AIMP Panel

Place: View Map
House of Blues Sunset
8430 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Panelists (from left): Michael Sukin, Esq., moderator Linda Newmark (AIMP Board member), Chris Castle, Esq.

Photos by Liz Redwing, courtesy of House of Blues Sunset

Additional Speaker Information

Michael Sukin has acted on music related legislation in the European Union for over a dozen years, as such he has met and worked extensively with the European Commission, the International Music Publishers Association based in Brussels, and the European collection societies’ lobbying organization also based in Brussels. Also in this connection, Mr. Sukin has met and worked with numerous European publishers and collecting societies in both Eastern and Western Europe. Mr. Sukin has lectured extensively and participated on panel discussions for these subjects in the U.S. and Europe including the Eastern European Publishers Association, British Music Rights, British Academy of Songwriters and WIPO.

Chris Castle is Managing Partner of Christian L. Castle, Attorneys, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Founded in 2004, the firm represents music publishers, video game publishers, digital retailers, recording artists, producers, film makers, independent record labels and film studios. Chris also consults leading organizations on public policy matters. Chris was previously SVP, Legal & Business Affairs at SNOCAP, Inc., SVP, Business Affairs at Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., VP, Business & Legal Affairs at A&M Records, Inc. He was of counsel to Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp (representing clients such as Rondor Music Publishing and Dreamworks Records) and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (representing clients such as Liquid Audio and Napster, Inc.). He is a Fellow of the World Technology Network and is one of the few executives to have held senior positions at both music and technology companies. Chris is an advisory board member (and former board member) of Austin Music Foundation, co-chairs the legal committee of the American Association of Independent Music and is a member of the Alumni Advisory Board of the Entertainment and Media Management Institute at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Before law school, Chris was the drummer for Yvonne Elliman, Long John Baldry and Jesse Winchester, among others.

Linda A. Newmark is Executive Vice President, Acquisitions and Strategic Projects for Universal Music Publishing Group, where she oversees the acquisition of rights to musical compositions and promotes the general business development of the company. At Universal, Linda has been involved in the acquisition and integration of numerous music publishing catalogues, including BMG Music Publishing, Rondor Music International, Inc., Def Jam Music, and Univision Music Publishing. She has also signed various writers and catalogues, including agreements relating to Heart, The BANGLES, George Thorogood, Stephen Bishop, and the Pixies. Linda is a member of the Board of Directors of the AIMP, and also serves on the City of Hope Music & Entertainment Industry Executive Committee, the Board of Managers of The Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Company, LLC, the Board of Managers of Associated Production Music LLC (APM), and the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. Linda is a contributing author to “The Musician’s Business and Legal Guide” (Prentice Hall), and is a guest lecturer on Music Publishing at the Practising Law Institute’s annual “Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industry” program in New York.