August 7, 2023 (Hockessin, DE) – Deborah Mannis-Gardner — Owner/President of DMG Clearances, Inc. and the “Queen of Sample Clearances” according to Billboard, Forbes, Variety, and more — was selected last week for recognition on two prestigious lists: the Forbes 50 Over 50, which highlights dynamic female leaders and entrepreneurs who have achieved significant success later in life, and Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players, which identifies the executives most responsible for the success of the R&B/Hip-Hop genre over the past year.
The awards recognize Mannis-Gardner’s many recent accomplishments in the world of music clearance. This year on the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, she was instrumental in bringing De La Soul’s legendary catalog to streaming services for the first time, working with Reservoir to clear samples and prepare the albums for release. She also followed up her award-winning work on HBO’s Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre docu-series “The Defiant Ones” by serving as Music Supervisor for two major motion pictures: “Spinning Gold,” a biopic on Neil Bogart and the rise of Casablanca Records, and the upcoming documentary “Kiss the Future,” which focuses on the struggle of Sarajevo’s citizens during the Bosnian War and how aid worker Bill Carter enlisted iconic rock band U2 to perform there to help raise awareness. In addition to clearing U2’s live performances throughout the film, including their live version of “Unchained Melody,” she also cleared a variety of tracks from other artists, including “I Fought the Law” and “Know Your Rights” by The Clash, “All My Life” by Foo Fighters, “Harder Than You Think” by Public Enemy, “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley & The Chineke! Orchestra, “Dawn Chorus” by Thom Yorke, “There Were Bells” by Brian Eno, and “Temple of Sorrow” by M83. “Kiss the Future” premiered on opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival and will open the Sarajevo Film Festival on August 11th.
Mannis-Gardner also recently cleared the music for the long-awaited documentary “MIXTAPE,” which premiered on Paramount+ on August 1. The film explores the creation of Hip-Hop mixtapes and the role they played in bringing the genre to mainstream audiences, featuring interviews with 2 Chainz, 50 Cent, A$AP Rocky, DJ Clue, DJ Drama, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Funkmaster Flex, The Game, Grandmaster Caz, Jadakiss, Jeezy, Kid Capri, KRS-One, Lil Wayne, Mark Ronson, Mike Tyson, N.O.R.E., Tommy Hilfiger, and more.
“I’m absolutely floored to be included with such amazing company on both the Forbes 50 Over 50 and Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players lists,” said Mannis-Gardner. “Playing a part in bringing De La Soul to streaming will always be one of my proudest accomplishments, especially on the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. It was also a thrill to put on my Music Supervisor hat again, and to work on clearing music for a wide variety of sync projects across various media, including the metaverse. I’m glad there are so many artists, music supervisors, and media companies out there who recognize the importance of properly licensing music and samples, and I’m looking forward to many more exciting projects ahead.”
To see the full Forbes 50 Over 50 list, click here. For the full Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players list, see Billboard’s print issue dated August 5, 2023.
About Deborah Mannis-Gardner
Deborah Mannis-Gardner — the “Queen of Sample Clearance” according to Billboard, Forbes, Midem, Music Week, Okayplayer, Variety, and more — is the go-to expert for global music rights clearances. After starting DMG Clearances, Inc. in 1996, Deborah’s sample clearance skills quickly became legendary, and she has cleared releases for artists including Drake, Tyler the Creator, DJ Khaled, Eminem, Pop Smoke, Logic, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Frank Ocean, Jay-Z, John Legend, Megan Thee Stallion, Big K.R.I.T., Brockhampton, French Montana, Big Sean, J. Cole, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and more. In 2023, she worked with Reservoir to clear samples and prepare the De La Soul catalog for its long-awaited release on streaming services.
Mannis-Gardner has also handled music clearances for metaverse platforms such as Meta and Roblox, including a live concert from Post Malone; films by Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, and Richard Linklater; TV series on networks such as HBO, Showtime, Netflix, and Paramount+; ad campaigns for Google, Ciroc, and Kmart; podcasts including Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Broken Record” and Dave Chappelle, Talib Kweli, and yasiin bey’s “The Midnight Miracle”; video games for Rockstar Games franchises “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption” and Turtle Rock Studios’ “Back 4 Blood”; Grand Rights clearances for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway sensation “Hamilton” and music clearances for its release on Disney+; and political campaign clearances for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign.
In addition, Mannis-Gardner served as the award-winning music supervisor of HBO’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine docu-series “The Defiant Ones,” as well as the Neil Bogart biopic “Spinning Gold” and U2 Sarajevo documentary “Kiss the Future.” She has spoken at SXSW, Midem, Music Biz, the A3C Festival & Conference, CMJ, the Nashville Film Festival, and SyncSummit Nashville, as well as at New York University (NYU), Temple University, and Widener College. She currently sits on York College of Pennsylvania’s Music Industry Advisory Board.
For more information on Mannis-Gardner or DMG Clearances, Inc., visit dmgclearances.com.