Join the Virtual Voices encore presentation of 'Creating the Future: A Panel Discussion an Independent Perspective on Music Publishing' on Tuesday, April 9th, hosted by Rudy Blair.
Description: The music publishing business is not always understood. It’s the global business of songs and of the people behind this business — songwriters, lyricists, composers, producers, and music publishers. Independent music publishers are a force for cultural diversity in music and are the powerhouse of the industry. They partner with each other as sub-publishers to ensure that the work created travels around the world. The ultimate goal of the music publisher is to foster and promote both the song and the songwriter. They are the facilitators to access music.
Moderator:
Ger Hatton, Board of Directors, Principal, Independent Music Publishers International, Hatton.EU
Ger Hatton provides advisory services in Intellectual Property, Copyright and Trade related aspects of IPRs to cultural industry clients focussing on policy emanating from Brussels and Geneva, and in that capacity serves as of Counsel to IMPF. She was previously CEO of ICMP and spearheaded the music industry’s representation to WIPO and the European Union, increasing the level of IP protection for music publishers globally. Ger is the former President of the European Federation for Intercultural Learning, and the former Head of Public Affairs Europe for Ogilvy Worldwide. She currently serves on the International Cooperation Expert Group to the EUIPO and on the Advisory Board of WIPO for Creators.
Panelists:
Jennifer Mitchell, President, Red Brick Songs
Jennifer co-founded Casablanca Media Publishing in 2001 with Edmund Glinert and helped build Casablanca into a leading independent Canadian music publisher representing such publishers and songwriters as 20th Century Fox, Carlin America, Imagem, Barton Music, the estate of Roy Orbison, Steve Miller etc.
More recently Jennifer founded Red Brick Songs Inc., representing publishers and writers such as Lil’ Kim, Equator Music (Jeff Beck), the Lomax Estate, the estate of John Lennon, ABKCO, Fairwood Music, Disney Music Group, Budde Music, Bucks Music Group, to name a few. Red Brick has also built an impressive roster of songwriters, including Charlotte Cardin, Trevor Hurst from Econoline Crush, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Dan Davidson, Great Lake Swimmers, Cuff The Duke, among others.
In 2022, Casablanca was amalgamated with Red Brick Songs to form one entity.
Jennifer is the Co-Chair of Music Publishers Canada, the Vice-Chair of the Board of SOCAN, and is a Director on the Board of the Independent Music Publishers Forum. She is a former Board Director of CMRRA and currently a member of a number of professional and industry organizations including the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, and the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Rell Lafargue, President and Chief Operating Manager, Reservoir
As Reservoir’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Rell oversees all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, London, Toronto, and Abu Dhabi. When Rell joined Reservoir at its inception, the company represented four songwriters and 2,000 songs. Building on over twenty years of industry experience, Rell built the company’s infrastructure, assembled its Creative and Synch teams, established its administration systems, and developed the international network that oversees Reservoir’s copyrights to this day. Under Rell’s direction, Reservoir has grown to represent over 140,000 compositions and 36,000 master recordings worldwide.
Rell continues to spearhead Reservoir’s international and domestic expansion efforts, having overseen the acquisitions and integrations of the historic Shapiro Bernstein catalog, TVT Music Publishing catalog, First State Media Group catalog, UK publishers Reverb Music and P&P Songs, and iconic record labels Chrysalis Records, Tommy Boy Records, and Philly Groove Records. Additionally, Rell was instrumental in signing Nate “Danja” Hills, one of the company’s first high-profile writer-producers, to the Reservoir roster.
Prior to his time at Reservoir, Rell was Vice President at TVT Records and TVT Music Publishing, where he worked with artists including Nine Inch Nails, Lil Jon, Snoop Dogg, Scott Storch, and Pitbull.
Rell serves on the board of the Mechanical Licensing Collective, Association of Independent Music Publishers—NY Chapter, and Music Publishers Canada, working to promote the interests of music publishers and their songwriting partners. Beyond his career in music publishing, Rell is an accomplished producer, performer, arranger, software consultant, and university lecturer. He holds a master’s degree in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami.
Teri Nelson Carpenter, Founder and CEO, Reel Muzik Werks
Teri Nelson Carpenter is the Founder & CEO of Reel Muzik Werks (RMW), a full-service independent music publisher with a specialization in film/TV music and international rights management. Since its founding in 2009, RMW has established Teri as an internationally minded, active, and inclusive leader focused on making the industry an equal playing field for creators and publishers in music.
Teri currently serves on the executive board of the Independent Music Publishers International Forum (IMPF), contributes in leadership roles to the California Copyright Conference (CCC), NMPA, CISAC, and the Copyright Alliance, and is a member of the CMA and ACM. She is also a sought-after speaker and expert in music for film and television, having recently spoken at Music Biz and A2IM, as well as at Reeperbahn, the Finnish Music & Media Festival, and the IMPF Music Entrepreneurial and Creative Industry Summit internationally.
In 2022, Teri completed her four-year term as Los Angeles Chapter President of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP). Within this role, Teri played a prominent part in the planning and execution of the Global Music Publishing Summits, as well as facilitated monthly webinars and in-person events for the LA Chapter. Additionally, Teri was the first National Chair of AIMP. She is also a proud graduate of the Leadership Music Class of 2022.
Since founding RMW, Teri has made it her mission to serve a diverse clientele who needs more than a “one size fits all” approach to the management of their music publishing catalogs and recordings. RMW speaks to the needs of not only traditional artists, composers, and publishers, but also film/TV production companies, broadcast networks, legacy catalogs, music libraries, and even performing and mechanical rights societies. Teri, through RMW, is dedicated to developing new talent, and over the past fourteen years, some of Teri’s major milestones at RMW include receiving the AIMP Publisher of the Year award in 2010, the 2018 Apollo Award from the California Copyright Confrence for her excellence in leadership and achievement in the music industry, being on the U.S. delgation to be a mentor and speaker at the Global Entrepreneur Summit In Hyderabad, India whose theme “Women First, Prosperity For All” involved women from over 160 countries, landing placements in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Assination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Big Sky and Puss in Boots, and RMW client A-Wall achieving an RIAAcertified Gold Single for his song, “Loverboy”.
A music industry veteran, Teri began her career at BMI in Film & TV, working directly with composers, publishers and content creators in providing assistance with their global performing rights concerns. From there she went on to become Music Administration & Production Executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM Studios) before landing the role of Executive VP of Music for Fox Family Worldwide.
Teri has been featured in the 2022 Publisher’s Edition of Music Row Magazine.
When she’s not working, Teri is passionate about supporting the Momentum Pediatric Therapy Network and This Is For Children and enjoys powerlifting and competing in triathlons. Teri is also the vice president of her parish council of a brand new Catholic Church plant.
Vince Degiorgio, CEO, CYMBA Music Publishing
Vincent Degiorgio is the CEO of Cymba Music Publishing.
His company, Cymba, is an acronym for ‘Crushing Your Music Business Apathy is one of the most pro-active, creative music publishing entities in Canada. With unprecedented global reach and a focus on the international market for recorded music and synch, it is home for writers and artists such as Keshia Chanté, Oleyada, Barbra Lica, Rachel Cousins, and the JUNO Award-winning band, MONOWHALES.
Songs written Cymba’s songwriters have been recorded in over a dozen languages and synchronized around the world. Cymba’s writer/producer roster includes Daniel Adams and Davor Vulama. Aside from being president of the company, Vincent is also a songwriter. His work with Dutch pop star Caro Emerald recently eclipsed the two million album threshold. He has also co-written seminal classics like Love Inc’s “You’re A Superstar”. He most recently wrote four songs with Juno nominated Matt Dusk on his “Jet Set Jazz” album.
Working on the major label side as an A&R executive at RCA Records Vincent signed N Sync to the label.
He is currently on board of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Music Publishers Canada, where he now serves as treasurer after his six year term as Chair.
