Renowned Music Lawyer David Braun Dies at 81

David Braun, a prominent music lawyer who represented such superstars as Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, George Harrison and Michael Jackson, died Wednesday in Santa Barbara after a long illness. He was 81.

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Among his survivors is his son Lloyd Braun, the former chairman of ABC Entertainment and head of Yahoo’s Media Group who is now the founding partner of entertainment company BermanBraun.

During the golden years of the record industry, before digital downloads and piracy began eroding physical sales and transformed the economics of the business, David Braun was able to dramatically improve the standard phonograph record and music publishing agreements on behalf of his clients. 

Many of the concepts considered standard today were achieved through his negotiations, including rights of reversion, advances inclusive of recording costs, limited-term foreign publishing rights with substantial advances and considerably higher royalty rates. 

Braun was raised as an only child in the Bronx. His father owned a candy store, and he worked in the business with his parents. He attended Columbia College and Columbia Law School, obtaining a joint B.A. and J.D. degree in 1954. He joined the law firm of Pryor, Braun, Cashman & Sherman shortly after law school, where his initial experience was in television, representing writers, performers, producers and advertising agencies.

Early in Braun's career, Albert Grossman, a talent manager working in the folk music scene, introduced him to Dylan, a new songwriter who needed representation. Grossman called the Minnesota transplant the “next Frank Sinatra.”

Soon, Braun would represent Dylan as well as fellow legends including Diamond, Harrison, Jackson, The Band, Peter, Paul & Mary and Judy Collins.

In 2008, when Braun was given the Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award from the Grammy Foundation, Diamond called Braun “one of the great figures in my life” and said he showed him that “you could laugh and be serious at the same time.”

Braun joined the firm Hardee, Barovick, Konecky & Braun in the early 1970s and moved his practice from New York to Beverly Hills in 1974. Many of today’s most prominent music attorneys developed their skills working for him, including John Branca, whose client list would include the likes of Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Leiber & Stoller and The Rolling Stones.

Among Braun’s notable achievements was negotiating the Beatles settlement on behalf of Harrison (he is seen with Harrison as the musician signs the settlement agreement in Martin Scorsese’s recent documentary Living in the Material World); co-producing (with the late promoter Bill Graham) The Band’s farewell concert The Last Waltz; and negotiating Jackson’s deal for his iconic album Thriller. Braun also was involved in the founding of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

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Braun left law in 1981 to become president and CEO of PolyGram Records. Two years later, he resumed his practice in Los Angeles. 

In addition to his son Lloyd, Braun is survived by Merna, his wife of 57 years; sons Kenneth and Evan; and eight grandchildren.