WHAT WE DO

Defend Songwriters!

SONA is the hub where the best creative-rights legal minds and fiercely passionate people from all corners of the songwriting world meet to educate, strategize, and mobilize.

We are making a difference.

What We Do

SONA is continually working to be an inclusive and diverse community that brings together passionate music creatives and industry professionals to reimagine the music industry in the 21st century.

We do this through using a collective voice to defend and represent the songwriter community in all issues where songwriters are impacted, including:

  • Our right to fair pay in the age of digital media
  • Our right to speak out and give a collective voice to the songwriting community
  • In lieu of a union to uphold the standards of safety and equality in our workplaces, where music is created

OUR STORY

The SONA Story

In January of 2015, songwriting partners Kay Hanley and Michelle Lewis founded SONA (Songwriters Of North America) in response to the unfair licensing rates being paid to music creators by digital streaming companies like Spotify and Pandora.

With their close community of working Los Angeles-based songwriters and composers and high-powered entertainment attorney and activist, Dina LaPolt, they quickly built up their ranks to become a prominent and respected voice on the leading edge of issues that face songwriters in the new digital music economy.

In the last few years, they played a pivotal role in the crafting, lobbying and passage of landmark copyright legislation, The Music Modernization Act.

Meet Our Team

Our staff and board represent the heart and soul of SONA. We are all passionate advocates for songwriters’ rights and are experts in our field. We guide the vision of SONA and ensure that we are always true of our mission.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

STAFF

FOUNDERS

Adam Dorn

Adam Dorn

Adam Gorgoni

Adam Gorgoni

Andrae Alexander

Andrae Alexander

Autumn Rowe

Autumn Rowe

Dina LaPolt

Dina LaPolt

Jack Kugell

Jack Kugell

Jared Brenner

Jared Brenner

Board Secretary

Kay Hanley

Kay Hanley

Co-Executive Director

Lauren Christy

Lauren Christy

Lauren Hancock

Lauren Hancock

Mark Pariser

Mark Pariser

Board Treasurer

Michelle Lewis

Michelle Lewis

Executive Director & Board Chair

Michelle Featherstone

Michelle Featherstone

Shay M Lawson

Shay M Lawson

Shelly Peiken

Shelly Peiken

Siddhartha Khosla

Siddhartha Khosla

Join Our Team

Please contact us to learn more!

Contact us
Ronda Call

Ronda Call

Join Our Team

Please contact us to learn more!

Contact us
Michelle Lewis

Michelle Lewis

Executive Director & Board Chair

Kay Hanley

Kay Hanley

Co-Executive Director

Dina LaPolt

Dina LaPolt

Adam Dorn

Adam Dorn

Michelle Featherstone

Michelle Featherstone

Pamela Sheyne

Pamela Sheyne

Shelly Peiken

Shelly Peiken

Join Our Team

Please contact us to learn more!

Contact us

SONA

Advisory Board

Abby North

Adam Parness

Angie Pagano

Barbara Quinn

Beka Tischker

Doug Brainin

Emily Warren

Erika Nuri

Gail Greenwood

Jai Yoko

Jaime Zeluck-Hindlin

Joe DiMona

John Bitrick

Kara DioGuardi

Kat Dahlia

Kevin Casini

Kevin Griffin

Louie Diller

Marcus Miller

Matt Tishler

Michael Eames

MILCK

Priscilla Renea

Ross Golan

Sam Hollander

Sandy Vee

Sarah Hudson

Sharon Tapper

Tanya Donelly

Zach Gurka

Whitney Phillips

Abby North

Adam Parness

Angie Pagano

Barbara Quinn

Beka Tischker

Doug Brainin

Emily Warren

Erika Nuri

Gail Greenwood

Jai Yoko

Jaime Zeluck-Hindlin

Joe DiMona

John Bitrick

Kara DioGuardi

Kat Dahlia

Kevin Casini

Kevin Griffin

Louie Diller

Marcus Miller

Matt Tishler

Michael Eames

MILCK

Priscilla Renea

Ross Golan

Sam Hollander

Sandy Vee

Sarah Hudson

Sharon Tapper

Tanya Donelly

Zach Gurka

Whitney Phillips

FAQs

In 2015, a small group of LA based songwriters, composers, and producers began to gather monthly for coffee and bagels to discuss the increasing challenges posed by music streaming platforms and develop strategies to protect the value of our work. 6 years later, Songwriters Of North America is more animated than ever by that original mission. Bolstered by hundreds of like-minded songwriter members, thousands of stakeholder partners, and millions of social media interactions, SONA’s reach has extended beyond our coffee tables and recording studios to the halls of Congress, effecting change for music creators’ rights around the globe. We are songwriters using our collective voice to claim our rightful seat at the table of ideas as the music business enters a new chapter.

Songwriters of North America (SONA) is a not for profit organization dedicated to advocating and providing resources for songwriters and significantly improving the music industry for all music creators.

As the music business transitions into the streaming economy, SONA demands that songwriters have a seat at the table and a say in our future. We are a diverse community of professional songwriters who fight to protect the value of our works. All day, every day. Have you joined SONA yet?

Sign up on our website and select a membership level!

SONA Needs You

There are multiple ways to support SONA, through volunteer opportunities, donation, and more. Click below to explore the ways in which you can become a part of our community and support artists’ rights.

Get involved

The Latest from SONA

Get the latest news, advocacy issues, songwriter resources, and more in the SONA blog.

See All

Advocacy, May 3, 2023

The Writers Strike

The writers are on strike. I feel hopeful, vicariously excited, anxious, and totally jealous. I mean, I’m a writer too....

READ MORE

Advocacy, March 31, 2023

VARIETY: Songwriters Have Been Waiting Five Years for a Whopping $700-$800 Million in Royalties: Here’s What You Can Do to Help

If you love songwriters and hate the many ways songwriters are underpaid, paid slowly, or not paid at all, please read the following: There is over a quarter billion dollars of mechanical-royalty income related to songs that were streamed between 2018 and 2022 that has not been paid — and there is no guidance on when it will. Sign the petition: https://bit.ly/phonoiii

READ MORE

Advocacy, January 6, 2023

Billboard: Hundreds of Artists Push for Copyright Rule Change On Streaming Royalties: ‘We Stand Together’

Don Henley, Sheryl Crow, Sting and a slew of other musicians are throwing their support behind a new federal copyright...

READ MORE

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