April 2, 2025 – State of Music Publishing 2025 with David Israelite

AIMP LA’s annual marquis event at Lawry’s the Prime Rib with special guest, NMPA President and CEO David Israelite, as he discusses current music publishing matters.

Download David Israelite’s Presentation Slides here.

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.

An exciting and insightful webinar as we dive into the world of punk rock and its impact on music publishing. This session explored how iconic songwriters from the punk rock world discovered music publishing and some of the lessons they learned along the way. Featuring Jennifer Finch (Visual and Music Artist/L7), Brett Gurewitz (Mothership Music Publishing, Bad Religion), and Molly Neuman as moderator (CD Baby, Bratmobile).

A practical panel addressing everything you need to know about complex clearances, copyright splits, and royalty streams. We’ll also address how companies such as Tracklib and Splice come into play. Join us for a high level conversation with experienced industry professionals.
Panelists:
Deborah Mannis-Gardner, DMG Clearances Inc.
Michael McFadin, Ubiquity Records
Melanie Santa Rosa, Third Side Music
Dean Serwin, Attorney – Serwin Media Group
Moderators:
Abby North (North Music Group) & David Quan (The Greater Goods Co.)

Whether it’s AAA games like the Grammy-winning “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” or “Grand Theft Auto VI,” the music centric games, “Just Dance” and “Guitar Hero,” or games specifically made for mobile, music plays an important and integral part in the gaming world.
This panel will discuss the many aspects of music in games including pitching songs, the basics of sync licenses, royalty formulas, the creative selection of music in a game, deal structures, the role of music supervisors and music affairs directors, the music team and the composer/conductor/orchestrator experience.
Our fantastic panel includes Gordy Haab, Award-winning Video Game composer of “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” and “Star Wars Battlefront II;” Alex Hackford, Music Affairs Director, PlayStation Studios; Alan Meyerson, Award-winning Producer & Engineer; Jake Versluis, Position Music Partner – A&R and Gaming; and Moderator, Todd Brabec, Esq., Adjunct Professor USC, former ASCAP EVP, Co-author “Music, Money and Success.”
Join us for an engaging and enlightening discussion about music for video games, back at an AIMP favorite, Lawry’s the Prime Rib in Beverly Hills.

Geared towards developing and emerging songwriters, our webinar will demystify the fundamentals of publishing administration for self-published songwriters.
Join us as our panel of music publishing professionals shares valuable insights and practical advice to help you navigate the business side of your songwriting career. From affiliating with a PRO to understanding song splits, registering your compositions, and pitching your songs for film and TV placements, our panel has you covered. Learn the best publishing practices for releasing your own music and discover essential strategies for collecting and tracking your hard-earned income. There will be an interactive session at the end where you will have the opportunity to join breakout rooms and have your questions answered by experts in specific music publishing areas.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to empower yourself as both a creator and a publisher!
Speakers
• AIMP/LA Board Members
Todd Brabec, Yvonne Drazan, David Quan, and Michael Todd
Moderator
• Marc Caruso

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.

Do you ever wonder what happens after a catalog is sold? Do the transferred assets and related documents magically appear where they need to? Of course not (although we wish they would)! Come join us as we discuss the ins and outs of what exactly happens once the dust settles after a catalog acquisition. Our esteemed panelists will share their insights on the process and what the ideal post-catalog acquisition world would look like.
Speakers
• Joyce Dollinger
• Brook Primont
• Melanie Santa Rosa
Moderator
• Amber Charania

With the buying, selling and assigning of copyright interests and income streams continuing to accelerate with many new players in the marketplace joining the already “established” players and with the myriad types of different deals and arrangements all of a sudden becoming commonplace, the question remains in all of these deals-what is actually being sold, shared or assigned and how is the final price of any acquisition arrived at.
Any acquisition, whether it’s a 100% or partial sale of current assets or one that combines futures as well or involves only an income interest rather than a copyright transfer, the starting point of every deal is the Due Diligence inquiry, both financial and legal. Due Diligence is the term that describes the procedures and processes that the potential buyer utilizes in its investigation of the assets being acquired.
This panel will discuss the primary aspects of legal and financial due diligence relative to any acquisition including “sustainable income”, past and current royalties and statement analysis, chart activity and non-re-occurring one time income events, CMO payment formulas, chain of title and copyright status inquiries, songwriter agreements, and foreign subpublishing and administration commitments among other areas.
Speakers
• Todd Brabec
Todd Brabec, former ASCAP Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Membership, is an Entertainment Law attorney, a Deems Taylor Award winning co-author of the best selling music business book ” Music, Money and Success: the Insid-er’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business” (8th edition, Schirmer Books/ Wise Music) as well as the “Music Publishing Law” chapter in the 2 volume legal treatise “ The Essential Guide to Entertainment Law-Dealmaking” (Juris Publications/2021)), an Adjunct Professor at USC where he teaches the course on Music Publishing, Music Licensing and Film, Television and Video Game scoring and song contracts and a former Governing Committee member as well as Music and Budget Chair of the Amer-ican Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. In addition to the Deems Taylor Award for Excellence in Music Journalism, he is the recipient of the 2005 Educational Leadership Award from the Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), the 2015 Texas Star Award from the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to the field of Entertainment Law and the 2019 California Copyright Conference Apollo Award for Excellence in Leadership and Achievement in the Music Industry and is a graduate of the New York University School of Law. During his 37 year career at ASCAP, he was responsible for all Membership opera-tions, personnel and offices as well as signing many of ASCAP’s most successful songwriters, writer/artists and film, television and video game composers in addition to significantly changing many of ASCAP’s payment, distribution and survey rules includ-ing those that significantly increased the royalties for successful radio songs and film and television theme songs and scores. In addition, he was involved in numerous fed-eral “Rate Court” proceedings as well as Consent Decree reviews. He lectures extensively throughout the world at conferences, universities, bar asso-ciations, law firms and management companies and has appeared on hundreds of panels including PLI, the American Bar Association, the Game Developers Confer-ence, DIMA, the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL), Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, NATPE, Midem, Canadian Music Week, the Association of Inde-pendent Music Publishers (AIMP) as well as many others. He has hundreds of pub-lished articles on all aspects of the business and law of Music and Entertainment. His Mitchell Hamline law review article, “The Performance Right: a World in Transition”, was selected by West/Thomson/Reuters as one of the best Entertainment Law Review articles of 2016. Prior to his Entertainment Law practice, he was a legal services attorney in Chicago for Community Legal Counsel (Office of Economic Opportunity) as well as a recording artist as The Reunion. Website: musicandmoney.com
• Jeff Brabec
Jeff Brabec is Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for BMG Rights Management (US) LLC (BMG). Brabec specializes in evaluating, analyzing, projecting income and negotiating music publishing catalogue acquisitions. A graduate of New York University School of Law, he has also been a government legal services attorney. Brabec is the co-author with his twin brother Todd of the best-selling book “MUSIC, MONEY, AND SUCCESS: The Insider’s Guide To Making Money In The Music Business” (8th Edition / Schirmer Trade Books/Music Sales). Variety Magazine selected the 8th Edition as one of The Best Music Books of 2019. He is also co-author of the Music Publishing chapter of the 2018 Juris Publications multiple volume treatise “The Essential Guide To Entertainment Law.” He has been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for Excellence in Music Journalism, The Texas Star Award by the Entertainment & Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in the Field of Entertainment Law and the 2019 California Copyright Conference Apollo Award Honoring Leadership and Achievement In the Music Industry. Brabec is an adjunct professor at USC Thornton School of Music/Business Division where he teaches music publishing and licensing. He Is also on the board of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) which was established by the Music Modernization Act and on the board of the Canadian Publishers Committee (CPC) of SXWorks, LLC .
• Frank Handy
Frank Handy has worked in music publishing for over 18 years. Currently VP, Head of Operations and Administration, Handy oversees operations, copyright, royalties, licensing, distribution teams, finds new revenue streams, and looks after Position Music’s international interests. Handy started working at Position Music in early 2020 and made an immediate impact, giving Position Music the confidence and ability to explore and properly manage larger administrative deals with established artists and bands around the world. Prior to Position Music, Handy was Vice President of Licensing and Copyright at SONGS Music Publishing where he oversaw SONG’s copyright functions, synchronization licensing, mechanical licensing, contract review, sample clearances and YouTube content management. He was also Head of Creator & Publisher Relations at AllTrack Performing Rights and spent five years at Bug Music as Senior Copyright Administrator where he oversaw catalogs for the Johnny Cash estate, Del Shannon estate, Iggy Pop, Wilco, and others. Frank is currently the Vice President for the Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Independent Publishers (AIMP) and has spoken on panels at The Musician’s Institute, The AIMP, and The House of Blues Foundation. A lifelong musician, Handy played guitar in bands for over twenty years and graduated from the Musician’s Institute of Technology guitar program with awards. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his family and enjoys playing golf.

Join us for an enlightening discussion about the world of music and advertising as we delve deep into the prestigious Clio Music Awards. This exclusive webinar will explore the profound impact of music on advertising campaigns and dissect what it takes to win a Clio Music Award. We will explore the dynamic intersection of music and marketing, uncovering the role that music plays in shaping brand identities and the overall consumer experience.
The Clio Music Awards: Celebrating Excellence
• An overview of the Clio Awards and its significance in the creative industry
• Focus on the Clio Music Awards – its history, categories, and past winners
• Highlighting the impact of the Clio Music Awards on the music and advertising industries
• Learn about the submission & judging process, criteria, and what sets award-winning entries apart.
Creativity and Innovation in Music-Driven Campaigns
• Exploring the emotional connection between music and consumers
• The science behind choosing the right music for a brand
• How music enhances brand identity to build emotional connections with consumers
About Clio
Clio is the premier international awards competition for the creative business. Founded in 1959 to celebrate creative excellence in advertising, Clio today honors the work and talent at the forefront of the industry in a variety of specialized fields, including: sports, fashion, music, entertainment, cannabis and health. As a leading authority on the diverse and ever-changing creative landscape, Clio celebrates creativity 365-days-a-year via its global ad database Ads of The World and its content platform Muse by Clio . View an overview trailer on our website .
Speakers
• Michael Kauffman
Michael Kauffman is the Executive Director of the Clio Music and Clio Cannabis programs at The Clio Awards, the premier awards competition for the creative business. Clio Music honors creativity in advertising and marketing for artist promotion and brand collaborations, as well as the use of music in ads, trailers, and film & video. Clio Cannabis celebrates the creative work and creators at the forefront of cannabis marketing and communications. Prior to his current role, Kauffman held senior marketing and corporate communications roles at YouTube, Google, and RightsFlow, a licensing and rights-management start-up acquired by Google. He also held sales and commerce roles with Universal Music Group’s Verve and BMG’s Windham Hill record labels.
• Peymon Maskan
Peymon Maskan is a first generation Iranian American Music Supervisor based in Los Angeles, California. His first film credit was as Music Coordinator on Blue Crush in 2002 before proceeding to Music Supervise over 30 film and series before joining Apple’s bespoke ad agency Media Arts Lab in 2012. He brought his filmic sensibilities to many of Apple’s iconic long-form ads, like Emmy Award winning “Misunderstood” featuring beautiful bespoke song by Cat Power. Maskan became the Global Music Director in 2017, and in 2018 brought Cannes Lion Grand Prix winning & Spike Jonez Directed “Welcome Home,” featuring FKA Twigs and “Til It’s Over” by Anderson Paak. 2018 also introduced the Grand Clio Music winning ad “Share Your Gifts” with original song by Billie Eilish (produced by Finneas O’Connell). Maskan also loved participating to Apple’s longstanding reputation of breaking bands through sync, launching Marian Hill’s “Down”, Hudson Mohawk’s “Chimes”, Son Lux’s “Dream State”, Snoh Aalegra’s “Nothing Burns Like The Cold” and Noga Erez’s “Dance While You Shoot” to a worldwide audience. Maskan started Radish Music at the top of 2020 to return to film while continuing his work in advertising. He is currently Music Supervising Netflix’s 2024 series A Man In Full, starring Jeff Daniels & Directed by Regina King (written by David E. Kelley) and Dev Patel’s Directorial debut Monkey Man. He also teamed up with Finneas O’Connell again on his first film score for The Fallout, which won Grand Jury Prize at SXSW 2021 and was later distributed by HBO. Ad wise, Maskan continues to break new ground, working with Soulwax to launch Apple’s Airpod Max, Lil Nas X for Logitech’s Super Bowl and Grammy ads, which launched the #1 song “Montero” into popular culture. Maskan did the same with Logitech’s follow up ad a year later, launching LIzzo’s “Special” in an ad-premier exclusive. In 2022, he placed Thumpasaurus’ “Struttin” in a Samsung ad, which caused the song to explode online.
Moderator
• Marc Caruso

Join us for an inspiring extension of the AIMP’s “A View From The Top” panel series!
Are you just starting out in the music business? Or want the perspective of what the entertainment industry environment looks like today from a fresh angle? How have things changed? What’s new that you’re not utilizing? On this first edition of “A View From The Start,” we will have the opportunity to hear directly from four future music industry executives who are at the very start of their careers.
The first half of this discussion, which will be moderated by peermusic ’s Yvonne Drazan , will give a snapshot of the panelists’ educational paths, their current positions, career goals and what motivated them to want to work in Music. The second part of this webinar will be a “pick your brain” session where we will ask questions like “How are you discovering music? What platforms are you using? What genres/artists should we be looking out for? Where do you see the industry heading?” And more!
Panelists
David Carrasco
Latin A&R Coordinator, peermusic
Zack Richmond
Coordinator, Music Publishing, Universal Pictures Film Music Department
Tyler Garber
Associate Attorney,King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP
Angela McPhee
Artist Management Coordinator, Friends At Work
Moderator
Yvonne Drazan
Vice President Latin Division, West Coast peermusic

AIMP LA’s next Webinar Event takes place on June 22, 2023. Join us for a recap of the Music Cue Sheet Forum, held on May 1, 2023, at the Sony Pictures Studio Lot and sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing. The collaborative gathering of industry professionals provided a platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas, share best practices, discuss contractual clauses requiring the submission of cue sheets, and explore potential solutions. AIMP LA Chapter board director Ginia Eady-Marshall, the founder of the Music Cue Sheet Forum, initiated the event in collaboration with SPE and Sony Music Publishing and brought together major studios, publishers, music editors, licensors, and PROs for discussions about the various issues in creating and managing music cue sheets.
Ginia Eady-Marshall will moderate the webinar, and the panel discussion will feature Jaika Lara-Quirt from Netflix, Jen Schwartz from Paramount Global, and Sean Novak from Universal Pictures. Join us as they share their insights and experiences related to the music cue sheet process.
Ginia Eady-Marshall is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in the music industry. She currently leads the Music Research team as Senior Manager of Music Research in the Disney Music Group for The Walt Disney Company, overseeing the global music reporting to the PROs for Disney’s Production Studios and Streaming Services. Her career began at BMI, where she advanced to become the Sr. Director of Writer/Publisher Administration. In this role, she was responsible for all West Coast region composer, writer, and publisher affiliations and administrative services connected with those affiliates. Ginia is serving her third term on the Board of Directors for the LA Chapter of the AIMP and is the Lead Chair of the DEI Committee. She founded the Music Cue Sheet Forum, a collaborative industry working group established to examine and advance cue sheets and copyright-related practices. Ginia also contributes to the global CISAC Cue Sheet Harmonization Working Group tasked with reviewing and standardizing international methods.
Jaika Quirt is the Manager of Music Administration at Netflix, where she’s been for the past seven years. She’s been working in music clearances, publishing administration, and cue sheet innovation on the studio side, for over 18 years and is interested in collaborating with others to improve processes and innovate the music cue sheet space around the world.
Jen Schwartz is the Senior Director of Creative Music Strategy for Paramount Global. She serves as the lead for Music Operations across all Paramount brands and is the PRO liaison overseeing cue sheets and reporting across Paramount Global. Her innovative ideas have helped to refine and streamline the cue sheet process from inception to delivery. With over 20 year of experience in the industry, her career began at MTV as a Music Supervisor for shows such as Made, My Super Sweet 16, Teen Cribs, Uncommon Sense, Girls Cruise and Kingin’ With Tyga.
Sean Novak has been fortunate enough to experience every aspect of music publishing and licensing – from sync placements and clearances of every size, to copyright, cue sheets, mechanicals and royalties. He currently oversees cue sheets for Universal Film Music Publishing along with licensing and database oversight. Prior to this role, he handled cue sheets for NBCU TV Music, spent almost ten years at Disney Music Group handling mechanical/digital licensing for their labels and publishing and cut his industry teeth at Wixen Music Publishing administering the catalogs of over 20 major clients. He was also a senior producer on LA’s only music industry radio talk show, Samm Brown’s For the Record, on KPFK and was one of the first from Disney to be YouTube certified and work directly in the music group’s CMS. Sean also contributed to the global CISAC Cue Sheet Harmonization Working Group tasked with reviewing and standardizing international methods. With almost twenty years in this field – across studios, publishers and record labels – Sean feels this diversity has prepared him for roles and opportunities equally as diverse. He holds a BA in Music Industry Studies from California State University, Northridge where he was classically trained on guitar and has written, recorded and performed with multiple Los Angeles-based artists.

State of the Union for U.S. Music Publishing
A special event with NMPA President and CEO David Israelite, as he discusses current music publishing matters.
Speakers
• David Israelite
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.
Moderator
Marc Caruso – Angry Mob Music CEO, and LA AIMP President