Date/Time
Date(s) -

12/04/2019

Location
Catalina Jazz Club

Biographies 

Michelle Lewis — Singer | Songwriter | Composer | Music Creators’ Rights Advocate

Ms. Lewis is a fierce New Yorker now based in Los Angeles, where she is a singer, songwriter, composer, and music creators’ rights advocate.

From her early career as a recording artist signed to Irving Azoff’s Giant Records, to her first radio hit, Cher’s “A Different Kind of Love Song” in 2002, to the 2014 worldwide #1 single “Wings” by the British girl group, Little Mix, Ms. Lewis brings authenticity, musicality and heart to a diverse array of music projects.  

For the last decade, Ms. Lewis has branched out into the world of songwriting for animated television, most notably as a Peabody Award-winning composer of all original music for Disney Junior’s hit show, “Doc McStuffins” and as an Emmy-nominated songwriter for the beloved Nickelodeon series “Bubble Guppies.” She has over a half-dozen TV themes currently airing, including, “Doc McStuffins,” “The Loud House,” “Muppet Babies,” “The Harvey Street Kids,” “Mutt and Stuff” and “DC Super Hero Girls.”

In 2014, Ms. Lewis co-founded the non-profit, Songwriters of North America (SONA) in response to the ever-increasing complexities and disparities in digital royalties paid to songwriters and composers. And most recently—through her roles on the ASCAP Board’s Legislative Committee, representing SONA and as one of the leaders of the #MusicArmy of songwriters, artists, composers and producers—she was an instrumental force in the historic passage of the Music Modernization Act, which was signed into law in October of 2018.

Jeff Brabec — Senior Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs | BMG

Jeff Brabec is Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for BMG Rights Management (U.S.) LLC (BMG). Brabec specializes in evaluating, analyzing, projecting income and negotiating music publishing catalogue acquisitions in addition to songwriter, co-publishing, administration, subpublishing, Broadway musical, writer-for-hire motion picture and direct license agreements as well as music licensing and termination rights issues. Previously, he has been Vice President of Business Affairs for both The Chrysalis Music Group and The PolyGram Music Group and Director of Business Affairs for The Welk Music Group and Arista-Interworld Music Group.

A graduate of New York University School of Law, he has also been a government legal services attorney. Brabec is the co-author of the best-selling book Music, Money, and Success: The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business” (8th Edition (2018) / Schirmer Trade Books/Music Sales Corporation). He is also co-author of the Music Publishing chapter of the 2018 Juris Publications multiple volume treatise The Essential Guide To Entertainment Law. He has been awarded the Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism and The Texas Star Award by the Entertainment & Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in the Field of Entertainment Law.

Brabec is on the board of directors for the Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”) which was established by the Music Modernization Act (“MMA”) to, among other things, create a comprehensive database for musical compositions and ensure the collection and distribution of mechanical royalties for digital distribution of musical works in the United States. Brabec is also an adjunct professor at USC Thornton School of Music/Business Division where he teaches music publishing and licensing.

Todd Brabec — Co-Author Music, Money, and Success | Adjunct Professor USC

Todd Brabec, former ASCAP Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Membership, is an Entertainment Law attorney and industry consultant, a Deems Taylor Award winning co-author of Music, Money and Success: The Insider’s Guide to Making Money in the Music Business ( 8th edition/ Schirmer Books/ Music Sales Corporation), as well as the “Music Publishing Law” chapter in the 2018 Juris Publications two-volume treatise The Essential Guide to Entertainment Law, an Adjunct Professor at USC where he teaches the course on Music Licensing, Music Publishing and Film, Television and Video Game Scoring and Song Contracts and is a former Governing Committee member as well as Music and Budget Chair of the American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. He is the recipient of the 2005 Educational Leadership Award from the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA) and the 2015 Texas Star Award from the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in the Field of Entertainment Law and is a graduate of the New York University School of Law.

During his 37 year career at ASCAP, he was in charge of all Membership operations throughout the world, all PRO competitive analysis as well as all advances, loans and other contractual financial arrangements. Plus, he was responsible for signing many of ASCAP ‘s most successful songwriters, songwriter/artists and film and television composers. In addition, he significantly changed most of ASCAP’s distribution, payment and survey policies and rules and was responsible for significantly increasing the royalties and payment formulas for successful radio writers and film and television score and theme composers as well as eliminating practically all policies, formulas and rules that were not in the best interests of songwriters, composers and music publishers or which had a negative effect on their earnings. He and his staffs were responsible for taking ASCAP from a total 20% overall market share and 60 million dollars in annual revenue to market share PRO competitive dominance in radio, broadcast television, cable and worldwide top-grossing feature film scores and 995 million dollars in annual revenue.

Brabec lectures extensively throughout the world at conferences, universities, industry organizations and law firms, and has been a panelist at major conferences and seminars throughout the world, including the bar associations of California, New York, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Washington D.C., Tennessee and Beverly Hills, NATPE, PLI, ABA annual conference, Game Developers Conference, among others. He is the author or co-author of hundreds of published articles on the business and law of music including the ABA Entertainment and Sports Lawyer; the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers annual Midem book; Entertainment, Law and Finance; Entertainment, Publishing and the Arts; The Score; USC Law Spotlight, among others. His Mitchell Hamline Law Review article “The Performance Right: A World in Transition” was chosen by Thomson Reuters West as one of the best law review articles on Entertainment Law of 2016. Website: musicandmoney.com. Contact: toddbrabec@gmail.com.

Bookings