Bios
David Israelite
President & CEO, National Music Publishers' Association
David M. Israelite is President and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), a position he has held since February 2005.
Israelite is responsible for overseeing all aspects of NMPA’s operations, from legal strategy and implementation to government affairs and advocacy. His leadership has produced revolutionary successes on behalf of publishers including the largest CRB rate increase in history, groundbreaking industry collaboration in royalty rate agreements, landmark settlements and model licenses with streaming platforms, and ultimately raising the profile of the publishing community. Additionally, Israelite was instrumental in guiding the effort to modernize copyright laws culminating in the Music Modernization Act (MMA) and the subsequent creation of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC).
He has been named to Billboard’s Power 100 multiple times and serves on the boards of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Association and Special Olympics DC. He also serves as the President of the NMPA S.O.N.G.S. Foundation (Supporting Our Next Generation of Songwriters) which supports songwriters through funding scholarships and direct services, among other assistance.
Prior to leading NMPA, Israelite held senior positions in various capacities for the U.S. government including at the Department of Justice where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General of the United States and was appointed Chairman of the Department’s Task Force on Intellectual Property. He also worked in the U.S. Senate where he was Administrative Assistant (Chief of Staff) for Missouri Senator Kit Bond. Previously, Israelite also practiced law in the Commercial Litigation Department at the firm of Bryan Cave, LLP in Kansas City, Missouri.
Israelite earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri and his undergraduate degree from William Jewell College.
ken abdo
Partner, Fox Rothschild
Ken Abdo is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. Spanning 40 years, he has extensive experience serving as legal counsel to artists, creators and businesses in the music and entertainment industries. He is a prolific author and lecturer on music and entertainment law matters. Harnessing his earlier years of experience as a musician, entertainer, and adjunct professor of entertainment law, Ken’s career has been a storied ride working with developing, established, legacy, and estates of music artists. He now represents both buyers and sellers of music artist recording and publishing catalogs. His commitment to advocacy has vaulted him to national and international leadership positions with The Recording Academy, the American Bar Association, The International Association of Entertainment lawyers, and other organizations.
Lisa Alter
Partner, Alter, Kendrick & Baron
Lisa Alter is a founding partner of Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP in New York City. Ms. Alter is highly regarded for her representation of clients in the acquisition, sale, and securitization of significant music assets. As part of her practice, she renders sophisticated strategic advice on deal structure and risk mitigation, conducts in-depth legal due diligence and copyright analyses, negotiates, drafts, and closes complex stock and asset purchase agreements, and acts as music counsel to originators, issuers, and investors in asset backed securitizations. She represents many prominent major and independent music publishing companies, record labels, equity investors, lenders, and financing partners in the music space, and is a sought-after advisor in many of the most high-profile recent transactions in the music industry.
In addition, Ms. Alter’s clients include a large number of bespoke songwriters, recording artists, and producers as well as musical estates comprising the successors to many of the great American songbook composer and lyricists. Among her clients are numerous inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and recipients of Grammy and Ivor Novello Awards.
Ms. Alter lectures frequently on copyright issues at professional and music industry meetings in both the US and the UK. She has served as a Visiting Professor at Yale Law School where she taught a course on the Law and Business of Music, and has written numerous articles addressing music publishing and copyright matters.
Ms. Alter is perennially recognized in Billboard’s “Top Music Lawyers” and “Power” lists, as well as Variety’s “Legal Impact Report,” “Dealmakers Impact Report," “New York Women’s Impact Report,” and “New York Dealmakers Elite.” She has also been named as one of Billboard’s “Women in Music: Executives of the Year,” The Hollywood Reporter’s “New York Power Lawyers,” the U.S. News & World Report’s New York City “Best Lawyer of the Year” in the 2023 in the practice area of Entertainment Law – Music and was an inaugural honoree in the Forbes 2024 America’s Top 200 Lawyers List.
chris baffa
Senior Director, KBRA
Chris Baffa is a Senior Director within the Commercial ABS Group at KBRA. He joined KBRA in 2017 and has worked across various asset classes including music royalties, small business loans, structured settlements, equipment leasing, whole business and other esoterics.
Prior to joining KBRA, Chris was a manager at EY focused on diligence for ABS, RMBS, and CMBS transactions. Previous to EY, he worked several years as an analyst at Imake Consulting Inc., providing customized analytics for clients in the structured finance market.
Chris holds an M.A. in economics from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in business administration from Shippensburg University.
Jon baker
General Counsel, Recognition Music Group
Jon Baker is General Counsel of Recognition Music Group, a leading music rights investment and management company.
Jon leads on all legal aspects of catalogue acquisitions, music business affairs, governance, compliance, and rights administration, to enhance the value and legacy of the Recognition’s iconic catalogue of 45,000 songs and recordings.
Appointed in October 2023, Jon has 20 years of legal experience, including over a decade in music publishing and recorded music rights. Before joining Recognition in October 2023, he was General Counsel UK and EVP of Legal and Business Affairs International at BMG. His career in music and entertainment law began at Simkins, one of the most respected media and entertainment firms in the industry.
Operating at the intersection of music, investment and technology, Jon is a strong advocate for music rights.
Jon studied law at the University of Warwick.
katie baron
Partner, Alter, Kendrick & Baron
Katie Baron is a partner of Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP. Ms. Baron concentrates her practice in the area of music catalog acquisition, sale and securitization transactions with a special focus on copyright law. Ms. Baron advises music publishers, record labels, and other investors in the music space, as well as their financing partners, on all facets of the acquisition process. Her services in this regard include conducting in-depth copyright and chain of title diligence, structuring transactions, negotiating, drafting, and implementing complex asset and stock purchase agreements, and counseling on post-closing matters related to rights administration and income collection. Additionally, she represents music service providers, opera companies, and producers of audio-visual content on rights clearance matters.
Ms. Baron’s clients also include a number of prominent composers, songwriters, performing artists, producers, and musical estates, including several Grammy award-winners and inductees into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In addition, she serves as counsel to the Music Publishers’ Association of the United States and several respected musical foundations.
Ms. Baron has received numerous accolades in her career, including being named to Billboard’s “40 under 40” and perennially recognized in its “Top Music Lawyers” list as well as being honored among Variety’s “Hollywood’s New Leaders” and in its “Legal Impact” and “Dealmakers Impact” reports.
jeff bazoian
Managing Director, Fifth Third Bank
Jeff Bazoian is head of the Media & Entertainment group within Fifth Third Corporate & Investment Banking. Prior to joining Fifth Third, Mr. Bazoian spent seven years at JP Morgan as a Managing Director in the Entertainment Industries Group in Los Angeles. Mr. Bazoian managed a portfolio of media and entertainment clients focused on independent film and television companies, music, video games and digital media companies. During Mr. Bazoian’s time at JP Morgan he built out a music financing platform positioning JP Morgan as the prominent market leader.
Mr. Bazoian joined JP Morgan following 11 years at Rabobank International where from 2010 he was the Head of Capital Markets and from 2013 the CEO of Rabobank Securities USA. He led the bank’s Capital Markets Americas business focused on loan syndication, securitization products, USPP, Euro bonds and European equities as well as developing new markets in Latin America.
Mr. Bazoian joined Rabobank International’s Securitization business in 2004 from CIBC World Markets where he was an Executive Director in the investment bank’s New York Asset Securitization Group, focused on originating and transacting middle market loan warehouse facilities and CLOs, wholesale dealer floor plans, trade receivables, equipment leases as well as future flow sports and entertainment transactions. Starting with CIBC in 1996, Mr. Bazoian worked in several of the investment bank’s businesses including Credit Risk Management and Corporate Finance (with a focus on middle market mezzanine debt financing and corporate restructuring).
adam brenner
Partner, DLA Piper
Adam Brenner focuses on representing innovative, institutionally backed companies, with extensive experience in equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate governance. He also represents venture capital funds in their deployment of capital. While Adam represents companies in a variety of industry verticals, he has particular experience advising on complex cross border deals, particularly in the music rights space. Adam is also a co-founder of the non-profit Accelerate Yale, a global community of alumni and friends of Yale who are engaged in innovation, tech and entrepreneurship.
ben braun
Managing Partner, Lazard
Ben Braun is a Managing Director and Global Head of Media, Entertainment & Sports at Lazard. Most recently, Ben was a Partner at LionTree since 2014. Previously, he was Head of Media & Telecommunications M&A at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, having joined Merrill Lynch in 1997. Prior to this, he worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London from 1993-1995. Over the course of his career, Ben has advised on over USD $300 billion in transactions across a wide range of transaction types.
Ben is a board member of ENAD Global 7, a publicly traded Swedish video game holding company.
Ben graduated in 1997 as an Amos Tuck Scholar from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He graduated magna cum laude from James Madison University in 1992.
ida brink
Co-Founder & CMO, Chapter Two
Leading rightsholder relationships at Chapter Two, Ida oversees the catalog sales of European and American creators. Prior to this, she built one of the Nordic region’s largest Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs), dedicated to ensuring that creators and rightsholders were fairly compensated and properly represented.
binta niambi brown
Partner, Manatt
An Entertainment Partner in Manatt’s New York office, Binta Niambi Brown has extensive experience working across talent management and development, as well as leading a variety of complex high-value transactions. She leverages her background as a record executive, talent manager and artist advocate to advise global icon clients within the creator economy on how to build, innovate, expand and protect their businesses and brands. Binta’s practice focuses on representing industry moguls through the gamut of entertainment transactions, deal structuring and other strategic planning, providing both legal and strategic consulting guidance to her clients across sports, music, media, television and film. As a corporate lawyer, she has structured, negotiated and closed well over $100 billion in transactions.
rio caraeff
Co-President, Musixmatch
Rio Caraeff is an accomplished executive with 30 years of leadership at the intersection of music and technology.
Currently Co-President at Musixmatch, the world's leading music data company, Rio oversees global commercial activities and partnerships.
As Founder, President, and CEO of Vevo, Rio helped create the world's largest premium music video platform as a joint venture between Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and YouTube.
His earlier roles include Executive Vice President at Universal Music Group and leadership positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and Capital Records Group.
He has been featured in Billboard’s “The Power 100” and “40 Under 40”, Vanity Fair's “The Next Establishment, The Hollywood Reporter's “Digital Power 50”, Fortune’s “40 Under 40”, Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and Evening Standard's “London's Most Influential”.
Rio lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Elise, children River and Violette, and their dog Hank.
hashim chawdhry
Associate Director, ICM
Hashim leads the Capital Markets function at ICM, serving as a key link between the investment, asset management, and sales teams. He supports the music royalties function at ICM via deal execution, portfolio management, investor relations, as well as capital raising initiatives. Driven by a passion for identifying resilient, cash-flow generating assets, Hashim is actively involved in shaping ICM’s approach to music royalties as a scalable, uncorrelated investment opportunity.
max ciociola
CEO, Musixmatch
Max Ciociola is the Founder, CEO and Chairman of Musixmatch, the world's leading music data company he established in 2010. Under his leadership, Musixmatch has grown into the largest lyrics platform globally, serving major music streaming services and technology companies.
As an innovator in music technology, Max has pioneered advances in lyrics distribution, metadata management, and AIpowered music recognition. His company provides essential infrastructure that enhances music experiences across multiple platforms worldwide.
Before Musixmatch, Max developed expertise in digital innovation and mobile technology ventures, which gave him insight into identifying opportunities in the music data space.
Based in Bologna, Italy, Max has guided Musixmatch through strategic partnerships with major music labels, publishers, and tech companies. His leadership has been recognized for creating solutions that bridge music content with digital services, serving both rights holders and consumers.
Since July 2022, Musixmatch has been a TPG Growth portfolio company.
Denise Colletta
Senior VP/Head of Music, City National Bank
With over 30 years of banking experience, DENISE COLLETTA, is a Senior Vice President at City National Bank.
Denise oversees a large portfolio and consistently provides solutions to the various genres of the entertainment industry and is considered a thought leader in the space.
Among Denise's many accomplishments include the launch of the music vertical and the syndications desk within the Entertainment Division at City National.
Denise is a frequent guest speaker having participated on many music industry panels as well as sought out by journalists in the music industry for insight, knowledge and collaboration.
doug colton
Principal, Sukin Colton Law Association
Sukin Colton Law Association is an entertainment and intellectual property law firm representing various parties - buyers, sellers, banks, funds, investor groups - in catalog acquisitions, company sales, and financing. We have closed many transactions involving the world’s most popular music, including ones conducted in Spanish and French languages. Additionally, our firm has done groundbreaking work in statutory and contractual copyright terminations and rights reversions, on a worldwide basis. The firm has long been known for its innovative thinking in developing the now-famous Bowie Bond in asset securitization using music catalogs.
Founded by its two principals Michael Sukin and Doug Colton, the firm has a global practice based in New York, Nashville, and London and has represented top level artists, songwriters, publishers, record companies, estates, trusts, and managers, domestically and internationally.
Sukin Colton led the initiation, promotion, and enhancement of global, music-related copyright legislation in the European Union, the United States, and Japan. As such, our firm has worked with music publishers and collecting societies in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States and the Far East, having represented many of these societies: ASCAP (representation), BMI (representation), SESAC (representation), Global Music Rights, the Performing Rights Society (UK), PPL-UK, British Music Rights, SACEM (France-representation), GEMA (Germany), SGAE (Spain-representation), STIM (Sweden), National Music Publishers Associations (Japan, UK, Germany), GESAC (Brussels), The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP, Brussels), IFPI (London-Brussels), JASRAC (Japan), SAMRO (South Africa), ZAIKS (Poland), and SAZAS (Slovenia).
Colton was previously President of Murrah Music Corporation, a highly successful music publishing company in Nashville, TN. Colton's accolades include authoring the Amicus Brief of the Nashville Songwriters Association International to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the 1998 U.S. copyright extension. He was written and lectured on issues within the firm’s expertise domestically and internationally. Mr. Colton is a graduate of the University of Washington and Vanderbilt University Law School. Prior to attending law school, Colton was a touring artist and songwriter.
tamara conniff
CEO, AMR Songs
Tamara Conniff successfully launched AMR Songs music investment fund in 2020, where she built a vast portfolio of catalogs, and sold to GoldState Music in 2024. She has served in a number of high-profile leadership roles in the music industry, including EVP Business Affairs for Jay-Z’ Roc Nation Music Publishing. During her term, Roc Nation Publishing picked up a number of Grammy awards, including Song and Record of the Year and Best R&B Song. Previous positions include COO of Artist Publishing Group and President of Music Services for Front Line Management/Ticketmaster. She started her career as a journalist and was the first female Editor-in-Chief at Billboard and launched the Women in Music brand.
alexi cory-smith
Founder & CEO, Bella Figura Music LTD
When Alexi Cory-Smith (and Neelesh Prabhu) founded Bella Figura Music in 2022, the mission was to establish an artist-centric catalogue publisher and label fit for the digital age. And that’s exactly what she has achieved, investing in a portfolio of copyrights including works by Guy Chambers, David Gray, Lil Peep, Paul Epworth and the iconic British company RAK Publishing – all supported by a team of passionate music rights management experts covering M&A, Administration, Licencing, Marketing & Sync. It represents an entrepreneurial new journey for the lawyer and industry lifer, whose seven-year run as President at BMG UK saw annual revenue expand by 2000% to £120 million. A lifelong fan of the band, one of her career highlights was signing The Rolling Stones to a global publishing deal with BMG.
Payvand coyle
Associate, DLA Piper
Payvand Coyle focuses her practice primarily on finance with a particular emphasis in the media and entertainment industries. She has broad experience representing a variety of financial institutions, hedge funds, private equity firms, funds, sponsors, commercial banks, TV and film production and distribution companies, music publishers, record companies and independent production companies in relation to a variety of finance transactions as well as complex motion picture and music industry transactions. Her financing practice is comprised of domestic and cross-border syndicated and bilateral term loans, asset backed loans, mezzanine financings, securitizations, notes offerings, project co-financing arrangements, venture capital financings and other financing transactions.
In addition, Payvand has experience with representing financial institutions, hedge funds, asset managers, dealers and end users in relation to a variety of derivatives transactions and structures. She also advises on regulatory issues affecting derivatives.
derek crownover
Partner, Loeb & Loeb
Vice Chair Music Industry, Co-Office Administrative Partner of Nashville Office of Loeb & Loeb
If a larger deal is moving in the music industry, Loeb and the Nashville office is behind the scenes working most likely. The Loeb Nashville Music Group has effectively cornered a large market share of the deals related to artists, songwriters and producers emanating out of Nashville as well as independent music publishers, labels, broadcasters and DSP’s around the globe. Crownover’s deal group has closed close to $1B in transactions in the last 3 years from publishing or master catalog sales to financing and funding for private equity and venture capital IP acquisition funds.
Crownover’s songwriter and publisher client list may have more streaming and airplay than any lawyer on the planet. This list includes, Craig Wiseman’s Big Loud Shirt and Big Loud Mountain Music, Ashley Gorley’s Tape Room Music, Hillary Lindsey’s Hang Your Hat Music, Luke and Beth Laird’s, Creative Nation Music, Jeremy Stover’s Red Creative Music, Jesse and Stevie Frasure’s Rhythm House, Jesse and Dennis Matkosky’s Relative Music with Hardy, Sam Hunt’s Between the Pines Music, as well as the Estate of Otis Redding, The King of Soul. These clients collectively have billions of streams and more than 250 #1 charting airplay singles.
Derek Crownover has been active with the raising funds to build the 4-story Otis Redding, Center for the Arts in downtown, Macon GA which just opened in March of 2025. https://www.orcamacon.org/. The center, spear-headed by Zelma Redding the widow of Otis Redding and her daughter Karla Andrews-Redding help underprivileged kids learn the gift of music. The center will house studios, teachers and learning curriculums for school-aged kids to be taught musicianship of all types as well as production and protection of their works in the new creator economy.
His long-time client Ashley Gorley will be inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in June of 2025.
Fred davis
Partner, The Raine Group
Fred is a Partner at Raine. Since joining the firm in July 2014, Fred has focused on both advising and investing across the global digital media/technology sector. Fred is the Global, Co-Head of the Raine Music Sector where he has advised and/or invested in companies including, SoundCloud, Firebird, Stem, Chord Music and Moonbug. Prior to Raine, Fred was one of the three Founding Partners of CODE Advisors. Before founding CODE in 2010, Fred was the founding Partner of the leading Entertainment/New Media Law Firm of Davis Shapiro & Lewit. Fred is on the board of directors of Firebird and SoundCloud, both Raine portfolio companies.
André de Raaff
CEO, CTM Outlander
André began his career as Creative Manager of music publishing company Warner-Basart (the Dutch branch of Time Warner) in 1971. Being 25 years old, André was promoted to Managing Director in 1978. From 1990 to 1999 De Raaff was President/CEO of Europe’s largest independent record company and music publisher, Arcade. André is a veteran in the international music business with an outstanding track record.
In 1999, De Raaff was responsible for the merger of Arcade with the leading Dutch independent publisher Strengholt, resulting in one of Europe’s largest independent music publishers. Simultaneously, De Raaff became member, and later chairman, of the Board of Directors of the Strengholt Group.
In 2000, De Raaff founded CTM and in 2004 he joined forces with Denis Wigman and Bob Hubar to found CTM, as an entertainment company active as music publisher, record label, artist management and film and TV producer. In 2014 De Raaff was honored by the King of the Netherlands as “Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau”. Also in 2014 André received the most important award for the Dutch entertainment industry: “De Veer”. De Raaff was board member of the mechanical and performance rights organization Buma/Stemra and chairman of the Dutch Publishers association.
André was responsible for creating in 2008 – together with Dutch pension fund ABP and investing €500M – the leading worldwide independent music publishing company “Imagem”, in the shortest time ever in history. A groundbreaking and unprecedented achievement in music publishing Imagem was sold successfully to Concord Music in 2018.
In 2018 André and Jitze de Raaff became the only two shareholders of CTM and André joint as board member of IMPEL in the UK, an international organization of independent music publishers that collectively license their rights to digital service providers.
In 2020, through a strategic partnership with Dallas based Outlander Capital: CTM Outlander was created, acquiring music publishing and master rights, with the aim to invest one billion dollars during the next 5 years in both publishing and master rights. CTM Outlander became very active in the Nashville music space buying catalogs and making co-publishing going forward deals with the likes of: Natalie Hemby, Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman, Sam Hunt and others.
terry dugan
Co-head of Entertainment Finance, Moore & Van Allen
Terry represents some of the most active agent banks in syndicated financings in the motion picture and music finance space, private equity debt and acquisition funds, and a number of other investors in the motion picture and music sectors. He also advises clients on US and international finance, project finance, syndicated bank lending, institutional lending, workouts, and mergers and acquisitions in other sectors. Terry’s extensive experience includes complex multijurisdictional financings and structured finance.
David Dunn
Managing Partner, Shot Tower Capital
David Dunn is the Founder and Managing Partner of Shot Tower Capital, a leading boutique investment bank specializing in advisory and capital-raising services for the media and entertainment industry, with a strong focus on music. Shot Tower represents major and independent music companies, investors, and private equity firms, offering extensive expertise in advising iconic artists and estates.
Shot Tower’s principals have closed over 125 media and entertainment transactions valued at more than $80 billion, including $24 billion in music-related deals. Recent notable transactions include the sale of Hipgnosis Songs to Blackstone, the sale of Mavin Records to Universal, and the formation of Pulse Records, a joint venture between Public Music Group and Concord.
With deep sector expertise and a client-first approach, Shot Tower maintains a 95%+ close rate on engaged transactions, with nearly all business coming from referrals. Expanding on this foundation, the firm recently co-founded RedBrick Advisors with London-based analyst Sachin Saggar to offer specialized music valuation services.
David has been recognized multiple times on the Billboard Power 100 list and was peer-voted as one of the top 20 most influential executives in the music industry in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
christopher fazzolari
Managing Director, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman
Christopher Fazzolari joined Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman (“GR&F”) in 2002 and co-heads GR&F’s Royalty Group that includes 9 main practice areas (music examination, merchandising examination, film/tv examination, valuations, catalog sale consulting, label administration, publishing administration, royalty services and royalty data intelligence). He jointly oversees over 60 staff members spread across GR&F’s LA, NY and Nashville offices, as well as other remote locations.
Over his 20+ year career, Christopher has directed hundreds of domestic and international engagements on behalf of recording artists, songwriters, music publishers, merchandise licensors, celebrities, and other intellectual property rights holders. His clients include many Multi-Platinum and Grammy award winning artists, Academy Award winners and Fortune 500 companies.
During his career, Christopher has conducted successful royalty, profit participation and joint venture examinations throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The companies that he has examined include record labels, music publishers, merchandisers, digital media companies, fashion companies, cable television networks and other companies. He also specializes in providing IP consulting services for contract negotiations, catalog sales, financial due diligence, valuations, and royalty platform reviews.
Christopher received his BS in Finance from Towson University. He has been honored with a variety of entertainment industry accolades including being listed on Billboard and Variety’s top Business Manager lists. Christopher also participates in events with a number of industry trade groups, including the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Licensing International, American Bar Association (ABA), Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA) and Trusted Advisor.
hank forsyth
Co-Founder & CEO, Litmus Music
Forsyth is the Co-Founder & CEO of Litmus Music, a music rights management business he and Dan McCarroll co-founded in 2022. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Litmus was launched in partnership with Carlyle’s (NASDAQ: CG) Global Credit platform. He has been in the music business for over 20 years, including executive roles with EMI Group, EMI Music Publishing, Blue Note Records and Warner Chappell Music. Forsyth began his career as an equity analyst at Salomon Brothers and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in New York and London. He holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics from Trinity College. He resides in Rye, NY, with his wife, Kristine, and their two sons.
john frankenheimer
Partner, Loeb & Loeb
John T. Frankenheimer's practice is centered in the entertainment and media industries, with emphasis on both institutional and talent clients. This includes advising on the acquisition, sale and restructuring of companies, including financing, valuation, securitization and due diligence issues, as well as representing companies, artists and executives in all aspects of the music industry, including all forms of talent contracts, distribution, licensing, branding, technology-related issues, publishing, sub-publishing, touring and live events, and experiential and production activities. He also represents writers, producers and directors in both film and television, as well as various technology and media companies.
John’s principal clients include record companies and distributors; multinational and independent music publishers; internationally recognized recording and touring artists; new media and technology companies; financial institutions and both institutional and private investors; television writers, producers and directors; and motion picture writers and producers. He also represents both major and emerging companies in structuring, financing, licensing and M&A activities with regard to a wide array of new media platforms and projects.
John speaks frequently on entertainment law and related topics and has given presentations at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law; the University of Southern California School of Law; the University of Miami School of Law; Tulane University School of Law; the California Copyright Society; and the New York State C.P.A./Entertainment Forum as well as numerous industry-sponsored events and seminars with particular focus on the acquisition, sale and valuation of music industry assets and related IP.
james freeman
CFO, Kilometre Music Group
• Music royalty forecasting and valuation expert
• Led acquisition of over $400M USD of music royalty assets
• Co-lead of SOCAN’s highly successful repatriation program
• Ole/Anthem Royalty Analyst
• MBA, CFA Charter-holder
gary gilbert
Partner, Manatt
Gary Gilbert, a leader in the music industry, concentrates his practice in the area of music transactions. His clients include renowned performers, including Jackson Browne, Death Cab for Cutie, Rick James Estate and several alumni from American Idol. He has been recognized as a “Top Music Lawyer” by Billboard every year since 2015. Gary joined Manatt after serving as the senior vice president for Capitol Records, where he negotiated contracts and oversaw the activities of the company's legal and business affairs division. He has handled transactions for a number of well-known musical artists and handles negotiations on employment contracts for many top record company executives. He has been named a "Southern California Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics and the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine every year since 2006, and a “Power Lawyer” by The Hollywood Reporter in April 2016.
mitch glazier
Chairman & CEO, Recording Industry Association of America
In his 25 years at RIAA, Glazier has played a vital role in the music industry’s transition to streaming and “anywhere anytime” access to music.
Before joining RIAA, Glazier served as Chief IP and Special Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In his career in and out of government, Glazier has worked on every major U.S. copyright bill considered in the past three decades from the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 to the Music Modernization Act of 2018, laying the foundation for the modern streaming economy that has strengthened and remade the music business for the 21st Century.
A native of Chicago, Glazier served as a Federal Judicial Law Clerk and practiced law at the firm Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg as an associate in commercial litigation. He graduated from Northwestern University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Named to Billboard’s Power 100 list of top music executives several times, Glazier serves as Chairman of the Board of RIAA, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Musicians on Call – the charity that brings live music to the bedsides of patients in health care facilities, and serves on the Boards of IFPI and SoundExchange. He is an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School, co-teaching a class in music business.
He and his wife, Carly, have two sons, ages 25 and 22 – one of them a songwriter, producer, and musician himself.
claire hall
Partner, DLA Piper
Claire Hall focuses her practice on structured finance and derivatives. Claire represents issuers, underwriters and investors across a broad range of domestic and cross-border structured, warehouse and asset-backed finance transactions covering both public deals and private placements. In recent years, Claire’s ABS experience has focused on esoteric transactions such as solar, trade receivables, PACE, management fee cashflows, property developer fees, cashflows from multifamily housing assets and music royalties backed securitizations.
Claire has significant experience representing financial institutions, hedge funds, asset managers, dealers and end users in relation to a variety of derivatives transactions and structures. She also advises on regulatory issues affecting derivatives.
jihane hassad
Director, Crayhill Capital Management
Ms. Hassad is a Director at Crayhill Capital Management focused on origination, underwriting and execution of investments.
Among her responsibilities at the firm, she is focused on the TMT investment programs. Prior to joining Crayhill, Ms. Hassad was a Vice President in the Credit Markets Division at Macquarie Group where she was focused on credit underwriting and financing solutions for FinTech companies and credit funds. Ms. Hassad joined Macquarie in 2011 and spent 4 years on the Securitized Debt trading desk where she played a key role in implementing trading strategies for residential and esoteric asset backed securities.
Ms. Hassad has a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from Columbia University. Ms. Hassad also received a Master’s degree in Engineering and Applied Science from École Centrale Paris, France’s leading engineering school.
jacqui hawwa
Partner, TPG
Jacqui Hawwa is a Business Unit Partner with TPG Growth, based in San Francisco, where she focuses on investments in the
Internet, Digital Media, and Communications sector. Jacqui joined TPG in 2019. She currently serves as a director on the boards of The Initial Group, Musixmatch, Pray.com, Prodigy Education, and SmartSweets. She has been an investor in the technology, media, and telecom sector for over 15 years,
including working at GTCR, prior to joining TPG. She previously held roles at Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. Jacqui received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University and a MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
lynn hazan
Co-Managing Partner, Influence Media Partners
Lynn Hazan joined Influence in 2019 to secure additional capital and operationalize the underwriting, management and optimization of Influence’s portfolio.
Previously, Hazan spent 20+ years in the C-Suite at Sony Music Entertainment. With roles across the frontline music business and distribution, her efforts were critical to the development of some of today’s most renowned artists, including Future, Camila Cabello, DJ Khaled, and Travis Scott.
As General Manager & Chief Financial Officer of Sony’s Epic Records, working alongside iconic executives L.A. Reid and Sylvia Rhone, Hazan successfully drove continuous increased revenue, profitability, and market share.
An industry veteran, Hazan has forged relationships with some of the most powerful names in music. Her many achievements at Sony also earned her recognition on Billboard’s prestigious Women In Music list on six separate occasions.
alex heiche
Founder & CEO, Sound Royalties
Upon recognizing the sizable need for funding options that cater to music professionals and allow creatives to retain their copyrights, Alex Heiche founded Sound Royalties in 2014 and serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. His innate passion for music and strong roots in the music industry have greatly contributed to the firm’s success.
Alex is a strong and outspoken music advocate, supporting the growth of songwriters, producers and artists, as well as highlighting the importance of musicians being compensated for their work while retaining their music rights and royalties. Alex possesses decades of experience in providing funds and finance raising strategies to music creatives, large annuity recipients, and professional athletes. He has worked with leading music industry professionals, including GRAMMY-Award winners, platinum recording artists and notable music industry executives in every genre, always with the utmost discretion and privacy.
A respected thought leader in the music business, Alex has shared his knowledge and insights at many industry events with organizations including the Recording Academy, SXSW, BESLA, the American Bar Association, the North American Law Summit, the Music Managers Forum, AIMP, Cutting Edge Law Conference, NYC3, Sync Summit, and others. As an advocate for the next generation of music industry leaders, Alex volunteers his time as a guest educator at schools like Vanderbilt University and Belmont University. Additionally, Alex’s expert opinions have been featured in top publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Music Business Worldwide, The Tennessean, Music Connection, Digital Music News, and more. He is also a contributor for the Rolling Stone Culture Council.
Prior to founding Sound Royalties, Alex held executive roles in specialty finance firms and high-tech software companies. Alex graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. He currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Music Biz Association, sits on the Nashville Chapter Sounding Board of the non-profit Free Guitars4Kids, is a member of the Recording Academy, Songwriters of North America, the Gospel Music Association, the Country Music Association, the Americana Music Association, A2IM, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and is a lifetime member of BESLA and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Laurent Hubert
CEO, Kobalt Music Group
As CEO of Kobalt, Laurent Hubert oversees all facets of the business and along with the C-group drives the strategic direction of the business. Laurent has over 20 years of experience in a C-role capacity and was instrumental in the development of BMG’s business growth and sale to UMPG. Laurent led the US division of the reincarnated BMG-KKR venture coming in as the first employee and subsequently built a $250MM top line revenue business with $60MM in EBITDA and staff of 150.
james janowitz
Partner, Pryor Cashman
James Janowitz, co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s Media + Entertainment Group, helped the firm build one of the most comprehensive entertainment practices in the country, and he represents some of the music industry’s most celebrated artists and influential organizations.
Jim belongs to a select group of attorneys who deliver a combination of transactional and complex litigation representation. His cross-disciplinary strengths include litigations such as the landmark copyright infringement action against George Harrison over “My Sweet Lord,” as well as complex financings across entertainment media.
Jim has long been at the forefront of the music industry, with key roles in noteworthy and cutting-edge matters, especially focusing on the complexities that accompany the rise of streaming in music. Highlights of his recent work includes representing the NMPA (Music Publishers) in the Phono Records III CRB Proceedings to determine rates and terms for the compulsory license of music for streaming. As a result, the royalties paid to publishers by streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon, and Apple will increase significantly; innovative transactions for the sale of music assets including publishing rights and master recordings, handling acquisitions of music rights for investors, including private equity funds; Shamrock Capital Advisors, LLC in its acquisition of the music publishing catalog of Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, which includes Katy Perry’s “Firework,” Rihanna’s “Diamonds” and Rude Boy,” and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”; Courtney Love in the successful resolution of claims involving trusts under the Kurt Cobain estate; and leading a team representing Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd in the proposed sale to Blackstone of 29 songwriter catalogs for $440 million.
Jim is a first-call advisor for the entertainment world’s most important matters, and his work has helped set standards for several decades.
Charles Johnson
Managing Director, Truist Securities
Charles Johnson (“CJ”) is a member of Truist Securities’ Telecom, Media and Entertainment Group, and leads the firm’s Investment Banking focus on the Entertainment sector. CJ has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry via prior affiliations with firms such as Bank of America and Credit Suisse. In addition to the entertainment industry, CJ has assisted clients focused on food manufacturing, food and beverage distribution and restaurants. He has completed several complicated financial transactions focused on public and private capital raising and merger & acquisition advisory services.
CJ is a recognized leader in the entertainment industry and has represented the United States of America as a Delegate for Department of State to meet with Federal, State, Local and business executives in Brazil as the country prepared for the World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympic Games. He is a frequent panelist at conferences presented by Billboard, Music Business Association, MIDEM and other industry publications and trade organizations, as well as speaker at the Harvard Business School’s Media Conference.
CJ’s current Board affiliations include Smart City Expo Atlanta, the Southern Region of the Anti-Defamation League, the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Invest in Southwest Atlanta Task Force. CJ has also served on the Board of Trustees for The Children’s School, where he was Chairman of the Finance Committee and Treasurer for 7 years, The Atlanta Metropolitan College Foundation, Georgians for Public Rail, the Piedmont Park Conservancy and The Southview Cemetery Preservation Foundation. Other current and former non-profit affiliations include The 100 Black Men of Atlanta, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and March of Dimes of Georgia. Charles received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in 1982.
justin kalifowitz
Founder, Downtown Music Holdings
Justin Kalifowitz is the Founder and a Board Director of Downtown Music Holdings. Under Justin's leadership, Downtown was established in 2007 with the twin belief that intellectual property would become a defining asset class of the 21st century and that the global creative economy was about to rapidly accelerate. Today, more than 4 million artists and 5,000 business clients across 150 countries utilize Downtown's platform for publishing administration, distribution, neighboring rights, financing, royalty accounting, payments, and more.
Outside of Downtown, Justin is an investor and partner to founders, operators, and capital providers focused on scaling businesses at the intersection of culture, commerce, and community.
A graduate of the City University of New York, Justin is deeply committed to strengthening NYC's educational, cultural and civic landscape. Of note to this room, he serves on the boards of the Kaufman Music Center, housed in the very building you're sitting in today, and +POOL, which is creating the world's first floating filtered pool in the East River. Plan to dive in when it launches next summer!
Ben Katovsky
CEO, Recognition Music Group
Ben Katovsky is the CEO of Recognition Music Group, a leading music rights investment and management company.
At the helm of Recognition, Ben oversees a portfolio of over 45,000 iconic songs and recordings, with a mission to enhance the legacy and value of these timeless works while securing stable, long-term returns for investors.
Ben has more than two decades experience driving innovation and growth in the music business. Before leading Recognition, he held a series of senior roles at BMG, including Chief Operating Officer, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the company's global success.
His career began at Counterpoint Systems, developing and deploying technology to better manage intellectual property —an approach that continues to influence his strategic vision today.
Operating at the intersection of music, investment and technology, Ben is shaping the future of investment in music while furthering the legacy of Recognition’s iconic catalogue.
cynthia katz
Partner, Fox Rothschild
Cynthia Katz is an equity partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. She is a seasoned corporate and entertainment attorney who applies more than a decade of experience in the music industry to provide her clients with pro-active advice. She advises the full spectrum of industry players and routinely serves as lead counsel in buy-side and sell-side M&A deals. She also handles a wide variety of music, corporate, investment and intellectual property transactions for her clients. Cynthia has published numerous articles on legal topics relevant to the music industry and is also the cofounder of AngelRoot and an active member of Women in Music and Moms in Music.
larry kennedy
Executive Director, Moelis & Company
Larry Kennedy is an Executive Director at Moelis & Company. Larry has over 15 years of financial services experience and has extensive experience across Media and Entertainment, with a specific focus on Music. He has led numerous noteworthy M&A transactions and financings (both debt and equity).
Prior to joining Moelis & Company in 2021, Larry worked in the Media Group at Guggenheim Securities. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Miami University and a M.B.A. from Cornell University.
Golnar Khosrowshahi
Founder & CEO, Reservoir
Golnar Khosrowshahi is the Founder and CEO of Reservoir, an award-winning independent music company headquartered in New York City and with operations in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, London, Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai. Established in 2007, Reservoir is the first female founded and led publicly traded independent music company in the U.S. Under Golnar’s leadership, Reservoir has grown to own and administer countless copyrights and master recordings, with titles dating as far back as 1900. Golnar continues to lead the team in building a well-attended roster and an established catalog, and regularly appears as one of Billboard’s Most Powerful Female Executives, as well as a Billboard Power Player. She notably earned a spot in Billboard’s Women In Music Hall of Fame in 2023, following her recognition as Executive of the Year for 2022. Golnar has been named Music Week’s International Woman of the Year in 2023, one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People In Business, Forbes’ 50 Over 50, Inc.’s 2024 Female Founders 250 List, and to Variety’s New Power of New York, and Power of Women lists. Furthermore, Reservoir has twice been awarded both Publisher of the Year at Music Business Worldwide’s The A&R Awards and Independent Publisher of the Year at the Music Week Awards.
In addition to her role as CEO of Reservoir, Golnar serves as a Director on the board of the National Music Publishers’ Association, working to ensure fair compensation for songwriters and their representatives. She also sits on NMPA’s S.O.N.G.S. Foundation Board of Directors, an organization that raises funds to support career songwriters. Working alongside Artist Director and cellist Yo-Yo Ma for over a decade, Golnar served as Board Chair of the musical collective, Silkroad. In 2022, she was elected to the Board of Directors for the New York Philharmonic.
Golnar also previously served on the Board of Directors for RBI (Restaurant Brands International) and the Board of Directors of Nomad Foods. Golnar is a classically trained pianist through the Royal Academy of Music in London, England and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. Golnar holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York City and a BA in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College.
jenny kim
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Jenny Kim leads the Music Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs. She was previously a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and served as a Global Sports & Entertainment Director, advising clients across the music and entertainment industries.
A classically trained concert violinist since childhood, Jenny is a passionate advocate for the arts and children’s music education. Based in Los Angeles, she is an active supporter of several arts organizations and volunteers at the LA Philharmonic.
stephen king
Legal Counsel, ICM
Stephen King is Legal Counsel at ICM Asset Management, where he supports the firm’s music royalty investment strategy through the structuring and diligence of catalog acquisitions. He plays a key role in the ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund and has been involved in the acquisition and management of over 30 music catalogs across publishing and master rights. Since joining ICM in 2020, Stephen has also contributed to the firm’s broader compliance, transactional, and operational initiatives.
kirkland & ellis
Kirkland & Ellis is a premier global law firm that delivers exceptional legal advice and unmatched client service. Kirkland has approximately 4,000 lawyers in 22 cities across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Kirkland is a market-leader in each of its core practice areas, including complex corporate transactions; investment fund formation and alternative asset management; restructurings; high-stakes litigation; and government and internal investigations. Specifically within the music industry, Kirkland teams have represented operating companies, investors, and major artists in matters including M&A, joint ventures, catalogue sales/acquisitions, fund formation, capital and debt raises (including music royalty securitizations), liquidity solutions, restructurings, and major litigation including the CRB proceedings. Kirkland partners Seth Traxler, Peter Martelli, Rory Wellever, Shellie Freedman, Marty Voelker, and Kelly Mellecker and colleague Mike James look forward to attending the MIC this year.
jonathan klein
Partner, DLA Piper
Jonathan Klein concentrates his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance, securities matters and restructuring for both domestic and international clients.
Jonathan has represented public and private companies in negotiated domestic and cross border acquisitions and dispositions (including mergers, stock transactions, asset deals and divestitures), as well as bidders in contested transactions. Jonathan's private equity experience includes domestic and international leveraged transactions for both financial and strategic parties. His corporate finance experience includes public and private offerings of equity and debt securities.
Jonathan represents clients in matters involving the purchase and sale of and entertainment assets, including music rights.
Jonathan has represented US and foreign clients in connection with cross-border acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, private financings, loan restructurings and workouts and general corporate matters.
Jonathan has served as chair of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group.
karin lang
General Counsel, Chapter Two
As General Counsel at Chapter Two, Karin brings over a decade of experience in complex international transactions at top-tier international law firms. She has held in-house counsel roles in high-growth technology scale-ups, and now leads the legal strategy to deliver secure, investor-ready music rights catalogs through Chapter Two’s platform.
robert law
Partner, Shot Tower Capital
Robert Law is a Partner of Shot Tower Capital. Mr. Law devotes the majority of his efforts to assisting and advising clients within the media, entertainment and consumer sectors focusing on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity capital raises and structuring, leveraged buyouts and restructuring transactions.
Having worked on more than 45 completed transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $12 billion, Mr. Law has advised clients, including financial sponsors, on both buy side and sell side M&A transactions as well equity and debt capital raising activities.
Mr. Law’s notable engagements have included: financial advisor to Michael Jackson & The Estate of Michael Jackson in connection with ownership stakes in various assets, including The Beatles Catalog, Mijac Music, and EMI; the acquisitions of Famous Music and EMI Music Publishing by Sony/ATV Music Publishing; the sale of majority interest in Mavin Records to UMG; the sales of Imagem BV, Fania Records, Hitco, and Mojo Music to Concord Music; the purchase of the music publishing and recorded music catalogs of Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford including Genesis, Phil Collins and Mike+Mechanics by Concord Music; the sale of the James Brown catalog by the Estate of James Brown to Primary Wave; the sale of Big Deal Music and the Al Jackson Jr. catalog to Hipgnosis, the catalog sale and JV partnership of Pulse Music Group; the restructuring of mattress retailer, Select Comfort; the sale of the Crosstown Song to BMG Rights Management, a joint venture partnership between Bertelsmann AG and KKR; the sale of a Sea Island Corporation’s majority equity stake in Luxury Apparel designer, Peter Millar, to Winona Capital; the sale of Midwest Wireless to Alltel; and the sale of certain music publishing assets by Sony and Mubadala Development Company, among others.
Mr. Law graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce. Mr. Law is a General Securities Registered Representative with FINRA (Series 7, 24, 63, and 79).
Mr. Law serves on the investment committee of the Calvert School Alumni Board.
Lisa licht
CMO Advisor, Influence Media Partners
Lisa Licht is a CMO Advisor at Influence Media Partners. She is an expert in brand optimization, and works with clients on branding and marketing, digital marketing, strategic planning and brand partnerships. Lisa has over 30 years of branding and marketing experience, particularly in marketing strategy, consumer products, customer insight, partnerships and business development. She has a strong history of transforming businesses, creative innovation, and driving people culture.
Lisa brings a deep knowledge of branding, experiential marketing, digital strategy, content marketing, research, partnerships, growth and business planning, business development, early-stage funding strategy, organizational structure, recruiting, and executive coaching to the day-to-day business.
Lisa has worked as the CMO of Live Nation Concerts, Executive VP of the Global Partnerships team for 20th Century Fox Film, Senior VP of Platforms and Partnerships for Yahoo, and the COO of Hasbro Studios. She has served on the boards of various industry leaders and as a consultant to several non-profits.
josh love
Partner, Reed Smith
Josh is a partner in Reed Smith’s Entertainment & Media Industry Group.
He has deep experience representing buyers and sellers of recorded music and music publishing assets, having closed over $3 billion in catalog transactions for artists, songwriters, institutional investors, and both major and independent music companies. He is widely recognized for his expertise in copyright law and his nuanced understanding of the complex music rights and royalty ecosystem.
In addition to his work in music M&A, Josh advises emerging and superstar-level talent, music companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and brands on a broad range of music and entertainment transactions. His practice spans recording and distribution deals, publishing agreements, joint ventures, live touring, sponsorships and endorsements, management, synchronization and master use licenses, PRO licensing and other music rights clearance matters. Josh also regularly counsels clients on U.S. and international rights issues related to digital content distribution and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), NFTs, and Web3 platforms.
tim mandelbaum
Partner, Fox Rothschild
Tim Mandelbaum is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. He provides legal, career and business guidance to a wide variety of talent and corporate clients in music, film, television, new media, literature and sports. Utilizing his 30-plus years of experience, Tim often serves as “general counsel” for his clients, providing oversight of all their legal needs and is recognized as a pro-active deal broker. Tim is very active in the music catalog acquisition space, on behalf of both buyers and sellers. Tim previously served as Head of Business and Legal Affairs for EMI Records.
jon mandle
Co-Managing Partner, Corrum Capital Management
Jonathan Mandle is Co-Managing Partner of Corrum Capital Management LLC and is a voting member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Jonathan leads the firm’s sports, music, and entertainment strategy. Prior to founding Corrum Capital, Jonathan was a Managing Director and the Head of Credit and Absolute Return at an affiliate of Bank of America, where he worked with the Corrum Capital team. Previously, he was a Director at the University of California, Office of the Treasurer of the Regents, where he built and managed a multibillion dollar absolute return, credit and opportunistic portfolio. Jonathan began his career as a Research Associate focused on domestic and international equity, credit and fixed income investments at Fidelity Investments.
Jonathan is currently a member of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Peace First and was formerly an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco.
Jonathan received a BS and an MBA from Boston College and is a CFA Charterholder.
fletcher marks
Head of Music Advisory, Citi
Fletcher is a Director in Citi’s Global Media & Entertainment Investment Banking Group based in New York, where he leads Citi’s Music & Live Entertainment Investment Banking team. Prior to Citi, Fletcher was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps and spent six years on active duty. He received his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BSc in Finance & Economics from Lehigh University.
barry Massarsky
Partner, Citrin Cooperman
Barry Massarsky is a partner and co-leader of Citrin Cooperman’s Music and Entertainment Valuation Services Practice. He has over 30 years of experience acting as a leading advisor in the music industry serving the valuation interests of music publishing and recording label firms. His music valuation clientele is the most vast in industry. He provides strategic counsel to owners of music copyrights, as well as valuation, litigation economics, and performance income review. Barry is known for his high value relationships with performance rights organizations, music publishers, record companies, music industry trade organizations, and music litigation firms.
Barry has pioneered the field of music copyright economics serving revenue-related interests within the U.S. music industry, facilitating strategic opportunities for advancing royalty income, and inspiring new license regimes.. Barry has worked with the premiere commercial lenders, private equity, and other financial investors who are acquiring music asset rights. Previously, Barry was the founder of Massarsky Consulting, a leading copyright economics consultancy, which joined Citrin Cooperman in 2022. Prior to founding Massarsky Consulting, Barry was a Senior Economist at American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Barry earned his BA from Boston University and MBA from Cornell University.
beth matthews
CEO, ASCAP
Elizabeth Matthews is Chief Executive Officer of ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP), a membership association of more than 980,000 US composers, songwriters, lyricists and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP licenses the public performance of its members' music, collects license fees, tracks performances and distributes to its members royalties based on their performances. Matthews has led ASCAP to record-breaking revenues and distributions for the past nine years. In 2023, ASCAP delivered $1.737 billion in revenue and $1.592 billion in distributions, up 14% and 10%, respectively, over the previous year. It was the seventh year that ASCAP distributions exceeded $1 billion. Since her tenure as CEO in 2015, ASCAP has generated a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for total revenues, and an 8% CAGR for total royalty distributions to members. ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization that operates on a not-for-profit basis and delivers nearly 90 cents on every dollar collected back to its members as royalties with a 10% operating ratio.
Beth has been instrumental in leading ASCAP’s advocacy efforts to modernize music licensing. She has spearheaded a transformative six-year strategic plan to meet the future needs of ASCAP’s members and licensing partners, and has closed major deals with key licensees, including top streaming, broadcast, audio and audio-visual licensees that are yielding higher royalties for ASCAP songwriters, composers and music publishers.
Under Beth’s leadership, ASCAP has launched pioneering transparency initiatives and technology innovations and has annually processed trillions of performances of the more than 19 million works in the ASCAP repertory. Beth has become an industry leader on Artificial Intelligence (AI), with ASCAP as the only PRO to formally adopt principles that will protect songwriters and guide the organization’s decisions on the technology. Other AI-related initiatives she has implemented include creator education sessions, start-up incubation and policy advocacy on Capitol Hill.
She has earned a spot on Billboard’s Power 100 list eight times since 2016 and has been named as one of Billboard’s Most Powerful Executives in its Women in Music issue. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) as well as on the Board of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, among other Board seats.
Beth joined ASCAP in 2013 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, overseeing the ASCAP Business & Legal Affairs department. In that role, she oversaw business affairs, litigation, strategic alliances, and legislative and copyright policy matters. Previously, she worked at Viacom Media Networks (formerly MTV Networks), where she held the position of Executive Vice President & Deputy General Counsel. She managed and oversaw the VMN Business and Legal Affairs teams covering Advertising, Content Distribution and Marketing, New Business Development, Global Digital and New Media and the VMN Mergers and Acquisitions Pipeline, Research and various Ancillary Businesses. Beth was also responsible for drafting, structuring, reviewing and negotiation of strategic and complex commercial transactions across Viacom Media Networks’ programming services, including MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Spike and Nickelodeon, among others. Prior to Viacom Media Networks, Matthews worked in the Intellectual Property and Corporate Groups for Chadbourne & Parke and the Business Technology Group for Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. Beth received her B.A. from Purdue University and her J.D. from Emory School of Law.
dan mccarroll
Co-Founder & CCO, Litmus Music
McCarroll is the Co-Founder & CCO of Litmus Music, a music rights management business he and Hank Forsyth co-founded in 2022. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Litmus was launched in partnership with Carlyle’s (NASDAQ: CG) Global Credit platform. He has been in the music business for over 30 years, holding executive roles such as President of Capital Records, President of Warner Records, EVP at EMI Music Publishing, and Global Head of Originals and Artist Relations at Amazon Music. McCarroll began his career as a musician, playing drums professionally starting at age 18. He toured the world and recorded in studios with a wide variety of artists. He lives in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife, Jane, and their dog, Birdie.
michael mccarty
CEO, Kilometre Music Gruop
• 25+ years with EMI Music Publishing – 6 in L.A., 17 as Canadian President
• President of OTTP’s music royalty investment Ole/Anthem – 4 years
• SOCAN Chief Membership Officer – 7 years
• Inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall-of-Fame
• Billboard Magazine’s 2024 Canadian Power Player (Publishing)
lylette pizarro-mclean
Founder & Co-Managing Partner, Influence Media Partners
Lylette Pizarro McLean founded Influence Media in 2018. She secured bridge financing from Morgan Stanley to partner with and acquire the works of some of today’s leading songwriters, including Jeff Bhasker, Shane McAnally, and Ben Rector. In 2019, she successfully exited the bridge, delivering expected returns to investors. Pizarro McLean has since secured hundreds of millions in new funding and inked major partnerships with Warner Music Group and BlackRock.
Prior to founding Influence, Pizarro was a Partner at RPM GRP, leading music and entertainment strategy, music licensing, content and talent acquisition, and rights management for Fortune 50 companies like Apple, Verizon, and LVMH. Working with these companies’ top executives, Pizarro McLean brokered multi-faceted talent partnerships with Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Kevin Hart, DJ Khaled, the Michael Jackson Estate, and David Bowie.
Pizarro McLean began her career in artist management and film marketing. Her work has garnered awards from organizations like the NAACP, AdColor, and Clios, and she was recognized in Variety’s 2022 New York Women’s Impact report as well as Billboard’s 2022, 2023 and 2024 Women In Music features.
rene mclean
Founding Advisor and Partner, Influence Media Partners
Rene McLean is an established music industry executive and innovator with over 25 years of experience. In 2018, he founded SLANG to build his vision of a creative, cross-functional music company. He developed and managed artists while also advising Influence Media Partners at its genesis to acquire music IP at scale, partnering with artists and creators with a keen focus on hip-hop and R&B. He went on to help lead the acquisition of Influence’s charter catalog, Jeff Bhasker. McLean successfully sold SLANG in 2021 and joined Influence Media Partners as a Founding Advisor, Investor & Partner. At Influence, he continues his dedication to supporting Black and Latin artists and creators, partnering with them to invest in and protect their legacies and works—earning him recognition as one of Billboard’s 2022 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players.
Prior to that, Rene founded RPM GRP, establishing himself as an independent visionary by creating the acclaimed live event platform: The MixshowPower Summit while advising leading brands on music strategy. He revolutionized the marketing strategies of the music industry and played an instrumental role in the development of some of pop music’s most vital and trendsetting artists such as Eminem, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, and Missy Elliott, among many others. Before tapping into his entrepreneurial spirit, he held various key executive roles at major labels including Interscope, Elecktra, RCA, and Virgin Records.
McLean is also dedicated to philanthropy, often tapping into his deep entertainment and brand relationships to support and amplify important causes and organizations like Civic Nation, Global Citizen, Red Hot, and Rap Roast.
john menneci
Managing Director, Gelfand, Rennert, & Feldman
John Menneci joined Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman (“GR&F”) in 2001 and co-heads GR&F’s Royalty Group that provides several different royalty related service offerings (music examination, merchandising examination, film/tv examination, valuations, catalog sale consulting, label administration, publishing administration, royalty services and royalty data intelligence). John is based in NY and jointly oversees a staff of over 60 royalty professionals spread across GR&F’s NY, LA and Nashville offices, and satellite locations.
John has been specializing in royalty accounting for over 25 years. He started his career working in the royalty department for EMI Music and then transitioned to performing royalty examinations for different types of intellectual property rights holders such as recording artists, songwriters, music publishers and merchandise licensors. John’s experience in conducting royalty compliance audits is vast as he has represented many of the most successful recording artists and songwriters of all time, as well as some of the largest merchandise licensors throughout the world.
Over the last several years, John has focused his attention overseeing valuation and financial due diligence engagements on behalf of both buyers and sellers of musical assets. His understanding of the complexities and nuances of royalty steams of income, financial modelling techniques, royalty systems and industry trends allow him to provide his clients with deep insight into important considerations related to these transactions.
John received his BS in Management/Finance from S.U.N.Y. Binghamton and his MS in Accountancy from C.U.N.Y. Baruch College. Over the last few years, John has been recognized by being listed on Billboard and Variety’s top Business Manager lists. John also participates in events with a number of industry trade groups, including the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Licensing International, and Trusted Advisor.
Larry Mestel
Founder & CEO, Primary Wave Music
Lawrence Mestel, Founder & CEO of Primary Wave Music, has been working in the music and entertainment industry for over 30 years. In 2006, Mestel took his extensive experience working at multiple record labels and founded Primary Wave Music, a pioneer in acquiring legendary music catalogs and the largest independent music publishing company in the world. Primary Wave has controlled over 100,000 songs from the catalogs of legendary artists such as Bob Marley, Prince, Stevie Nicks, James Brown, Axl Rose (Guns N’ Roses), The Notorious B.I.G., Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, The Doors, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Burt Bacharach, Bing Crosby, Luther Vandross, Andre 3000, Sun Records, and many more. The songs represented by Primary Wave include over 1000 Top 10 singles, and over 400 #1 hits. Originally founded on music publishing, Mestel has strategically and successfully built the company into a full-service music and entertainment powerhouse offering in-house marketing, branding, digital marketing, publicity, sync & licensing, TV & Film development, and estate management.
Mestel was one of the producers behind the critically acclaimed Kurt Cobain documentary film, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and he was part of the team who produced the Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody distributed by Sony Pictures. Mestel and Primary Wave are also producers for the Allee Willis documentary, The World According to Allee Willis, and the Luther Vandross documentary, Luther: Never Too Much, and is producing the Bob Marley immersive experience at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
In 2019 Goldman Sachs honored Larry Mestel as one of the “100 most intriguing entrepreneurs” at the annual Goldman Sachs Builders & Inventors summit. From 2020 through 2023, Mestel landed on Billboard Magazine’s “Power List” being recognized for his leadership in the music industry. In 2024, Mestel was once again featured on the Billboard Power 100, making the magazine’s “Leaderboard” which recognized the top 40 leaders across the music industry. He returned to the “Leaderboard” and Power List once again in 2025. He has also appeared on the Variety 500 three times and has been featured in top press outlets such as New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, New York Post, Forbes, Billboard Magazine, and HITS Magazine.
Guy Moot
Co-Chair & CEO, Warner Chappell Music
Guy Moot serves as Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the publishing arm of Warner Music Group. Alongside the company’s Co-Chair and COO, Carianne Marshall, Guy has built a global organization where curiosity, collaboration, and commitment drive a forward-thinking culture focused on super-serving its roster of top talent.
Since joining WCM in 2019, the company has signed and retained both established and emerging artists, songwriters, and producers, such as Dua Lipa, ROSÉ, Aya Nakamura, Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, Zach Bryan, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Morgan Wallen, Maria Becerra, Coco Jones, Amy Allen, Anderson .Paak, Lizzo, Stormzy, Celeste, Stromae, and RAYE, and as well as some of music’s most iconic legends and their catalogs, including David Bowie, Quincy Jones, Tom Petty, George Michael, and Madonna, among many others.
During Guy’s distinguished career of 30+ years, he’s held senior roles at some of the world’s largest publishing companies, signing many of music’s most influential songwriters such as Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Mark Ronson, and Salaam Remi. Prior to WCM, Guy was President of Worldwide Creative at Sony Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing. In 2005, he became EMI’s UK MD and President of European Creative and played a key role in ensuring that EMI was named Music Week Publisher of the Year for 14 years running. While at the helm of EMI, Guy signed top songwriters, such as Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys, Jamiroquai, Deadmau5, Sia, Paul Epworth, Sean Paul, Calvin Harris, Anne-Marie, and Jorja Smith, and in 2012, he helped to lead the Sony and EMI merger in Europe. When Sony fully acquired EMI in 2018, Guy continued in his role as President of Worldwide Creative, where he oversaw the signings of chart-toppers such as Ed Sheeran, Drake, Charli XCX, Sam Smith, Arcade Fire, and StarGate.
As one of the highest-ranked executives in the music industry, Guy was featured in Billboard’s “Power 100” list in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. He also made the Variety500 list in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
brett moskowitz
Co-head of Entertainment Finance, Moore & Van Allen
Brett represents the industry’s most notable agent banks in syndicated financings, he has considerable experience advising other financial institutions and investors in entertainment finance matters, including music catalog finance, record label finance, music fund finance, and television, motion picture, and sports finance.
As a complement to his entertainment practice, Brett also guides clients across a range of other industries in both domestic and cross-border financing transactions. His experience includes syndicated and bilateral credit facilities, asset-based loans, secured and unsecured lending transactions, acquisition financings, investment grade financings, institutional term loans, and cash flow facilities.
*Moskowitz is currently admitted to practice law in Georgia.
Notable
Shortlisted for Southeastern Legal Awards, Most Effective Dealmakers, 2025
Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation, 2024
rodney murphy
President, Kilometre Music Group
• 17-year veteran of SOCAN, 5 as VP A&R
• Worked with leading global artists The Weeknd, Drake, Leonard Cohen etc.
• Co-lead of SOCAN’s highly successful repatriation program
• Expert in maximizing music royalties
• Billboard Magazine’s 2024 Canadian Power Player (Publishing)
dan pounder
CFO, Recognition Music Group
Dan Pounder is CFO of Recognition Music Group, a leading music rights investment and management company.
He leads on all aspects of finance, investment, strategy, data and technology. His focus on data-driven insights and analytic reporting helps drive smart, strategic decision-making across the company, to enhance the value and legacy of its iconic catalogue of 45,000 songs and recordings.
Appointed in September 2023, Dan has over 20 years of expertise in accountancy and music finance including senior leadership roles at BMG, Viacom, Famous Music, and over a decade at Sony Music Publishing.
He trained as an accountant with Deloitte, became a Chartered Accountant in 2003 and was admitted as a Fellow in 2013.
Michael Poster
Partner, Michelman & Robinson
Michael Poster is Music Acquisitions & Financing Chair and Partner-in-Charge of Michelman & Robinson LLP’s New York Office, where he specializes in music catalog acquisitions, corporate M&A, debt and equity financing transactions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and other deals where the music industry and corporate dealmaking converge.
As a transactional attorney with over 25 years’ experience, Michael has successfully structured, negotiated, and closed a broad range of corporate deals with an emphasis on the music industry. Michael’s music catalog experience spans the length of his career, and includes buy-side and sell-side catalog transactions across nearly every deal size, rights type, and genre in the marketplace, and involves clients including major and independent labels, private-equity backed buyers, top industry executives, hit-making songwriters, and key sources of debt and equity financing. He has been named in Billboard’s annual list of Top Music Lawyers each year from 2018 through 2025 and has been included among its listing of top legal dealmakers in music catalog transactions. Michael was also recognized as a “Power Lawyer in Music” by The Hollywood Reporter, listed in Lawdragon’s Top 500 Global Entertainment, Sports and Media Lawyers, included in Variety’s “Legal Impact Report,” and recognized by his peers in both “Best Lawyers” and “Super Lawyers.”
Michael is proud to have served as chairman of the Mondo.NYC annual CLE event, and has previously been chair of other NY-based entertainment and media law programs for more than 10 years. In addition, he has spoken and published articles on copyright, corporate finance, entertainment, artificial intelligence, and licensing issues and is frequently quoted on music and copyright law issues in Billboard, the Wall Street Journal, Axios, Law360, Forbes, Bloomberg, World IP Review, and other publications.
joe Puthenveetil
Partner, The Raine Group
Joe is a Partner and member of the founding team at Raine. Joe joined the firm in 2010 and has worked on principal and advisory transactions across the media, entertainment and technology sectors, helping lead Raine’s global music and live entertainment efforts and broader EMEA strategy. While at Raine, Joe has worked on a variety of transactions across music including the sale of Chord Music Partners to Dundee Partners and UMG, raising capital for Create Music Group, the sale of Quality Control to HYBE, raising capital for for music company gamma, the sale of the Downtown Music’s publishing catalogue to Concord, the sale of Alamo Records to Sony, and the sale of vertical SaaS company FUGA to Downtown Music. Other transactions across TMT have included the sale of Tonic Games to Epic, the equity capital raise for children’s entertainment company Moonbug, and various SoftBank transactions (including the acquisition of Sprint and Clearwire, investment in Ola, and sale of Drama Fever).
Joe has also helped lead a number of Raine’s investments, including Firebird Music, Soundcloud, and C3 Presents (sold to Live Nation). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Firebird and Soundcloud.
Joe has a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
kevin rea
Co-Founder & Senior Managing Partner, Virtu
Kevin Rea is a co-founder and Senior Managing Partner at Virtu Global Advisors with nearly 20 years of experience in Media & Entertainment. Kevin has engaged in an array of projects spanning various sub-sectors within the industry, including film and television production & distribution, music, video games, sports, and literary rights. His expertise has been instrumental in various transaction and financial advisory capacities, encompassing fairness and solvency opinions, buy-/sell-side advisory, tangible/intangible asset valuations, litigation support, restructuring support, business plan development, and strategic planning. Kevin collaborates closely with operators, lenders, and investors in the Media & Entertainment sector, helping them to design strategies, conduct due diligence, execute transactions, and understand value amidst ever-changing capital markets and industry dynamics.
After graduating from college and departing his home state of Texas to explore opportunities beyond the oil & gas industry, Kevin commenced his career in the Manufacturing audit practice at Deloitte’s Los Angeles office in 2003. A year after receiving his CPA license, Kevin embarked on a new journey with The Salter Group in 2007, delving deep into the financial side of Media & Entertainment. During his tenure at The Salter Group, Kevin oversaw and managed numerous Media & Entertainment financial and strategic advisory engagements. His journey down this path continued when he joined FTI Consulting in 2012 following their acquisition of The Salter Group where Kevin served as a Senior Managing Director and co-leader of the global Valuation and Financial Advisory Services practice until co-founding Virtu Global Advisors in 2023.
Kevin holds a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and accounting, as well as an M.S. in Accounting from Trinity University. He is a certified public accountant (inactive).
Outside of his professional endeavors, Kevin relishes spending time with his wife and three daughters, engaging in physical activities, and eagerly seeking opportunities to play Friday rounds of golf.
leo reilly
Managing Director, Lazard
Leo Reilly is a New York-based Managing Director in Lazard’s Media, Entertainment & Sports group. Leo’s clients are IP-driven entertainment companies (music, television, and film), as well as companies servicing the ecosystems of those entertainment verticals.
Leo has 15 years of M&A experience and has completed numerous high profile public and private transactions.
Prior to joining Lazard in 2016, Leo worked at Moelis & Company's Los Angeles office. Leo received a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Michael Reinert
Partner, Fox Rothschild
Michael Reinert is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. He is a seasoned entertainment executive that has worked with many platinum-selling artists and served as legal counsel to some of the world’s largest and most legendary recording companies. His clients benefit from his in-depth experience in drafting and negotiating contracts and his deep knowledge of the entertainment business. Michael previously served as Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for the Universal Motown Republic Group and Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for PolyGram Records.
brian richards
Artisan
Artisan is a leader in investment banking or the global music industry, with over 100 music transactions completed to date.
As a trusted advisor to some of the most influential participants in music investment, we typically work with larger-scale record labels, music publishers, artists, writers, and music aggregators across their transaction mandates.
We provide highly specialized transaction services to the industry and its growing network of investors, with a robust sell-side practice as well as one of the only dedicated practices for established and emerging music companies seeking to raise capital, both debt and equity.
With over 20 years of experience in the sector, we are deeply connected, and maintain relationships with dozens of buyers, as well as hundreds of asset managers, senior lenders, family offices, and private equity firms actively investing in the industry.
Artisan is led by Brian Richards, who was previously a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of MESA, a premier investment bank in the media and entertainment industries which was acquired by Houlihan Lokey.
brian roberts
EVP, COO & CFO, ASCAP
Brian Roberts is Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer (COO & CFO) of ASCAP. He joined the ASCAP team in 2015 and oversees the ASCAP Administration and Operations departments. His responsibilities include direct management of Member Distributions, Finance and Accounting, FP&A, Financial Reporting, Tax and Treasury, and Real Estate. For public performance rights in musical compositions, ASCAP delivered $1.835 billion in revenue in the 2024 calendar year, an increase of $98 million, or 5.7% over 2023 with $1.696 billion available for royalty distributions, up by $104 million, or 6.5%. ASCAP is the most efficient U.S. performing rights organization with a 10% operating ratio that delivers 90 cents on every dollar collected back to its members as royalties. Previously, he worked at Warner Music Group (“WMG”), where he held the position of Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his time at WMG Brian held senior financial positions in the music publishing industry at EMI Music Publishing, Zomba Music Publishing and BMG Music Publishing. Brian received his B.S. from Manhattan College and is a Certified Public Accountant.
leron rogers
Partner, Fox Rothschild
Leron Rogers is a partner at the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. He is a well-known and respected entertainment attorney who works with the full spectrum of industry professionals including actors, recording artists, producers, songwriters, record labels, publishing and management companies, music industry trade organizations, athletes, professional and collegiate sports organizations, film and television companies as well as new media companies. Leron serves as Chairman of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association and is also Co-Chair of the Music Industry Relations Collective for the National Museum of African American Music.
jon Rotolo
Co-Founder, Great Mountain Partners
Jon Rotolo is a Founder of Great Mountain Partners. Prior to this, he was the head of the Private Equity and Real Asset group at Barings, a $300+ Billion institutional asset manager, and chaired the group’s Investment Committee. Before joining Barings, Jon was a co-founder of Wood Creek Capital Management where he served in various roles spanning a decade including CEO & Chief Investment Officer, President, and Chief Operating Officer. Wood Creek was acquired by MassMutual in 2014 and merged into Barings in 2016. Mr. Rotolo serves on the Board of Managers of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research and is an officer of LSJ Charitable Corporation. Mr. Rotolo is a graduate of Hamilton College, Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. He is also a CFA Charterholder.
patrick russo
Partner, Shamrock Capital Advisors
Patrick is a Partner and member of the Executive Committee of Shamrock Capital. He has extensive media, entertainment, and communications experience with specific expertise in entertainment content. Patrick previously served as a director of Consilio, a prior portfolio company of a Shamrock Growth Fund. Before joining Shamrock in 2014, Mr. Russo was a Senior Managing Director with FTI Consulting where he co-managed the firm’s Valuation and Financial Advisory Services Group. He was also a co-founder of The Salter Group (acquired by FTI in 2012), a leading global independent financial and strategic advisory firm that specialized in the entertainment and media industry. Mr. Russo is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Happy Hippie Foundation.
Mr. Russo graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his MBA from the Fordham University Graduate School of Business.
frank scibilia
Partner, Pryor Cashman
Partner Frank Scibilia co-chairs Pryor Cashman’s Copyright and Music practices and is a member of the Litigation and Intellectual Property Groups.
A highly accomplished intellectual property and entertainment lawyer and litigator, Frank has for nearly 30 years handled complex copyright and related issues—especially those concerning the exploitation of music on emerging digital platforms—for clients including major and independent music publishers and record labels, music industry trade organizations, licensing collectives, content aggregators, and individual songwriters and recording artists.
Frank’s work has had a direct financial impact on his music industry clients, their songwriters and recording artists, and the industry as a whole. Prospective buyers and sellers of catalogs of music assets turn to Frank for his skillful and thorough copyright due diligence of these assets, which provides invaluable assistance in determining the overall value of the music assets. His deep knowledge of copyright law as it applies to the music industry—including the intricacies of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Music Modernization Act, and the statutory licenses in Sections 114 and 115 and termination provisions in Sections 203 and 304 of the U.S. Copyright Act—helps his clients anticipate legal issues and trends, navigate obstacles, and achieve success in litigation and business transactions.
Frank has repeatedly been named one of a handful of leading copyright lawyers in the country by The Legal 500, a “Top Music Lawyer” by Billboard Magazine, a music “Trailblazer” by New York Law Journal, and a top attorney in copyright by Best Lawyers in America. He has been recognized repeatedly in Variety’s Legal Impact Report and named to the Super Lawyers list for intellectual property litigation over 16 years running. Frank also co-authored the New York State Bar Association’s nationally distributed treatise, Entertainment Law, and is a frequent speaker at the Copyright Society of the USA.
ben semel
Partner, Pryor Cashman
Partner Ben Semel is co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s Music Group and Media and Entertainment Litigation Practice and chair of the firm’s AI Interdisciplinary Group. Ben’s representations include some of the most impactful matters in the music space, including industrywide matters involving billions in royalties. Ben’s practice is pivotal in the now-dominant music streaming sector where he is sought after for strategic advice and planning across transactional, regulatory and litigation activities. Among his matters, he has been lead counsel for the copyright owners in Copyright Royalty Board proceedings covering a decade of nationwide streaming mechanical royalties.
Ben’s music practice is built on a long history of impactful cases for record companies, music publishers, artists, songwriters, and other players in the industry. In the music streaming space, Ben handled historic early digital piracy cases, including those leading to the shutdown of Limewire and Grooveshark, and has continued to grow a trailblazing practice handling major streaming licensing and infringement matters on behalf of copyright owners. Ben has also been an early leader in helping clients craft policy and strategy around artificial intelligence/machine learning.
Ben’s experience and results have made him a demanded legal advisor for clients seeking to navigate complex legal issues. His reputation has been recognized with top industry awards, including repeated selection in Billboard’s Top Music Lawyers and Variety’s Legal Impact Report, recognizing top attorneys, as well as the New York Law Journal’s Trailblazers Award, celebrating “true agents of change” who have made a significant impact in their area of practice.
Stephen Sessa
Co-Chair, Reed Smith
Steve is co-chair of the Entertainment and Media Industry Group at Reed Smith. While Steve has a full-service music practice, he is considered one of the leading authorities in the music business on catalog acquisitions and copyright law.
Steve advises major and independent music publishing and record companies and private equity backed financial buyers in the purchase of copyrights, music-related assets, and revenue streams. As Concord Music’s outside counsel since 2005 (along with its affiliates and predecessors), Steve has led all of Concord’s major acquisitions, including, Phil Collins and Genesis, Round Hill, Downtown Music, Imagem, and Pulse, amongst hundreds of other transactions for Concord. In addition to Concord, Steve has represented many other significant buyers in the space, including, but not limited to, Lyric Financial, Kobalt, Iconic Artist Group (Irving Azoff), Shamrock Capital Advisors, Seeker, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Pophouse, Recognition, Catch Point, HarbourView Equity, Litmus, Opus, Flexpoint Ford, and all three major music publishers. Not limited to the buy-side, Steve has represented legendary songwriters in some of the biggest catalog sales in the last few years, including, representing Stargate, Will Jennings, The Estate of Thelonious Monk, Ali Tamposi, and Phil Lawrence in the sale of their evergreen musical compositions. Whether it’s been selling the Taylor Swift catalog or buying The Beach Boys rights, clients have sought out Steve for his knowledge of copyright law and the music business, his practical problem-solving approach to navigating issues, and his unparalleled experience in both size and volume of deals closed in the billions.
In addition to maintaining the world’s leading catalog practice, Steve has been a top talent lawyer for 30 years representing superstar artists such as Bon Jovi, Beyoncé, The Smashing Pumpkins, Cardi B, Kesha, Lil Uzi Vert, Korn, Megadeth, Morrissey, Muse and Blackpink. Steve also represents some of the most prolific songwriters in the world, including, Stargate, Linda Perry, Glen Ballard, Will Jennings, Delacey and Priscilla Renea Hamilton pka Muni Long.
The variety of experience Steve has had on both the artist side and the company side of the business has made him a go-to source for technology companies, digital platforms, brands and other entertainment companies who want to align themselves with artists and talent, to wit, the NFL has retained Steve for years to negotiate and complete all the talent agreements for all the artist performances at the Super Bowl.
sachin shah
CEO, Brookfield Wealth Solutions
Sachin Shah is Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Wealth Solutions, a leading provider of retirement services, and member of the Executive Committee at Brookfield, a leading global investment firm focused on building long-term wealth for institutions and individuals.
As CEO, Mr. Shah is responsible for overall leadership of the wealth business, which has $140 billion total assets and more than 5,000 employees around the world. He sets the strategic direction of the business, overseeing its investment strategy, growth into new business lines and expansion into new markets.
Mr. Shah joined Brookfield in 2002 and has held a variety of investment and management roles, including Chief Investment Officer at Brookfield Asset Management and Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Renewable Partners where he was instrumental in growing the platform into a global business diversified across multiple technologies.
brad sharp
Senior Managing Partner, Virtu Global Advisors
Brad Sharp is a co-founder and Senior Managing Partner at Virtu Global Advisors. Brad has over 20 years of experience in Media and Entertainment having overseen a broad range of engagements, covering all Media and Entertainment sub-sectors: film and television content production & distribution, music, video games, sports, podcasting and publishing. Brad works closely with management teams, commercial lenders, private equity funds and private capital, sovereign wealth funds and family offices looking to invest into the Media & Entertainment industry, helping them to shape their strategy, diligence and execute transactions, and understand the value of intellectual property in a constantly evolving industry.
Brad started his career in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications audit practice at Deloitte. After receiving his CPA license, he left Deloitte to transition to a career in finance and started with The Salter Group in 2005. At The Salter Group, Brad discovered his passion for the Media & Entertainment industry, working with his colleagues to execute challenging assignments at the cross section of finance, data analytics and entertainment. In 2012, Brad joined FTI Consulting with their acquisition of The Salter Group and worked closely with his team to broaden the services, industry and geographical focus of the practice. Brad was a Senior Managing Director and co-leader of the global Valuation and Financial Advisory Services practice at FTI until the formation of Virtu Global Advisors in 2023.
Brad received a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a minor in Accounting and Computer Science. Brad is a former CPA and is a CFA charter holder.
richard sheehan
Senior Vice President, Flagstar Bank
Mr. Sheehan joined Flagstar Bank in 2016 and has over 30 years’ experience in the banking industry. He is currently a Senior Relationship Manager specializing in the entertainment and media sector, with a focus on the music industry where he has a strong interest and deep knowledge.
robert sherman
Partner, DLA Piper
Robert J. Sherman is the Co-Chair of the Entertainment Finance Practice at DLA Piper and a prominent music, media and entertainment finance attorney. Rob's practice focuses on complex domestic and cross-border financings, securitizations, acquisitions and strategic transactions for clients in the global music and media industries. His clients include some of the most active music rights acquirors in the marketplace (including Concord and HarbourView), as well as banks and other debt and equity financiers active in the music rights arena. Rob and his team are among the most experienced specialists in the burgeoning music rights securitization sector.
Rob has represented a marquee list of clients in closing some of the most notable deals completed in the last years, including Concord, HarbourView Equity Partners, Multimedia Music, Bella Figura Music, Catch Point, Duetti Inc. and many other participants in multiple 9- and 10-figure music rights financings and related M&A transactions.
Rob has generated significant press regarding his leading of the DLA Piper team responsible for bringing multiple music rights securitizations by Concord (most recently the $850 million music rights securitization in October 2024), HarbourView and others to market. He has also garnered recognition in the press and honors from Billboard (which recently named him again as one of the top music industry lawyers), Variety and the Hollywood Reporter for his representations of Concord, HarbourView Equity Partners, Litmus Music, Multimedia Music, Ignite Music, Mom + Pop Music, beatBread, City National Bank, Viola Credit Fund and Aquarian Holdings.
aaron siegel
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Aaron Siegel leads the Entertainment Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs and has been privileged to work with clients across the music sector for over two decades since joining Goldman Sachs in 2003. Aaron serves on the Board of Directors of the Arthur Miller Foundation, a nonprofit that provides access and equity to theater education in public schools. He also serves on the Board of Directors of SeaChange, a nonprofit providing grants, loans, analysis and advice to help nonprofits work through complex financial and organizational challenges. Aaron graduated from Harvard College.
mona simonian
Partner, Pryor Cashman
Mona Simonian is a partner in Pryor Cashman’s Litigation, Intellectual Property and Music Groups. Representing clients in trial and appellate courts, Mona focuses on intellectual property and contractual disputes for clients in the music and entertainment industries, including major music publishing and record companies, as well as individual artists and content creators on issues including copyright ownership, co-authorship, infringement, publishing and royalty disputes, licensing disputes, and disputes concerning emerging issues surrounding digital media and technology.
peter sinclair
Co-Founder & CEO, beatBread
Peter Sinclair is a seasoned entrepreneur, with deep expertise in launching and elevating digital-forward businesses in the financial, music and consumer product sectors. He has repeatedly taken companies and business units from pre-revenue to rapid scale, creating high-performing organizations that deliver operational and commercial success.
He co-founded beatBread in 2020 to empower artists and independent labels with flexible and fair funding while maintaining control over their career. Since launch, beatBread has helped almost 1,500 artists and independent labels with advances against streaming revenues from new and catalog tracks, giving them the financial freedom to build the team and partnerships that work best for them.
Peter Sinclair is an “accidental participant” in the music industry. Before entering the music industry, Peter built an extensive track record launching and growing digital-forward businesses in the finance, gifting and consumer product sectors. He has repeatedly taken companies and business units from pre-revenue to rapid scale.
Peter saw the urgent need for a new paradigm in artist and indie label funding in his five years at Universal Music Group. Peter also has experience serving customers neglected by “the mainstream industry”. Peter built and scaled the direct to consumer business at Green Dot, a company that increased access and reduced the cost of financial services for individuals who were ignored and overcharged by traditional banks.
Peter is married with two children, and is passionate about charities that serve children and adults with special needs. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
jon singer
Chairman, Spirit Music Group
Jon Singer is the Managing Partner of Lyric Capital Group and Chairman of Spirit Music Group. Lyric Capital Group is a market leader in the music royalty space and the owner of independent music publisher Spirit Music Group, well-known for its expansive catalog of iconic and contemporary hit songs.
As Chairman of one of the world’s leading independent music publishing companies, Spirit Music Group, Jon Singer oversees all global activities and champions some of the world’s best-known songwriters. Singer also served fifteen years on the recording side of the music business in senior positions at Island Records, Island Def Jam and Decca Label Group. Singer has extensive experience advocating on behalf of songwriters and copyright owners, pursuing fair compensation for music creators and ensuring that they are properly remunerated. He currently serves on the boards of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
In January 2019, Singer led a US$350 million recapitalization of Spirit Music Group, forming Lyric Capital Group along with Spirit executive Ross Cameron to take ownership of Spirit. In a time of extreme consolidation within the industry, the move preserved the company’s independence, ensuring that Spirit remained a songwriter-first music company well into the future while also providing capital for further song catalog acquisitions.
Expanding on the success of the Lyric Capital Group platform, in October 2021, in strategic alliance with Northleaf Capital Partners, a global private investment firm, Lyric Capital Group completed a US$500 million recapitalization of Spirit Music Group. The move brought Lyric private markets expertise and access to flexible capital ensuring the company was exceptionally well-positioned to support its growth strategies within the music royalty space.
In February 2023, Lyric Capital Group successfully closed its second fund, with total commitments of approximately $410 million, exceeding its target with support from a diverse group of new and existing institutional investors. In addition, the firm also raised senior debt financing to bring Lyric’s new deployable capital to over $800 million to develop outstanding catalogs of music, in partnership with artists and songwriters. Singer has successfully executed Spirit Music Group’s largest transactions, including a catalog acquisition of Pete Townshend/The Who; a multi-faceted deal with Nashville hitmaker Frank Rogers that included purchase of his interest in the Sea Gayle catalog; an acquisition of master recordings of music superstar Tim McGraw; an acquisition of Jason Aldean’s recorded music catalog, encompassing nine albums, 24 #1 songs, and 34 top 10 songs; a multi-faceted deal with Nashville hit-maker Jonathan Singleton; an acquisition of Gregg Wattenberg’s multi-platinum song catalog; an acquisition of Ingrid Michaelson’s publishing and master recordings; recent acquisition deals with Candice Nelson, Chingy, Eric Carmen, David “Hawk” Wolinski, Joseph Angel, Robopop, Jim Beavers, and the iconic country song “Tennessee Whiskey”; and a worldwide publishing deal with Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes, amongst others.
Singer got his start as a Senior Accountant in the firm of David Berdon & Company and received his B.S. from Rowan University where he serves on the Executive Advisory Counsel for the business school.
jason sklar
Partner, Shamrock Capital
Jason is a Partner and member of the Executive Committee of Shamrock Capital. Prior to joining Shamrock in 2015, Jason was an Executive Director with J.P. Morgan’s Entertainment Industries Group where he managed a portfolio of leading filmed entertainment, television, video game, music, and media distribution companies as well as provided strategic advisory services to global content companies. He also previously worked at Bank of America and Arthur Andersen LLP.
cameron smalls
Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Cameron Smalls is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Tactical Value where he manages special situations investments globally and leads the fund's $700mm joint venture with Kobalt Music Group. Prior to his current role, he was a Partner at Silver Rock Financial, a multi-billion dollar credit-focused asset manager and the former investment office of the Milken Family. In 2020, he co-founded Amplified Music Rights (AMR), a leading music catalogue acquisition and management platform. Prior to joining Silver Rock in 2012, Mr. Smalls was a founding member of Morgan Stanley Private Credit. Prior to that role, he was a member of the Leveraged Finance & Acquisition Finance Group at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Smalls graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and received a B.S. magna cum laude in Economics.
matt spetzler
Founder, Jamen Capital
Matt is the founding partner of Jamen Capital where he focuses on investments and strategic ventures at the intersection of the music, media and tech sectors. Before Jamen, Matt spent over 20 years at Francisco Partners, a global tech focused private equity firm, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of Europe before transitioning to his current role of Senior Advisor.
Matt has made 10+ investments in the music and audio space spanning the worlds of music production, publishing, payments, music finance/IP investing, commercial music, music marketing, audiobooks and music learning & education.
He is currently on the BODs of Kobalt, Soundtrack, Muse, RB Media, and Operative. He is also the Chairman of the Senior Advisory Group of Recognition Music Group.
He has an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech.
stephen stites
Partner, Goldman Sachs
Stephen is head of the Corporate Structured Finance business at Goldman Sachs and leads the firm’s entertainment and music securitization work. Previously, he was co-head of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Structured Finance Business. Stephen joined Goldman Sachs in 2010. Prior to joining Goldman, Stephen was a corporate lawyer at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York. Stephen graduated from the University of Washington and earned a JD from the George Washington University Law School.
emily stephenson
President, Downtown Music Publishing
Nashville-based Stephenson, serves as Downtown Music’s President of Publishing- including Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust, and Sheer. In her role as President, Stephenson oversees all of publishing administration and client acquisition efforts, leading a team of over 110 including technology, sync, A&R, rights management, and publishing partner relations. During her 12+ year tenure at the company has been responsible for various aspects of publishing administration and client services. Prior to her current role, Stephenson served as the division’s Vice President of Business Operations. Downtown’s roster includes songwriter and publishing clients, including Spirit Music Group, Jason Isbell, Big Yellow Dog, and the John Lennon Estate.
filip stromsten
Co-Founder & Chairman, Chapter Two
Co-Founder and Chairman of Chapter Two, Filip leads investor strategy and product development, enabling sophisticated buyers to optimize their processes and decisions through data-rich insights. With a dual background in finance and music production, he spearheads the integration of advanced AI to elevate catalog analytics and valuation.
michael sukin
Principal, Sukin Colton Law Association
Sukin Colton Law Association is an entertainment and intellectual property law firm representing various parties - buyers, sellers, banks, funds, investor groups - in catalog acquisitions, company sales, and financing. We have closed many transactions involving the world’s most popular music, including ones conducted in Spanish and French languages. Additionally, our firm has done groundbreaking work in statutory and contractual copyright terminations and rights reversions, on a worldwide basis. The firm has long been known for its innovative thinking in developing the now-famous Bowie Bond in asset securitization using music catalogs.
Founded by its two principals Michael Sukin and Doug Colton, the firm has a global practice based in New York, Nashville, and London and has represented top level artists, songwriters, publishers, record companies, estates, trusts, and managers, domestically and internationally.
Sukin Colton led the initiation, promotion, and enhancement of global, music-related copyright legislation in the European Union, the United States, and Japan. As such, our firm has worked with music publishers and collecting societies in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States and the Far East, having represented many of these societies: ASCAP (representation), BMI (representation), SESAC (representation), Global Music Rights, the Performing Rights Society (UK), PPL-UK, British Music Rights, SACEM (France-representation), GEMA (Germany), SGAE (Spain-representation), STIM (Sweden), National Music Publishers Associations (Japan, UK, Germany), GESAC (Brussels), The International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP, Brussels), IFPI (London-Brussels), JASRAC (Japan), SAMRO (South Africa), ZAIKS (Poland), and SAZAS (Slovenia).
Chambers U.S.A. (the leading rating reference for attorneys) refers to Michael Sukin as a “gifted lawyer of rare experience in music issues.” Chambers ranks Mr. Sukin amongst the top attorneys in media entertainment in New York and Billboard considers him among the top music attorneys.
Mr. Sukin was raised in a music publishing family and has devoted his career to music publishing, the record industry (for the legendary Clive Davis), and musical theater.
Mr. Sukin is a graduate of Cornell University with high honors in economics and the Stanford University Law School, where he has also served on the Board of Visitors. He is fluent in French and holds a Certificate from the prestigious Parisian Insitut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po).
Mr. Sukin was awarded the President’s Medal from the Country Music Association and is a founding Director of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers. Sukin has written and lectured on issues within their expertise domestically and internationally. He has been cited and quoted as an expert in the media including BBC World, Billboard, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, Music Week and The New York Times.
ryan sullivan
SVP Music and Entertainment, Regions Bank
Ryan is currently SVP of Music and Entertainment for Regions Bank in Nashville and has been in financial services for more than 10 years. He provides financing and advisory services to music industry clients worldwide, with a focus on financing and structuring for independent music publishers and labels.
Prior to his time at Regions, Ryan was a Principal of Media and Entertainment for Fifth Third Bank. Ryan also spent time spent in entertainment business management. A native of Australia, Ryan moved to the United States in 2007 to pursue his career as a professional cyclist. He is a graduate of Cumberland University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
victoria sutherland
VP, Goldman Sachs
Victoria Sutherland is a Vice President in the Structured Finance team within the Capital Solutions Group at Goldman Sachs where she helps lead their music securitization efforts. Victoria covers a range of asset backed finance sectors such as Intellectual Property, Whole Business Securitization, Utility Finance, and Small Business Lending. Victoria joined Goldman Sachs in 2017.
Victoria received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of Business and BA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences.
david tepper
Managing Director, First Citizens Bank
David Tepper is managing director of entertainment and media originations for First Citizens Bank’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications group. In this role, he manages the bank’s entertainment relationships and leads First Citizens’ business development efforts in the media and entertainment sectors. Tepper joined First Citizens from JPMorgan, where he worked in its corporate client banking group focusing on entertainment, media and technology companies, in their Los Angeles and New York offices. Prior to JPMorgan, Tepper worked at BHI, TD Bank, and for Ally corporate finance, where he held positions in entertainment finance and asset-based lending.
alex threadgold
Partner, Fox Rothschild LLP
Alex Threadgold is a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP. Based in the firm’s New York City office, he is a former in-house director of business and legal affairs for a large independent record company and the founder of his own record label. Alex draws on two decades of media and entertainment industry experience to counsel creators, producers and entrepreneurs on a variety of business and intellectual property issues, in the music industry and beyond. He also represents clients as outside general counsel, helping them navigate complex corporate, labor and employment and litigation matters.
lior tibon
CEO & Co-Founder, Duetti
Lior is the CEO and Co-Founder of Duetti, a music financing and catalog management platform that enables a wide range of artists, songwriters and other collaborators to sell catalogs, individual tracks, or parts thereof - an opportunity previously only accessible to a small group of A-listers.
Duetti was established in 2022 and raised over $435M in funding to date through a combination of equity financing, private credit facilities, a bank facility and an asset backed securitization.
alex thomson
Co-Founder, Great Mountain Partners
Alex Thomson is a Founder of Great Mountain Partners. Prior to this, he oversaw the Media & Entertainment, Pharma & Healthcare and Financial Services portfolios of the Private Equity and Real Asset group at Barings, a $300+ Billion institutional asset manager, and was a member of the group’s Investment Committee. Before joining Barings, Alex was a co-founder of Wood Creek Capital Management where he served in various roles spanning a decade including overseeing the firm’s media and entertainment investments, and heading up business development and investor relations. Wood Creek was acquired by MassMutual in 2014 and merged into Barings in 2016. Mr. Thomson is the Vice-Chairman of Concord, a leading independent music company. Mr. Thomson is a graduate of Durham University in the UK.
michel traore
CEO & Co-Founder, Chapter Two
As CEO of Chapter Two, a data-driven transactions platform for music rights, enabling investors to access high-quality, pre-processed catalogs. He holds an MBA from SSE and UCLA, and has an extensive background in fintech spanning venture and product.
david trujillo
Partner, TPG
David Trujillo is a TPG Board and Executive Committee member. David joined TPG in January 2006. He is the Co-Managing Partner of TPG Growth, Co-Managing Partner of TPG Tech Adjacencies, and Managing Partner of TPG Digital Media. David leads TPG’s Internet, Digital Media, and Communications investing efforts across the firm. He currently serves as a director on the public boards of TPG, Inc and Uber Technologies, Inc. and on the private boards of Beauty for All Industries (fka Ipsy), Calm, DirecTV, Entertainment Partners, Musixmatch, and The Initial Group. David led TPG’s historic investments in Airbnb, Astound Broadband, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Global Music Rights (GMR), Lynda.com and Spotify. He has been a private equity investor in the technology, media, and telecom sector for over 25 years, including working at Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner (now known as GTCR) prior to joining TPG. David received a Bachelor of Art in Economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bob Valentine
CEO, Concord
Mr. Valentine joined Norman Lear’s Act III Communications in 1999 when it acquired Concord Records. In 2001, Valentine left Act III to join Fox Entertainment’s television business development group, focusing on corporate M&A and business development initiatives at Fox and its parent company News Corp. In 2005, he returned to Concord to become CFO and served in that capacity at the company until 2021, when he was named President. He became CEO of Concord on July 1, 2023. Valentine started his career as a financial analyst in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division. He received his M.B.A. from U.C.L.A.’s Anderson School of Management and his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.
david vankka
President, Partner & Portfolio Manager, ICM
David joined ICM as a partner in 2017 and now serves as the President of ICM Asset Management, the Chief Executive Officer of ICM Investment Management Inc., the Portfolio Manager on the ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund and the ICM Advantage Venture Capital Corporation. The ICM Crescendo Music Royalty Fund is an active acquiror of a diversified mix of music royalty assets. He brings 30 years of experience in investment banking, trading, and capital markets to ICM. Before joining ICM, David co-founded the global energy investment bank Tristone Capital, served as co-head and principal at Peters & Co. Limited, and was vice president of risk management at Gluskin Sheff +Associates.
michael weinsier
Partner, Pryor Cashman
Michael Weinsier co-chairs Pryor Cashman’s Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Private Equity Practices and is a member of the firm’s Corporate Group and Investment Management Practice.
With more than 35 years of experience, Michael advises public and private companies, strategic buyers and sellers, private equity, venture capital and other investment funds, family offices, and other financial sponsors, including their portfolio companies, in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, financings, and other complex transactions.
His work spans a wide range of industry sectors, including media and entertainment, asset management, life sciences and healthcare, brand management, financial services, consumer products, and commodities.
He also regularly counsels emerging companies and institutional investors in the full lifecycle of venture and growth equity financings, spanning from angel, seed, and Series A rounds to crossover and other late-stage investments, PIPEs, and exits via IPO or de-SPAC. Over the past several years alone, he has represented clients in more than 50 venture and other financings, and related portfolio company transactions, totaling more than $5 billion in value.
Michael is consistently recognized among the top M+A lawyers by The Legal 500 and Super Lawyers.
tom westdyk
Managing Director, First Citizens Bank
Tom Westdyk is Managing Director and Group Head of First Citizens Bank’s Technology Media and Telecom Finance Team (“TMT”). In this role, he is responsible for the group’s marketing coverage, loan origination, cross-sell and advisory efforts for all FCB relationships in these industry sectors. The underlying client base includes companies in the cable television, fiber network, wireless, communications towers, information technology, software, data centers, entertainment and gaming related industries. Including the origination, underwriting and portfolio management functions, the team currently stands at 33 professionals.
From 1998 to 2003, Westdyk was the leader of the group’s syndications and structuring efforts, providing underwriting, senior debt sales and advisory services to various communications and media clients throughout North America.
From 1994 to 1998, Westdyk was a member of Toronto Dominion’s Communications and Media Group and was involved in the analysis, structuring, negotiation, credit approval and documentation of transactions in the wireline, wireless, cable and broadcasting industries, which totaled commitments of more than $3 billion. He also worked closely with the firm’s high yield, mergers & acquisitions and merchant banking teams to deliver products at all levels of the capital structure.
Before joining Toronto Dominion, Westdyk was with Westpac Banking Corporation for four years and First Fidelity Bank, where he completed its credit and management training program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Lehigh University and an MBA in international finance from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.
Tom currently serves on the board of directors of the Melanoma Research Foundation and is a member of the Fordham University mentorship program.
crockett woodruff
Head of Media & Entertainment, Flagstar Bank
Mr. Woodruff is the Head of Media & Entertainment for Flagstar Bank, and brings over 20 years of experience in Entertainment Banking, Commercial Banking, Leveraged Lending, Asset-Based Lending, and Syndicated Corporate Finance. Most recently, Crockett served as Team Manager in the Entertainment Banking Division at City National Bank.
donald zakarin
Partner, Pryor Cashman
Donald Zakarin co-chaired Pryor Cashman’s Litigation and Music Groups and the M+E Litigation Practice for the past 20 years and is now Chairman Emeritus. Over the course of more than 46 years at Pryor Cashman, Don has successfully tried dozens of cases to both juries and judges around the country, including, most recently, the Ed Sheeran copyright infringement suit brought by heirs of Ed Townsend (and successfully obtained a decision from the Second Circuit upholding an award of summary judgment in a second case against Sheeran by Structured Asset Sales). Don has represented most of the major music companies, including Universal, Sony, Warner, Concord, Kobalt, and BMG, in litigations as well as providing guidance to many of their senior-most executives. He is currently representing over 100 defendants, including virtually all recording companies and music publishers as well as dozens of recording artists and songwriters, in a sweeping copyright case claiming that virtually all reggaeton music allegedly infringes a commonplace beat used in Jamaican dancehall music.