February News

• AIMP 2019-2020 Board Elections - The biennial election of officers and board members for all chapters is now complete.  Please join us in welcoming those who are returning to serve, as well as those who are serving for the first time.  And we also thank those who ran for office but weren't elected.  We appreciate your support!  
• AIMP Releases Statement on MLC Board & Committees Announcement - The NMPA invited the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) to take an active role in selecting the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) board and committees. Julie Lipsius representing NY, John Ozier from Nashville, and Teri Nelson Carpenter from LA were an integral part of the nominating committee for the indie publisher representatives, and we were pleased to see so many qualified executives from our sector participate in the process. Today, the NMPA announced the final selections, and we’re pleased to see past and current AIMP board members on the Board and committees:
  MLC Board of Directors:
  Alisa Coleman, ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. (AIMP NY President)
  Rell LaFargue, Reservoir Media Management (AIMP NY Board Member)
  Mike Molinar, Big Machine Music (AIMP Nashville Board Member)
  Bob Bruderman, Kobalt
  Tim Cohan, peermusic (past AIMP LA Board Member)
  Scott Cutler, Pulse Music Group (2018 AIMP LA Music Publisher of the Year)
  Evelyn Paglinawan, Concord Music
  MLC Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee:
  Phil Cialdella, Atlas Music Publishing (AIMP NY Board Member)
  Patrick Curley, Third Side Music
  Michael Eames, PEN Music Group (past AIMP LA President/Founding Chair)
  Frank Liwall, The Royalty Network Inc.
  Kathryn Ostien, The Richmond Organization (TRO)
  MLC Dispute Resolution Committee:
  Debbie Rose, Shapiro Bernstein (AIMP NY Board Member)
  Alison Koerper, Disney Music
  Ed Leonard, Daywind
  Sean McGraw, Downtown
  Jason Rys, Wixen Music
  MLC Operations Advisory Committee:
  Rell LaFargue, Reservoir Media Management (AIMP NY Board Member)
  Michael Lau, Round Hill Music (AIMP NY Board Member)
  Joe Conyers III, Songtrust
• Member Discounts - don't forget to look for your member discounts, including an AIMP member discount for SXSW 2019, a new discount for Music Biz 2019 and other discounts to ASCAP EXPO, MUSEXPO et. al, in the Member Discounts area, and if you’re not a member yet - join to get access to these!
• Meet LA Chapter featured member Michael Eames, president of the PEN Music Group and past president of the AIMP LA/National Chapter (2015 - 2018) at www.aimp.org (scroll down).  
• Downtown Music Publishing's digital rights management platform Songtrust is further extending its global reach -- and helping entrepreneurial songwriters and producers get paid -- in a new partnership with artist-first music streaming platform Audiomack. 
• More than 50,000 books, films and songs are now in the public domain.  Read more about them here.  
• ASCAP - Eight of its members are recognized with Oscar nominations.  Read more about them here.  
• BMI - Congratulates its 2019 Oscar Nominees.  Read more about them here.  
• SESAC affiliate Kenny Lattimore's foundation is hosting its first LA Fundraising Concert benefiting schools in the Los Angeles and Washington D.C. markets.  Read more about them here.  
• Follow Us - And don't forget to follow the AIMP on Twitter, like us on Facebook and join us on LinkedIn.

Michael Eames / PEN Music Group

Meet immediate AIMP Past President (2015-2018) Michael Eames.

Michael is a trained composer, songwriter and pianist with experience in film scoring who studied music at Cornell University and UCLA Extension; he also secured a minor in Business Management from Cornell. As President of indie music publishing company PEN Music Group (celebrating its 25th anniversay in 2019), Michael oversees all aspects of the operation as well as focuses on pitching the catalogue to all media in addition to business development.  Prior to starting PEN, Michael oversaw the international activities and film & television department of Don Williams Music Group where he was responsible for song catalogues such as Jimi Hendrix, Chicago and Roy Orbison among numerous others. He also worked previously for Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and the management and music supervision firms The Derek Power Co and Seth Kaplan Entertainment.  Michael proudly serves on the Independent Publishers Advisory Council (IPAC) of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA).  He is also a member of the California Copyright Conference (CCC), Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame, Society Of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).  Michael wrote the music publishing section of the Hal Leonard-published book entitled FIVE STAR MUSIC MAKEOVER: The Independent Artist’s Guide for Singers, Songwriters, Bands, Producers and Self Publishers, co-teaches (with Bobby Borg) the UCLA Extension class Music Publishing: A Creative And Business Perspective, his video series Intro To Music Publishing (also with Bobby Borg) is now available on the Hal Leonard-owned Groove3.com, and is a frequent guest speaker in classrooms and panel discussions worldwide.