September 18, 2025 – Music Licensing & AI in 2025

A timely webinar exploring how AI is reshaping music licensing – and where new opportunities for revenue are emerging.

Moderated by AIMP LA President and National Chair Frank Handy (peermusic), this conversation will spotlight some of the companies and executives leading the way toward responsible innovation and practical solutions. 

Panelists include:

• Nick Venti, Co-Founder & CEO of TYGER AI, building next-generation music technology for games and digital experiences.

• Drew Silverstein, President, Head of AI Strategy at SourceAudio, whose AI dataset licensing marketplace is generating nearly $10 million in new annual revenue for artists, labels, and publishers.

• Alex Haskell, General Counsel & Head of Global Affairs at ElevenLabs, a former White House and Senate Counsel now helping shape AI’s legal, policy, and music initiatives.

• Seth Goldstein, General Counsel & VP of Business & Legal Affairs at Music AI, bringing deep expertise in balancing the needs of creators, rights holders, and tech innovators.

Together, these leaders will unpack how AI companies are approaching licensing, what “good players” in the space are doing to properly value music, and how publishers, songwriters, and rights holders can tap into entirely new streams of income. From dataset licensing to in-product music applications, the discussion will highlight both the challenges and opportunities that come with this rapidly evolving landscape.

This is a must-attend event for anyone curious about where music and AI intersect, and how the publishing community can ensure creators are compensated fairly in the next era of innovation.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the music industry—transforming everything from creation to licensing and revenue streams. But how does this evolution impact music publishers, rights holders, and the broader ecosystem? Join John Phelan of ICMP and Frank Handy of Peermusic for a compelling conversation on AI’s implications for music rights and intellectual property. As AI-generated music becomes more prevalent, what protections, challenges, and opportunities lie ahead for the industry? This session will explore the future of rights management, ethical concerns, and how stakeholders can navigate this rapidly shifting landscape. Following the discussion, John Phelan will deliver a presentation highlighting key regulations and areas of interest shaping AI and music rights globally.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the music industry—transforming everything from creation to licensing and revenue streams. But how does this evolution impact music publishers, rights holders, and the broader ecosystem? Join John Phelan of ICMP and Frank Handy of Peermusic for a compelling conversation on AI’s implications for music rights and intellectual property. As AI-generated music becomes more prevalent, what protections, challenges, and opportunities lie ahead for the industry? This session will explore the future of rights management, ethical concerns, and how stakeholders can navigate this rapidly shifting landscape.

As AI, analytics, and algorithms become increasingly integrated into the music industry, we’re all learning to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape. We’ll explore how data-driven tools are influencing how writers are discovered, signed, developed, and pitched, without losing sight of the instinct and human connection that have always been core to music publishing. We’ll also look at how AI is being used to organize and enhance catalogs, from smarter metadata tagging to more strategic pitching for sync and beyond. Join our panel of independent publishers, A&R executives, and music tech experts on how they’re using these tools responsibly, what’s actually working, and how we can strike the right balance between metrics and gut instinct in shaping the future of indie music publishing.

Moderated by MARC CARUSO, CEO/CO-FOUNDER ANGRY MOB MUSIC.

Panelists:

CHRIS MARTIGNAGO, VP OF A&R PRESCRIPTION SONGS

Chris Martignago, based in Nashville, TN, is Vice President of A&R at Prescription Songs recognized for his achievements developing creative talent.

With over 14 years of experience in A&R, Martignago began his career in 2012 by helping to establish the A&R Research department at Atlantic Records prior to joining Prescription Songs in 2021.

Martignago has worked on a diverse group of gold and platinum-certified chart-topping songs over the course of his career with artists that include Paramore, Marshmello, Saweetie, A Day to Remember, Stephen Sanchez, Devin Dawson, Wilder Woods, Anna Clendening, Ingrid Michaelson, Galxara, Matoma, Shinedown, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Martignago has built an impressive roster at Prescription Songs including Grammy-nominated and award-winning creatives such as Anderson East, Trent Dabbs, JT Daly, Nick Lobel, Tony Esterly, Brett Truitt, Josie Dunne, Dominique Sanders, Derik Fein, Heather Russell and Vancouver Sleep Clinic.

Martignago regularly volunteers with local schools and art programs. He is also the founder of HELL YES!—an online community that showcases emerging songwriters, hosts annual songwriting camps and events, including PLAYBACK, a partnership with PøpSquad founder, Wes Davenport. Through this platform, Martignago has provided invaluable resources and opportunities for independent songwriters, producers, and artists to forge real-world connections. His mission is to advocate for creatives, bridging the gap between local artistry and a global music industry.

Currently, Martignago is using his unique blend of analytical and creative experience to grow the presence of Prescription Songs in Nashville through innovative signings and timeless songs.

VICKIE NAUMAN, FOUNDER/CEO CROSSBORDERWORKS

Vickie Nauman specializes in the intersection between technology and music, focused on music licensing, creating new business models, products, relationships and rights; helping grow companies; and global strategic development.  She is Founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based boutique consulting and advisory firm CrossBorderWorks and has an ambitious portfolio of forward-thinking companies in gaming, tech, consumer electronics, M&A and music since 2014.  

A digital music pioneer and tech enthusiast, Nauman worked on product for one of the first legal digital services MusicNet (RealNetworks JV), led strategic partnerships for connected device company Sonos, started and ran the US business for global music platform 7digital, and did early digital music business in China as a consultant. She built one of the first DMCA-compliant services at taste-making Seattle station KEXP and has an MBA through the London School of Economics, NYU-Stern, and HEC-Paris, in the executive program TRIUM.  She is an advisor and subject matter expert to some of the world’s most innovative companies, including those in gaming, M&A, platforms, apps, rights-related, strategic growth, and early-stage startups in music/tech. Client base includes Beat Saber/Meta, Riot Games, Harman Kardon, Musical AI, Downtown Holdings, various Roblox projects and more listed on LinkedIn.


GRAYSON SANDERS, CO-FOUNDERS/CEO CHORDAL

Grayson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Chordal. Chordal is a fast growing music licensing platform focused on elevating artist and songwriter opportunities in visual content via a revolutionary, collaborative rights management technology. Grayson began his career in classical music as symphonic composer in residence for NYU Symphony while working on commissions for New York area contemporary chamber ensembles. He soon turned his focus to experimental multimedia, co-founding art collective Aytia Matia which hosted warehouse scale events in Brooklyn fusing music, art, and technology in the early 2010’s. In 2015, he co-founded the Emmy winning music agency Safari Riot, which has since facilitated 8+ figures of sync licensing deals for artists in its 9 year history. In 2019, Chordal was born as a collaboration between several leading music companies & music supervision firms, with a focus on streamlining the complex and disjointed processes currently limiting the music industry’s ability to fully access sync licensing revenue streams. Chordal now serves hundreds of rights holders from majors to leading independents.

With Camu Celli (Truideation), Adrian Perry (Covington & Burling LLP), Shannon Sorensen (NMPA), Michael Lau (AIMP), and Moderator Vickie Nauman (CrossBorderWorks)

Join us for an enlightening webinar and Q&A discussing music copyright in the age of AI with John Phelan, Director General of the ICMP. In this session we’ll explore topics including Fair Use, Text and Data Mining, and the ongoing fight to protect copyright against unauthorized AI uses.

Moderator Abby North and panelists John Riley, Damien Riehl, and Crispin Hunt discussed the challenges and opportunities of generative AI technology and provided an overview of the latest developments in the field.
Speakers
• Damien Riehl
Damien Riehl is a lawyer, musician, and technologist with experience in complex litigation, digital forensics, and software development. A coder since 1985 and for the web since 1995, Damien helps lead the design, development, and expansion of Fastcase’s data-science efforts, integrating AI-backed technologies to improve legal workflows and to power legal data analytics. In 2019, Damien gave a TEDx Talk about his All the Music project, which to date has computationally composed over 400,000,000,000 (400B) melodies, has written them to disc (fixed in a tangible medium), and has given the public access through Creative Commons Zero (CC0), which provides rights similar to rights to works in the Public Domain. Damien’s project has contributed to discussions between lawyers, musicians, and industry professionals regarding (1) copyrightability of machine-created works and (2) copyrightability of melodies alone.
• Crispin Hunt
Crispin Hunt is a multi-platinum selling songwriter and record producer. He has written or worked with or for Florence and The Machine, Lana Del Ray, Ellie Goulding, Jake Bugg, Maverick Sabre, Newton Faulkner, Natalie Imbruglia, Bat For Lashes, Razorlight, Estelle, Rod Stewart and many others. He is a global advocate for Creator Rights and is a Director of PRS , former Chair and current board director of The Ivor’s Academy, former PPL Director and FAC CEO. He was lead singer of the 90’s Britpop band Longpigs and worked in the UK House Of Commons as a Parliamentary Researcher and Campaign Coordinator.
• John Riley
John Riley is an Assistant General Counsel at the U.S. Copyright Office where he has contributed to the U.S. Government’s Supreme Court briefs in the Aereo and Petrella cases, district court briefs including in Thaler v. Perlmutter, the Office’s policy reports including Copyright Small Claims, Copyright and the Music Marketplace, and Unclaimed Royalties: Best Practice Recommendations for the Mechanical Licensing Collective, and, among other regulatory work, rules implementing the Music Modernization Act, Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (“CASE”) Act of 2020, and the Group Registration for Works on an Album of Music (“GRAM”) registration option. He also frequently advises Congress on copyright law. Prior to joining the Copyright Office, John worked as the Senior Manager of Intellectual Property Enforcement at the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center. John earned his LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law from the George Washington University Law School and his JD from the Dickinson School of Law. He holds BA degrees in Political Science, English, and Communication Arts & Sciences from Penn State University. He has been recognized by the American Intellectual Property Law Association for his distinguished service and contributions in the field of intellectual property law.
Moderator
• Abby North