I’ve been a touring musician, artist manager, indie label owner, and an entertainment lawyer. My experience gives me a unique, three-dimensional perspective on working with artists and negotiating in the music and entertainment business. Authenticity is key. I know my clients’ needs because I’ve walked in their shoes. I love the work because it allows me to build a network of creative people and connect the dots to create and capitalize on opportunities for them.

Hillel Frankel works with musicians, songwriters, producers, record labels, publishers, filmmakers, production companies, fine artists, and content creators to secure their intellectual property rights. Hillel’s clients appreciate not only his tenacity in closing deals but also his strength in resolving issues and clearing the way for creators to create and rights holders to earn licensing and royalty income. He focuses on helping creatives build their catalog and protect their copyrights, trademarks, and brand identities while securing licensing, joint ventures, and other branding opportunities.

In addition, Hillel actively represents entertainment companies across a broad range of business and corporate matters. He drafts operating agreements, licensing, recording, and publishing agreements, negotiates sync agreements for music licensing in television, film, and advertising, and works with clients to build and protect their brands and develop and maintain creative partnership agreements. He also guides clients on licensing content for software, apps, and other technology and advises music production, tech, and entertainment start-ups on corporate affairs and business development.

Beyond entertainment, Hillel works with cannabis companies and related businesses on securing their brand identities and developing an IP strategy, focusing on protecting brand names via trademark registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. As marijuana remains an illegal substance, even with the possible reclassification from schedule I to a schedule III substance, registering a cannabis-related trademark can be complicated. Hillel has successfully steered the registration in many USPTO classifications for ancillary cannabis products and apparel that help protect and build on a company’s brand identity.

A recognized voice in the music industry, Hillel regularly presents on intellectual property and entertainment law issues at conferences and festivals around the country, including the South by Southwest Music Conference, the Music Biz Conference, Folk Alliance, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers’ (ASCAP) Expo, and the Americana Music Conference.

In his not-so-former life as musician “Frankie Hill,” Hillel recorded and toured internationally on keyboards and saxophone for numerous bands, including GRAMMY-nominated Liquid Soul, LA’s Bonedaddys, the UK’s General Public, and Chicago’s P-1 and Heavy Manners. Since moving to Nashville, he continues to perform and record on tenor sax with local artists.

Following a career as a touring and recording musician Hillel’s practice began in Chicago, representing many of the artists with whom he originally performed. In 2014 Hillel moved to Nashville, where he is a mainstay of the vibrant Music Row community and represents successful songwriters and producers. His intimate knowledge of the industry affords him a strong network, and he relishes the opportunity to make connections between artists, managers, producers, labels, and publishers.