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.

With Tim Rawlinson (ICE Services), Alex Tarrand (Styngr), and Rob Levine (Billboard)

With Paul Gillis (SX Works), and Veronica Syrtash (SX Works)

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

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.)

The foreign country marketplace represents billions of dollars in publisher and songwriter royalties. The “rules of the game’ though outside the U.S. are very different in many ways from the practices, laws and policies that govern our domestic dealings. Many issues and policies surfacing abroad can have a significant effect on U.S. publisher, songwriter and composer revenue let alone the way we do business. This panel of foreign country experts will discuss some of these important issues as well as their effects on the global marketplace. Areas covered include the EU Directive (Article 17), Pan European licensing, the effect Covid has had on collection societies, the fair and appropriate manner of distributing streaming royalties, the handling of translations and the role of sub publishers, among other items.
Speakers:
• Peter Jansson – Early on, the position of Professional Manager was offered by Festival Music, Australia’s largest independent music publisher. Dealing with both local and international songwriters, Peter soon developed a rapport with many successful songwriters and artists. EMI Music Publishing offered the position of Creative Director in 1984 which gave Peter the chance to work with the largest catalogue of songs in the world. As one of the original participants in the EMI Executive Exchange Program, Peter was given the chance to experience many of the major world music markets first hand by working in numerous EMI offices such as Tokyo, Hamburg, Paris, London, New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. In 1989, PolyGram Music offered a joint venture deal for Peter to set up his own music publishing company, and Janssongs, Inc. was born. First headquartered in Sydney, Peter moved the operation to Los Angeles in 1996. Janssongs’ writer roster included an impressive who’s who of Pop/R&B/Country writers including several Grammy nominated writers and producers. The company also music supervised many feature films during the course of its operations which enabled the company to draw from its talented pool of writers and composers and ensured activity for their individual catalogues. Janssongs, Inc. was acquired by a New York investment group in October, 2004. As a Music Industry executive, Peter has represented Paul McCartney, Queen, David Bowie, Kate Bush, A-ha, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison, Divinyls, Roxette, Europe, Gilbert O’Sullivan, The Motels, Leo Sayer, Dexys Midnight Runners, Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Blondie, Laura Branigan, Don McLean, Grace Jones, Juice Newton, Gerry Harrison (Talking Heads), The Wiggles, Little River Band and Ronnie Milsap amongst countless others. In 2004, Peter was a signatory to a Joint Venture agreement with the Chinese Government and was given the historic opportunity of creating the very first “legitimate” music operation in mainland China, representing 65,000 CD masters and 1,757,000 copyrights and developing the infrastructure to China’s emerging national music industry. Peter joined the Disney Music Group in 2016 as Senior Manager, International for Disney Music Publishing and was tasked with protecting and enforcing the global rights and collecting all revenue types for the iconic Disney Music Publishing catalogue globally, ex-USA. Day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing and managing the relationships with all our global partners, including resolving any and all issues at all 187 CMOs globally as well as DSP disputes. Black Box reports reviewed frequently; suspense and control accounts matched against our catalogue claims; YouTube Disputes and Appeals claim resolution on a daily basis; and international monitoring of Societies’ distributions and income tracking of missing royalties. Peter is a regular guest at music conferences throughout the world, bringing his years of knowledge and experience to many Music Industry panels.
• Based in London, Howard Price has spent his professional career of over 20 years at EMI Music Publishing, and further to the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, at Sony Music Publishing. Howard’s focus over this time has been to bring in and manage partnerships with production companies, broadcasters and studios, in the UK, US and other parts world. In addition to the music publishing administration, Howard has been responsible for realising wider opportunities with such clients, for example, through master rights representation and Production Music library relationships and ventures. Howard is a lecturer at the Royal College of Music Composition for Screen course, and guest lectures for various other educational bodies and establishments.
• Cécile Rap-Veber has been appointed Executive Director Development, International and Operations, SACEM, since June 2021. She is in charge of negotiations and collections relating for media usage, phonographic and videographic media, digital exploitation, private copying levies, international collections and global development of SACEM. She is responsible for the SACEM repertoire and the distribution of royalties collected for the use of works from the repertoire of SACEM in France and abroad. Since 2019, Cécile has headed the Licensing, International and Operations Division. A former lawyer at the Paris Court of Appeal, she joined Universal Music France in 2000, where she was Legal & Business Affairs Director and then Universal Music Consulting & Content (UMCC) Director until 2013. Cécile is General Secretary of the Society for the Administration of Mechanical Reproduction Rights (SDRM). She sits on the Board of Directors of Copie France. She is also on the Board of Directors of the International Bureau of Societies Managing Registration and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (BIEM). Cécile holds a Master’s degree in Contract Law and Private International Law and a Certificate of Proficiency in Law (CAPA) from the Paris Bar.
• Alex Taggart is the Head of International for emerging markets music industry services company and rights management business Outdustry. Based in Los Angeles, Taggart works with the company’s rapidly growing roster of artists, songwriters, producers, labels and publishers to explore opportunities in emerging markets. He is widely recognized as an authority in the Chinese music rights landscape, and is regularly quoted in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Billboard and Quartz.
Moderator:
• Todd Brabec, Esq., Co-author “Music, Money and Success”/former ASCAP EVP/Adjunct Professor USC & LA Board Member

While the Music Modernization Act (MMA) created a new framework for the licensing, collection, & distribution of mechanical royalties to music publishers for on-demand streams occurring on the DSP platforms inside the U.S., how are publishers to license & collect all of their royalties for streams occurring in markets outside the United States, as well as for other forms of digital/online usage that extend beyond the U.S. borders?
Join us for an insightful webinar-panel with the leaders of three organizations licensing online usage on behalf of independent music publishers on a multi-territory basis, and learn how publishers can navigate the lucrative international marketplace of digital rights to maximize collections for their repertoire.
Speakers
• Tomas Ericsson
• Sarah Williams
• Fabian Niggemeier
Moderator
• Phil Cialdella