Meet William Metzger | William J. Metzger, Esq. | Attorney & Record Label Executive

We had the good fortune of connecting with William Metzger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Shavertown, a small coal-miner’s town in northeastern Pennsylvania. In high school I played saxophone in the Lake Lehman marching band. I started playing guitar and taking lessons when I was in 9th grade. To pay for my guitar lessons, I cashed out my savings bonds that I received for birthdays when I was growing up. Once I graduated high school, I joined the United States Marine Corps. I played guitar in the Marine Corps band and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. After serving in the Marines, I went on to obtain a recording certificate in Commercial Recording Artist Program from the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, California. This is where my passion for the music business industry began. When I graduated M.I., I moved back to the east coast, where I spent two semesters at Five Town’s College in Long Island, New York studying commercial music. After making a living teaching guitar lessons, I then decided to audition for the world-renowned jazz program at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. After graduating from UNT with my bachelor’s degree, I went on to follow my passion for the music business and pursue a law degree from Southern Methodist University. During my time at SMU, I served as the co-founder and Vice President of the first ever Veteran’s Law Association and participated in mock trial competitions. Once graduated, I opened my own practice as a transactional entertainment attorney focusing on helping artists navigate their way through the murky waters of the music industry. However, my dream and goal since M.I. was to own a record label that represented the artists and focused on the music. My choices, motivation, and background, have enabled me to step into the role I was created to be in. By always taking the hard route and continually pushing myself, I believe I can handle more than most and enjoy making deals for clients that are ethical and best for both parties, as well as helping musicians and bands reach their ultimate potential. My background and understanding from personal experience is the best way to empathize with artists and help them achieve their goals.

What should our readers know about your business?
My law practice includes all transactional areas of the entertainment industry and business law, including: music, film, electronic media, photography, gaming, copyright, trademark, and contracts. Moreover, I help entrepreneurs and business owners with various business and corporate aspects of the industry, such as entity formation, sale of goods issues, copyrighting, and trademarking.

The record label, Affiant Records, provides powerful and purposeful entertainment through music, film, and
media to our audience around the globe to emotionally affect and bring about a positive
change to the world through our entertainment. Affiant Records operates global marketing and distribution for talented and accomplished artists, bands, and musicians.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dallas-Fort Worth is such a large area with thousands of eateries and shops. Personally, I am more of a suburbs type, but enjoy visiting the city for a night out on the town. First stop would be Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney, which is a boutique guitar and amp shop. They frequently host guitar clinics with acts such as Nita Strauss and Brent Mason. Also, they feature concerts and shows from many guitar legends, to include our local guitar hero, Andy Timmons. The store is located in Adriatica village, which is modeled after a Croatian village. Guitar Sanctuary is owned and operated by the mayor of McKinney George Fuller. Next up would be the Star in Frisco where the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters is located. The Ford center at the Star is a place where you can walk around, explore the history of the Cowboys, and throw a football on the astroturf field. After working up a sweat, you can head on over to various restaurants and bars that are all within a short walking distance. The area is very instagrammable for picture taking and packed out on game days. Head on down the road for a short trip, and we would go to Legacy West in Plano. Legacy West is the home to the headquarters of Liberty Mutual and Toyota. There are high end shops, a Tommy Bahama restaurant and store, Legacy Hall where concerts are held, and a Starbucks Reserve. After hitting up Legacy West we would head on over to the Fort Worth stockyards. They have a twice daily cattle drive to watch the steer and take photos. This is also a phenominal place to learn the history of Texas as though you stepped back in time to the days of the cowboys and ranchers who settled the state. There are various restaurants and shops to check out. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse is the ultimate place to eat if you enjoy a phenominal steak. After venturing in Fort Worth, we head into downtown Dallas and check out the Perot Museum and the Dallas acquarium. At night, the American Airlines (AA) center also hosts many games for the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, the Dallas Stars hockey team, and large concerts for acts such as Post Malone who has Texas roots. We would definitely head over to AA to catch a fun event. There are so many things to do in Dallas-Fort Worth that you would need a good week or two to really explore all DFW has to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my wife Katje. Without her love and support, I never would have made it through law school, or been able to open my law firm and record label. Her dedication to helping me accomplish my dreams is the reason I’m where I’m at today. My father instilled in me a strong work ethic and my creative side comes from my mother. Also, my faith has impacted my decisions and choices throughout my life Moreover, there are numerous music instructors and professors that have helped me learn and grow as a musician to include Peter Rogine of Five Towns College and Al Pitrelli musical director for Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Website: https://www.affiantrecords.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamjmetzger/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/affiantrecords

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AffiantRecords/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AffiantRecords

Other: https://www.wjmetzgerlaw.com/