Know Your Rights - Managing Your Music Licensing Portfolio
With streaming being the dominant way in which music is consumed globally, artists and their managers need to capture every micro-payment, every cent to aggregate the value of the intellectual property portfolios they create and manage. Every year tens of millions of dollars are left unclaimed in the U.S. by artists and songwriters. If you aren’t signed to SoundExchange, The MLC and a PRO, you are leaving money on the table. If you are signed, but your data isn't correct, they cannot connect your money to you. If making money whilst you sleep is the dream, is the nightmare of your music rights portfolio leaking revenue whilst you only have half an eye on it?
Featured Speakers:
Marc Rucker, Manager of Industry Engagement
Marc Rucker serves as Industry Engagement Manager within the Brand Marketing and Industry Engagement group at SoundExchange. Based in Nashville, Marc is responsible for establishing and building key artist, management, and content owner relationships. He helps raise the profile of SoundExchange in the music industry and deepen creator engagement in Nashville and beyond. Marc is a passionate ally to the creative community. He has been embedded in the Nashville music scene for 13 years, with experience in artist management, business management, and publishing. Before joining SoundExchange, he managed the careers of multiple successful recording artists. He helped co-found Young Entertainment Professionals, where he currently remains on the Board of Directors. To improve the bridge between sports and music, he has consulted on live entertainment in major sports venues, including Baltimore’s Camden Yards, and participated in Rumble on The Row, a charity boxing match.
Kris Ahrend, Chief Executive Officer of The MLC
Kris Ahrend is the Chief Executive Officer of The MLC, where he leads the organization in its mission to ensure songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers receive their mechanical royalties from streaming and download services in the U.S. accurately and on time. Under his direction, The MLC has already distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties to its Members since officially beginning operations in 2021. Before joining The MLC, Kris served as the President of U.S. Shared Services for Warner Music Group (WMG), where he led the development and launch of WMG’s Center of Excellence for Shared Services in Nashville and oversaw the operations of fifteen different functional teams providing a variety of administrative, financial, and legal services to WMG’s U.S.-based publishing teams, record labels, and corporate divisions. Prior to launching the Center of Excellence, Ahrend served as the Head of Business & Legal Affairs for WMG’s catalog label, Rhino Records, in Los Angeles, and then led a large legal, financial, and administrative shared services organization within WMG that he helped to create.
With almost 25 years of experience in financial services, Benjamin brings to The MLC tremendous experience in directing financial operations, managing annual budgets, financial forecasting, and strategic financial planning. Most recently, Benjamin served as Senior Vice President of Finance for Warner Music Nashville, where she managed the financial operations of the $50 million company, collaborated with corporate leadership to aligned financial plans with overarching company-wide goals, and analyzed the fiscal impact of prospective new artists.
Previously, Benjamin was the Vice President of Finance Operations for Word Entertainment, a division of Warner Music Group. Before that, Benjamin served as Word Entertainment’s Vice President of Royalty and A&R Administration for five years, Director of Licensing and Royalties for six years and Royalty Manager for three years.