June 12, 2024 (New York, NY) – The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) held their 7th annual Global Music Publishing Summit (GMPS) yesterday at the 3 West Club in New York City. The sold-out event drew over 300 attendees, including songwriters, music publishers, rights organizations, record labels, DSPs, and more. It was sponsored by Copyright Delta, ICE, Music Publishers Canada, the NMPA, PRS for Music, RyteBox, and Switchchord, as well as AIMP National Annual Supporters including ASCAP, BMI, CMRRA, Exploration, The MLC, SESAC Music Group, SXWorks, and YouTube.
Hi-res photos from every GMPS panel are available here. All photos should be credited to Gary Gershoff, except the AIMP Pre-GMPS Young Professionals Mixer photo, which should be credited to Ashley Morey. Video of the GMPS will soon be made available to AIMP members at aimp.org.
For a brief recap of the day’s panels, see below.
The AIMP GMPS kicked off with a welcome from Michael Lau (AIMP National Chair and New York Chapter President; CEO, Laud Music/Imachew Music), Frank Handy (AIMP LA Chapter Vice President; Head of Operations & Administration, Position Music), Ree Guyer (AIMP Nashville Chapter President; President, Wrensong), and Tony D. Alexander (AIMP Atlanta Chapter President; President and Managing Director, Made in Memphis Entertainment), who each provided an update on the Association’s national and regional activities.
Lau then introduced Shira J. Gans (Senior Executive Director, Policy and Programs, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment), who provided an update on her Office’s efforts on behalf of the NYC music community. These included the Sound Thinking program with CUNY that teaches high schoolers about careers in the music industry, New York Music Month, and seed funding the first public music business degree in NYC at Brooklyn College.
The event’s first panel was the annual favorite “A View from the Top: An Indie Perspective,” which featured panelists Chris Dampier (Vice President, Head of North America, Sentric Music Group), Emilio Morales (Managing Director, Rimas Publishing), Peter Raleigh (President, Raleigh Music Group), Ree Guyer (President, Wrensong), Yvonne Drazan (Vice President Latin Division, West Coast, peermusic) and moderator Alisa Coleman (COO ABKCO Music & Records Inc, MLC Board Chair, previous AIMP chair of NY chapter and founder of the AIMP Global Music Publishing Summit). Topics discussed included the difference between U.S. and multi-territorial agreements, royalty collections from The MLC and PROs, AI, and TikTok.
After a short coffee break, the next panel was “Publishers’ Perspective: Unveiling the Power of Covers in Synchronization.” Led by moderator Brooke Primont (AIMP NY Board Member; EVP, Publishing Sync, Concord Music Publishing), panelists Jason Rezvan (VP, Advertising, Spirit Music Group), Keith D’arcy (SVP, Sync & Creative Services, Warner Chappell), Leah Streetman (President and Head of Film & TV Music, Triton Creative), Anita Chinkes Ratner (EVP Creative Music Strategy, PARAMOUNT), and Kate Urcioli (Managing Director & Partner, Heavy Duty Projects) began by showing several examples of syncs that reinterpreted classic songs for movies, TV shows, video games, commercials, and more. They then discussed the immediate emotional connection that comes with a cover song; the difference between re-records, remixes, and traditional covers; and how they work with companies and music supervisors to find or create the perfect cover version for their needs.
Following the panel, 26 AIMP Board members in attendance from all four Chapters in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York gathered onstage for a group photo.
Following a break for lunch, Chris Barkley (Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, NMPA), Clara Kim (Chief Legal and Business Affairs Officer, ASCAP), Morna Willens (Chief Policy Officer, RIAA), and moderator Amber Charania (AIMP NY Board Member; Senior Director of Legal and Business Affairs, Downtown Music Holdings) delivered the “Washington, D.C. Update.” Together, they discussed upcoming and proposed legislation affecting the music publishing community, including several proposals to establish a federal right of publicity in light of the rise of generative AI, the NMPA’s proposal to allow rights-holders to opt out of compulsory licensing, and more.
PROs and CMOs then took center stage for “Navigating the New Harmonies: Evolution of Performance Rights Organizations” with panelists Alison Smith (Executive Vice President Distribution, Publisher Relations and Administration Services, BMI), Andrea Czapary Martin (CEO, PRS for Music), Jennifer Brown (CEO, SOCAN), Nick Lehman (Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, ASCAP), Scott Jungmichel (President & COO, SESAC) and moderator Joanne Kelsey (AIMP NY Board Member; VP, Royalties and Administration, Anthem Entertainment). They explained how they have collaborated with each other and areas where they see future collaboration as a possibility, the need for transparency and how they work to ensure it, how they allow for their members to hold them accountable, and new initiatives such as PRS for Music’s Project Nexus, which would provide provisional ISWC codes for recordings in collaboration with CISAC.
The GMPS lived up to the “global” in its name with the next panel, “Opportunities Abroad: Maximizing Overseas Collections.” Moderator Michael Simon (AIMP NY Board Member; President and CEO, HFA; President, Rumblefish) led panelists Alexander Wolf (President, SESAC International), David Alexander (Founder, MusicIndustry.Africa and AIMP Atlanta Board Member), Mark Chung (Managing Director of Freibank Music Publishing and IMPF Board Member) and Tomas Ericsson (CEO, AMRA) through a far-ranging conversation that covered everything from the need for local sub-publishers in unfamiliar territories to the differences between Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. They also discussed data registration, management, and clean up across borders and the level of technical sophistication required for U.S. music publishers to engage with sub-publishers internationally.
The GMPS wrapped up with “Unveiling the Shadows: Navigating Fraud (and Legitimate Streaming Promotion) in Music,” which gathered panelists Erica Clayton (Vice President of Artist Support & Operations, TuneCore), Larry Mills (SVP, Sales, PEX), Morgan Hayduk (Founder & Co-CEO, Beatdapp), Nermina Mumic (CEO & Founder, Legitary), Amanda Jonat (Sr. Partner Manager, Content Licensing, Pandora), and moderator Abby North (AIMP LA Board Member; President, North Music Group) to discuss what is and is not OK when it comes to marketing music. They began by revealing several tell-tale signs of streaming fraud, including tactics for manipulating non-interactive platforms like Pandora, and discussing how DSPs and distributors work together to identify multiple uploads of the same “audio identity,” root out fraudulent ones, and work to get royalties for those fraudulent tracks reallocated to the proper rights-holders.
Throughout the event, meetings and networking took place in the third floor Salon. There, attendees could also see demos from AIMP sponsors and partner organizations Copyright Delta, DDEX, Exploration, ICE, RyteBox, and Switchchord.
The night before the GMPS on June 10, the AIMP Young Professionals Committee hosted the free “AIMP Pre-GMPS Young Professionals Mixer” at The Rose in NYC. The event brought together the publishing industry for drinks, snacks, and networking.
About AIMP
The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) was formed in 1977 and has local Chapters in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, and Atlanta. The organization’s primary focus is to educate and inform music publishers about the most current industry trends and practices by providing a forum for the discussion of the issues and problems confronting the music publishing industry. The opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions with others on issues of mutual concern is fostered by the atmosphere at the AIMP’s monthly meetings, forums, and workshops, the videos of which can be seen (along with more general info on the organization) at aimp.org.