Rank #1: David Israelite, CEO, NMPA: Spotify vs. Songwriters
David Israelite is President and CEO of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA).
The NMPA is up in arms over the fact that Spotify and Amazon - in addition to Google and Pandora – are objecting to a ruling offering songwriters a streaming pay rise in the United States.
Apple Music has declined to oppose the royalty rate rise, which has been decided by the Copyright Royalty Board.
David explains: "[Spotify and Amazon] have shown their true colors. They don't respect songwriters, they are attacking songwriters to try to cut what they pay them. It's time for everybody to rise up and say: enough."
Mar 11 2019
14mins
Rank #2: Milana Rabkin Lewis, CEO, Stem: 'Our ambitions are bigger than just being a distributor.'
Stem is one of the most talked-about companies in music distribution.
The Los Angeles-based company was founded by Milana Rabkin Lewis (pictured) in 2015, and has raised over $12m to date, reportedly from figures including Scooter Braun and Mark Cuban.
Here, Rabkin Lewis sets out Stem's vision for the future of the music industry, and explains why Stem quit DIY distribution last year to focus on making tools – particularly financial tools – for VIP artists.
Apr 06 2020
32mins
Rank #3: Kerry Trainor, CEO, SoundCloud: 'We're in a much clearer place now.'
An exclusive interview with SoundCloud CEO Kerry Trainor on the MBW Podcast. Trainor, who took charge of SoundCloud in August 2017, discusses a range of topics with MBW, including SoundCloud's power for emerging artists, the company's financial health, his hopes for the future of the industry and Spotify's recent flotation on the New York Stock Exchange.
May 30 2018
25mins
Rank #4: Justin Tranter, Songwriter: 'I'm just going to be honest...'
An interview with Justin Tranter, one of the most in-demand pop songwriters in the world today. Tranter has written hits for the likes of Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, Justin Bieber, Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears.
Jan 23 2017
28mins
Rank #5: Mike Caren, CEO, APG: 'I hate the word rules.'
An interview with Mike Caren, the founder of APG.
Mike Caren started his career in A&R 21 years ago, aged 17, at Atlantic subsidiary Big Beat Records. Since then, he has signed or co-signed over 20 artists that have achieved gold or platinum status.
From 2009 to 2012, he served as Co-President alongside John Janick of the relaunched Elektra Records (Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Cee Lo Green).
He established Artist Partners Group in 2013 as a sister company to Artist Publishing Group, which is administered by Warner/Chappell.
In addition to APG, he has a global remit as Warner Music Group’s Creative Officer.
Nov 14 2016
38mins