66 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 24 , 2 019
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.BACKSTAGE PASS
Rosenberg and Darcus Beese, respectively. “New
leadership comes in with a creative vision, and
implementing that in an up market is even more
challenging because deals are tougher and they’re
closing quicker,” says Gawley. Based in London,
Levy, 46, demonstrated the importance of an
international and digital perspective as she closed
over 20 global deals in the past 18 months (and
more at the local market level), including new
categories like stem audio downloads, fitness
and gaming apps, and services that use artificial
intelligence. “We also developed a simplified
licensing program for music startups that will
allow them to get off the ground with a license
in hand,” she says. McMullan, who “spent
decades” litigating cases involving royalties for
pre-1972 recordings, took a 2018 victory lap when
those royalties were addressed as part of the
Music Modernization Act. “Digital services will
now pay legacy artists and songwriters their fair
share in what is the most sweeping copyright
reform in 40 years,” he says. Datta and her team
of five keep busy negotiating employee contracts
and onboarding new leadership. “We’re bringing
in a really diverse group of people in the U.S. and
internationally,” says Datta, whose turf spans
60 territories. She’s responsible for UMG’s
compliance with new European Union data
privacy laws. “In an online world,” she says, “data
privacy underpins everything.”
PRESSING ISSUE
LEVY “The safe harbor laws currently in place
are not fit for a world where hundreds of hours
of content are uploaded to internet sites every
minute. Recent reforms in the EU go some way
to modernizing copyright law. But we need to be
vigilant in ensuring that implementation of those
regulations reflect the original intent.”
Kate Logan
General counsel, international; Warner
Music Group
NOTTINGHAM LAW SCHOOL
Maryrose Maness
Deputy general counsel, Warner Music
Group
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
Trent Tappe
Deputy general counsel, Warner Music
Group
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
In her first full year as WMG’s new general counsel
for international, responsible for the company’s
legal and business affairs outside the United
States, Logan, 46, played a key role in lobbying
Gawley
Levy
McMullan
Datta
Seltzer
CORPORATE
COUNSEL
Stu Bondell
Executive vp business and legal affairs,
international; Sony Music Entertainment
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
OF LAW
Wade Leak
Senior vp/deputy general counsel/chief
compliance, ethics and privacy officer;
Sony Music Entertainment
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Susan Meisel
Senior vp/corporate deputy general
counsel, Sony Music Entertainment
GEORGETOWN LAW
Jeff Walker
Executive vp/head of business and legal
affairs, global digital business; Sony
Music Entertainment
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
To see the future of the music business, take
a look at the desk of a Sony Music attorney.
“My role has focused on helping our business
and digital teams to bring their future-focused
commercial visions to reality — and enhance
Sony Music’s value proposition to artists,”
says Meisel, 60. She adds that, during the
past 12 to 18 months, she and her team have
handled “the greatest breadth and volume” of
strategic investments she has ever seen at Sony
Music. Walker, 56, stays on the cutting edge as
different digital platforms expand. “In the last
year, I’ve worked with on-demand providers,
social media platforms and even virtual-
reality companies,” he says, noting that he has
completed over 400 agreements with different
digital service providers. Bondell, 63, supports
some 50 international digital music services.
“As legitimate streaming services take hold in
developing markets, it has been very rewarding
to help local companies expand,” he says. Leak,
56, seeks to halt the unauthorized use of Sony
Music’s copyrighted recordings. “Any time there
is a shift in the way people consume music,
piracy happens,” he says. “We are trying to send
a message to the marketplace that it will not be
tolerated.” He has filed cases against internet
service providers, including Cox Cable (which
previously settled with BMG), involving 11,000
tracks or compositions.
Saheli Datta
Head of global compliance/senior vp
employment counsel, Universal Music
Group
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Steve Gawley
Executive vp business and legal affairs,
Universal Music Group
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
Nicola Levy
Global head of business affairs, digital;
Universal Music Group
FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Alasdair McMullan
Senior vp/global head of litigation,
Universal Music Group
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Michael Seltzer
Senior vp business and legal affairs/
head of commercial transactions team,
Universal Music Group
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW
In the Center, as UMG’s corporate legal
department is known, Seltzer, 52, supervises a
team of 15 lawyers who do everything from artist
deals to film, TV and brand pacts. He personally
handled contracts for a development deal with
Lionsgate TV. “We hit the ground running with
five projects, and two of them are already sold
to NBC and Netflix,” he says. Gawley, 55, guides
business affairs for three independently run
UMG labels — Republic, Def Jam and Island,
with the latter two under new leadership by Paul
Top Music Law Schools
Tappe
Logan
Maness
Gawley (right) in 2018 with (from left)
Joe Jonas, Republic chairman/CEO
Monte Lipman and Republic president
West Coast creative Wendy Goldstein.
BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO
SCHOOL OF LAW
Yeshiva University
New York
Enrollment 1,051
THE BEST THING ABOUT MY
LAW SCHOOL WAS
“Cardozo recognized the value
of an entertainment law
program early on.”
Michael Reinert
Fox Rothschild
BROOKLYN LAW
SCHOOL
Brooklyn
Enrollment 949
THE BEST THING ABOUT MY
LAW SCHOOL WAS
“The way they had professors
teaching the courses was
all geared specifically for
the bar exam.”
Paul Schindler
Greenberg Traurig
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL
Columbia University
New York
Enrollment 1,268
THE BEST THING ABOUT MY
LAW SCHOOL WAS
“The alumni network.
I am the vp of the alumni
association and co-chairing
my reunion.”
Wade Leak
Sony Music Entertainment
Walker
Bondell
Leak
Meisel