An Honor, A Legacy

It is a great honor and privilege to be elected President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP. As a Board member for eight years, I know full well the challenges and opportunities facing the Society. Fortunately, I succeed one of ASCAP's most effective Presidents – Marilyn Bergman.

For her creative work alone Marilyn has earned a lasting place in music history. But her contributions to music – and especially to the future of music – are profound. She has been a great leader to the ASCAP Board and has led all songwriters, composers and music publishers through a most turbulent period for copyright with strength, conviction, eloquence and grace.

As Marilyn has done, I want to be a strong voice for the music creator. The ability to make a viable living from creating music is of critical importance not just to songwriters and composers, but also to our society as a whole. Recent advances in areas like technology have opened many new doors for music creators. But we also face a host of daunting challenges relative to how the act of creating music is both fairly valued and compensated.

Our focus will always remain on protecting your copyrights whenever and wherever possible and to making sure you are paid fairly for the performances of your music using the most efficient and effective tracking methods. But we also know that to build a future in which music creators can develop and thrive, ASCAP needs to keep re-inventing what it means to be a performing rights society. That is why we continue to develop a full range of services and resources to help you achieve success. From Mediaguide to the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO to MusicPro Insurance to some exciting new services we will announce later this year, we continue to create new ways to help protect, sustain and grow your careers.

There's no doubt we are living through challenging times for copyright owners. But I also have no doubt that ASCAP, from its senior management to its Board to its strong and united membership, has the talent, the skills and the vision to create a brighter future for all music creators.

I look forward to leading this great organization and to carry on the legacy of so many great writers and composers who have led before me. I also look forward to meeting many of you along the way and, of course, to hear more of your great music.