chair of MusiCares, the Recording Academy, an organization dedicated to helping music professionals in times of need, from 2007 to 2009. Awarded the title chair emeritus upon his departure, he finds the aid that MusiCare provided to musicians in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to be the most inspirational of the work the organization has done. In addition to his work with MusiCares, Mr. Branca has contributed his skills to a number of other charitable and community groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Grammy Museum, where he serves on the board of trustees.
With a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating, Mr. Branca has been recognized in every edition of Best Lawyers in America since 1987. Named one of 100 Power Lawyers in Entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter in 2010, he also received the Occidental College Alumnus of the Year Award and the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award from Los Angeles City College that same year. Honored with the Billboard Magazine Touring, Conference & Awards Creative Content Award for the Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, Mr. Branca was the recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, among countless other accolades. He was Billboard Magazine’s Attorney of the Year in 2016.
