Adam Dorn, one of SONA’s founding members, is a composer, record producer, recording artist, arranger and songwriter who has been working in the music business since the age of 16.  The son of renowned jazz and R&B producer Joel Dorn, he was mentored by GRAMMY-winning producer and musician Marcus Miller. He had the honor of learning from Miles Davis, David Sanborn and Luther Vandross as a teenager while studying with Miller. In conjunction to that apprenticeship, Adam later studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is an accomplished bassist.

His music can be heard everywhere – from Disney theme parks Star Wars attractions to the Showtime docuseries Enemies about power-abusing politicians from Oscar and Emmy-winning director Alex Gibney. Morphing between producer, composer and recording artist at all times, he has worn many musical hats over the last 35 years. As a musician (piano and bass) and co-writer, he has worked with U2, Sting, Lady Gaga, Kesha, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Luther Vandross, Bryan Ferry and Laurie Anderson, among many others. The last decade has seen Adam increasingly focusing on TV and film composing, with a specific

focus on documentary series and feature films. Two current projects include a feature doc about the life and times of former California Governor Jerry Brown and a documentary about the beginnings of the early days of the civil rights movement entitled Ain’;t No Back To A Merry-Go-Round, both slated for early '23 release. He also recently produced the music for a PIXAR animation short called Us Again. 

Adam also scored Season 3 of the Peabody-winning investigative journalism podcast, Serial, which holds an ongoing record as the fastest podcast to reach five million downloads and streams in iTunes’ history. In 2019 he scored HBO’s critically acclaimed documentary and Sundance selection Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, directed by Emmy-winner Marina Zenovich. This was his second collaboration with Zenovich, having previously scored the Emmy-nominated film Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic which won the NAACP Image Award for Best Television Documentary. 

His other credits include scoring HBO’s Emmy-nominated docuseries, The Weight of the Nation, from 31-time Emmy-winning producer Sheila Nevins and four-time Emmy-winning producer John Hoffman; the trilogy reboot of the Kickboxer action film series (Vengeance, Retaliation); The 2021 Nicholas Cage Sci-Fi thriller & “Jiu-Jitsu”; and Melissa McCarthy’s TV Land comedy, Nobodies. Additionally, Adam scored the end credits for AMC’s Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated crime drama Better Call Saul. He also reimagined the music for ESPN’s iconic sports program Around The Horn hosted by Tony Reali. 

Beyond his career as a composer of prestige documentaries, film and television, Adam is a successful jazz-oriented dance music producer and DJ. Under the moniker Mocean Worker, his

music can be heard in numerous films and television shows including The Devil Wears Prada, The Bourne Supremacy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Pink Panther, CSI and Six Feet Under.

He currently resides in NY with his wife and son after living in Los Angeles for the past 11 years.

Composer Adam Gorgoni’s scoring credits include Sundance favorite Starting Out In The Evening, Deauville Grand Prize Winner The Dead Girl, cult comedy classic Waiting, the HBO documentary I Knew It Was You, and many others. 

Recent television work includes USA Network’s Necessary Roughness, the CW series Aliens In America, Lorne Michaels’ ABC comedy Sons and Daughters, as well as shows for NBC, Disney, Discovery Channel, Bravo and National Geographic. Adam also has extensive experience in music for advertising, with clients including Toyota, AT&T, IBM, Mastercard. 

Adam indulged his longtime love of musical theater as a co-producer of the groundbreaking musical Head Over Heels, which debuted in 2018 on Broadway to critical acclaim.

Following the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) in October, 2018, Adam — a SONA founding member and board member — was asked to oversee a national nomination process choosing a handful of songwriters (out of hundreds of applicants) to be part of the Music Licensing Collective (MLC).   Moving forward, this committee will have the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of this historic legislation.

Adam is proud to be part of a movement that will ensure music creators will be paid fairly in the digital age. He is deeply committed to SONA and especially enjoys continual conversations with an expanding group of legislators who wish to support this mission.

Andrae Alexander, a GRAMMY-winning musician and USC professor, moved to Los Angeles in 2009 from Maryland. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy Band of Washington, D.C., he is also an Amazon best-selling author of the book, “Build Your Music Career From Scratch,” now in its second edition.  An internationally traveled musician and clinician on the subjects of the music industry and music production, Andrae has been to over 40 countries.

As a musician, composer and consultant, he has worked on projects such as Empire, Detroit (the film) and the soundtrack of The Birth of a Nation. Among the artists he has worked with are NeYo, BlackBear, George Drakoulias, Swae Lee, Mellissa Ethridge, Allee Willis, Meek Mills, Pusha-T, Kanye West, Jesse J., Rodney Jerkins, Lamont Dozier and No I.D.  In 2022 Andrae shared co-writing credits on Jon Batiste’s GRAMMY-winning Album Of The Year. 

To the academic setting, Andrae brings real-world experience. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, a Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration and is in the process of completing a PhD. Andrae is currently a voting member of both the Recording Academy and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and a faculty member of USC’s Thornton School of Music in the Music Industry Department. Prior to USC, Andrae taught courses on the music business, production, composition and programming at the LA Film School in Hollywood. 

Being a proponent of philanthropy, Andrae has worked with non-profits to use music as a tool for social rehabilitation in the homeless community and to serve underserved grade school children, where music has been removed from their school’s curriculum. The Amazing Grace Conservatory (AGC), under the direction of Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Urban Possibilities, under the direction of Eyvette Jones-Johnson, are the other two non-profits that he currently serves in addition to SONA.

.

Autumn Rowe is a GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter/producer/DJ from New York. Growing up in the South Bronx, she applied her musical talents to a range of roles, from band leader to session singer. Later, she became a sought-after after songwriter, working with some of the world’s biggest artists and record labels. She wrote the dance anthem behind the 2011 FIFA World Cup “Happiness” featuring Alexis Jordan and has worked with Diana Ross, Dua Lipa, Tori Kelly, Ava Max, Jon Batiste, Naia Izumi, Jax Jones, Big Freedia, MK, Avicci, Zedd, Alesso, AfroJack, Deadmau5, Alex Newell, Leona Lewis, Digital Farm Animals, Boy George, Jon Bellion, The Knocks, Nick Jonas, Kali Uchis, Kacy Hill, Fifth Harmony, One Direction, Sinead Harnett, Fka Twigs, Lindsey, Stirling, Becky G and Macy Gray, among many other artists. In 2022, she became a GRAMMY winner as part of the writing and production team for Jon Batiste’s highly-acclaimed Album Of The Year, We Are. 

Autumn is also a celebrated vocal coach. She appeared on season 2 of The X Factor and as the only vocal coach on America’s Got Talent for five years, between the show’s eighth and twelfth seasons. She has coached artists including America’s Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal, Fifth Harmony, Bea Miller, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Diamond White. 

Currently living in Los Angeles, Autumn continues to write and mentor both established and emerging artists as well as working on her own projects as an artist and producer. Autumn recently added GRAMMY winner to her list of accomplishments as part of the writing and production team for Jon Batiste’s highly-acclaimed Album Of The Year, We Are.  She is currently signed to Stellar/Sony Music Publishing.

Dina LaPolt, Esq. is the founder and owner of LaPolt Law, P.C., one of the music industry’s leading law firms and the only firm of its stature founded and run by a sole female attorney. Employing ten full-time attorneys who work together overseeing one of the industry’s most diverse client rosters, the firm represents music creators, superstar entertainers, top industry executives and prominent influencers in the areas of fashion and beauty.  Dina is an expert at strategizing and solving complex and sophisticated legal and business issues relating to contracts, copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity and litigation. She serves as an activist for creators and celebrities in the areas of privacy, copyright, and social justice initiatives, often becoming involved in legislative matters affecting the rights of her clients and advocating on their behalf.   

Dina co-founded Songwriters of North America (SONA) with songwriters Michelle Lewis and Kay Hanley in 2016 and orchestrated SONA’s filing of a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in response to their mandate of 100% licensing in connection with the ASCAP and BMI consent decree review.  

She has been honored with numerous industry accolades including Super Lawyers, a prominent rating system reserved for lawyers with a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Lawyers and Top Music Business Attorneys; Billboard’s Power 100, Women in Music, Music’s Most Powerful Attorneys lists, as well as Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report and Women’s Impact Report. Notably, in 2018 Dina earned recognition for her work on industry-leading advocacy efforts on behalf of SONA in the passage of the Music Modernization Act  (MMA) and was named one of the Executives of the Year for Billboard’s Women in Music and was also chosen by MIDEM in Cannes, France, with the 2018 MIDEM Music Lawyer of the Year award. Dina was honored by the Recording Academy in 2019 with the prestigious ELI Service Award at the Entertainment Law Initiative luncheon – the youngest attorney and only the second woman to ever receive the award in the history of the organization. The same year, she was also inducted into Billboard’s Women in Music Hall of Fame. 

Dina is also on the board of We Are R.I.S.E., a non-profit established in South Los Angeles to empower young girls of color ages 7-12; City of Hope’s Music, Film and Entertainment Group and serves on the Executive Leadership Council of the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) which honored her with its 2021 BMAC Agent of Change Award alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump at their Inaugural Music in Action Awards gala.

Versatile writer/producer Jack Kugell’s work spans the pop, R&B, country and film/TV arenas. He has worked with artists from all over the world, reaching #1 more than a dozen times in many different countries.

Jack was first signed to EMI Music Publishing (which later became Sony/ATV) in 1993, a successful relationship lasting 23 years. As the son of producer Marty Kugell (“In The Still of The Night”), his first musical experiences took place as he watched his dad write and record in the classic studios of New York and Los Angeles. By the age of 11, he knew that he wanted to be a songwriter. What started as a hobby soon became a full-time career and lifelong passion.

His first success as a songwriter came after he penned the perennial Christmas song “Hey Santa!” for The Wilsons and the theme song for The Carnie Wilson Show. Jack is perhaps most recognized for his #1 chart-topper “Valentine,” recorded by Martina McBride, co-written with Jim Brickman. “Valentine” became a #1 AC hit as well as reaching Top 5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and earned multi-platinum status for both Martina McBride and Jim Brickman’s albums. Artists Jack has worked with include Christina Aguilera, Kesha, J.Lo, Fergie, The Pussycat Dolls, Jim Brickman, Martina McBride, Jessica Simpson, Sean Kingston, Mary J. Blige, Wayne Brady, Taio Cruz, 98 Degrees, All-4-One, Anastacia & Michelle Williams to name a few.

Jack along with his partners Jamie Jones and Matt Wong, are songwriters/producers collectively known as The Heavyweights. The GRAMMY-nominated, multi-platinum production team has delivered hit songs to amass collective sales of over 35 million units. Their work has been featured in the Disney Channel Original Musical Movies Descendants 2, Zombies, the upcoming Descendants 3 as well as Disney’s feature film Kim Possible and most-recently the critically acclaimed Raven’s Home Remix – The Musical.

The Heavyweights other endeavors include writing and producing Shontelle’s “Battle Cry,” which received the historic honor of being an official theme song for the Obama campaign, as well as being included on the official Obama Campaign CD. The Heavyweights also wrote and produced Wayne Brady’s critically-acclaimed debut album “A Long Time Coming,” which resulted in a 2009 GRAMMY- nomination for Brady’s vocal performance on the Sam Cooke classic, “A Change Is Gonna Come.” In 2015 the Heavyweights work resulted in their second GRAMMY-nominated vocal for Hidden Beach Recordings Artist, Angie Fisher, for the song “I.R.S.”

Jack, who serves as a board member of Songwriters of North America (SONA), is committed to fighting for creators’ rights.   He continues to consistently write great songs and put his stamp on great talent.

Jared is a transactional attorney focused on the intersection of music and technology. He serves as general counsel of Bleeker, a public benefit corporation dedicated to putting underrepresented talent in the driver’s seat of their careers. Bleeker is a management consulting, coaching and recruiting business advising executives and creatives in music, media, technology and consumer products.

Previously, as an associate at WilmerHale in New York and Stubbs Alderton & Markiles in Los Angeles, Jared advised hundreds of startups and creative companies on corporate governance, venture capital investments, IP licensing transactions, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, employee matters and securities law compliance.

Best known as the lead singer of Boston-based alternative rock band Letters to Cleo, which released three albums between 1990-2000, spawning such hits as “Awake” and “Here and Now.”

After a 14-year hiatus, Letters To Cleo reunited in 2014 to appear as themselves on NBC’s Parks + Recreation. Shortly thereafter, they began releasing new music and embarked on several sold-out US tours They are currently working on their 4th full length studio album.

In the late 90’s, Ms. Hanley began expanding her work as a singer and songwriter, providing the singing voice for Rachael Leigh Cook’s character Josie in Universal Pictures’ feature film Josie and the Pussycats and performing cover versions of Nick Lowe’s “Cruel to be Kind” and Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” in Touchstone Pictures’ hit film 10 Things I Hate About You, a film in which Hanley also appeared on screen.

The past decade has seen Kay laser-focused on a career writing and producing music for TV animation. After finishing a Peabody Award winning, five- season dream job composing music for Disney Jr’s groundbreaking hit series, Doc McStuffins, Hanley and longtime writing partner, Michelle Lewis have continued to pursue projects that inspire them. Their songs can currently be found on Disney Jr’s Vampirina and Muppet Babies, Netflix/Dreamworks’ Harvey Street Kids, Disney Channel’s Sydney To The Max, and Cartoon Network’s new DC Super Hero Girls.

Ms. Hanley and Ms. Lewis are co-executive directors of Songwriters Of North America (SONA), a non-profit that advocates for the protection of songs and songwriters in the digital music marketplace.

Lauren Christy’s journey into music began at the age of five when she found a piano buried in the garden at her parents’ house in South London. As a child at the Bush Davies Theatrical School in East Grinstead, Sussex, she first dreamed of a career as a ballet dancer. But the piano drew Lauren’s attention in every dance studio.

“I was driven by the motion of sound, rather than the movement to sound,” she recalls. During that pivotal period, Lauren made her first attempts at songwriting with her close friend at the school, who happened to be the daughter of songwriter Tony Hatch (“Downtown”). It was then she slowly realized songwriting was what she really wanted to do.

By the age of 19, she was recording her own songs, soon signing her first publishing deal with EMI, followed by a record deal at Mercury Records at age 21.  Relocating to Los Angeles, she started work on her first album with producer and Carpenters guitarist Tony Peluso. That debut album, Lauren Christy, garnered her a nomination for Best New Artist at the 1994 American Music Awards. Lauren’s single, “The Color of the Night,” was a Top 10 AC hit and landed her a nomination for Best Song in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes.

As Lauren started a family, she reinvented herself again as the co-creator of hit production team The Matrix. Alongside creative partners Graham Edwards and Scott Spock, the trio wrote and produced the worldwide phenomenon Avril Lavigne’s debut album “Let Go,” which included three international number-one hits- “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi” and “I’m With You” – selling 25 million copies. For “Complicated,” the Matrix trio won the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for International Hit of The Year as well as receiving seven GRAMMY nominations: Song of the Year in 2003 for “Complicated” and again in 2004 for “I’m With You” along with Producer of the Year. (Lauren is one of only seven women ever to be nominated.) Christy is also a two-time Juno award winner and a BMI Songwriter of the Year Award recipient.

The Matrix has sold more than 30 million records and has worked with artists including Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz (“The Remedy”), Shakira (“Don’t Bother”), Liz Phair (“Why Can’t I”), Korn (“Coming Undone” “Twisted Transister”), David Bowie (“New Killer Star”), Christina Aguilera (“This Year”), Ricky Martin (“This Is Good”), Britney Spears (“Shadow”), Hillary Duff (“So Yesterday”), Ferras (“Hollywood’s Not America”), Busted (“Three AM”), Tokio Hotel (“Human Connect to Human”), Rihanna (“Cheers”), Grayson Chance (“Hold On To The Night”) among many others.

Entering her fourth decade as a music professional, this one-time dancer can be found six days a week raising kids and making music. Working closely with Donna Caseine and Golnar Khosrowshahi at Reservoir, Lauren’s recent independent work includes Enrique Iglesias’s worldwide number one hit “Tonight I’m Loving You,” as well as 

songs recorded by a dazzling and diverse list of artists including Chris Medina, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Derulo, Headley, Bebe Rexha, Me Myself and I, Dua Lipa, Iggy Azalea, Avril Lavigne, The Struts, KORN and Jenn Bostic. 

Lauren recently started her own record label, Youth Be Served Records (YBS Records). The first signing was artist Jenn Bostic, whose Take My Hand EP entered the iTunes Christian chart at #11. The label’s second signing, Australian artist Tassia Zappia, saw the debut single “You Don’t Want Me” earn more than half a million streams shortly after release. And the latest signing, Rosse, just signed a publishing deal with Merck Mercuriadis’s Hipgnosis Songs and is about to drop her first release.

Lauren is currently enjoying working with her daughters Georgia Christy Edwards and Sophie Skye Edwards on their band SkyeChrist, and they have recently released their first two singles, “Sending Light (for Lucas)” and “Black Lake.”

“It’s such a blessing to get to make records for a living and help people achieve their vision,” she says.  “I want to keep doing this until I die. Just bury me with my piano!”

Lauren is an attorney at the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP.  She is a passionate advocate for musicians and focuses her practice on shaping proposed policy for the benefit of artists. 

Before joining the firm, Lauren worked as a counsel in the United States Senate.  She originally met the SONA team during the fight for the passage of the Music Modernization Act.  A lifelong music enthusiast, Lauren was immediately drawn to the group’s focus on how creators would be impacted by the legislation.  Then and now, she particularly appreciates SONA’s work to engage and educate their members on the laws and policies that affect songwriters.

 While her work means that she spends most of her time in Washington, D.C., Lauren is a proud lifelong Georgian.  She graduated from Georgia Tech and Mercer Law School, and she returns home to Thomasville, GA whenever she can.

Mark’s practice emphasizes the proactive management of the tax and financial affairs of a variety of people who work in film, television, music and technology. His clientele also includes touring acts, international executives and entrepreneurs, and other high net worth individuals and their businesses.

Mark sees his role as providing the peace of mind that allows his clients to focus on both their professional and personal interests while knowing that their financial matters are in good hands. Financial and business management is complicated, challenging and shifts constantly. Markets can be volatile; tax laws change and risks exist today that did not exist just a few short years ago. Mark oversees his clients’ affairs by providing budgeting and cash flow planning as well as incorporating insurance review, estate and tax planning into his management activities.

In addition he works closely with Manifest Works, an organization dedicated to workforce development and job placement for those affected by foster care, homelessness and incarceration, to make sure they comply with the various tax rules that apply to charities.

Michelle Lewis is an Emmy-winning songwriter & composer based in Los Angeles, as well as a highly-influential music creators’ rights advocate. The daughter of musicians, she spent her early career in New York City as a recording artist signed to Irving Azoff’s Giant Records after attending Columbia University.  But it was upon moving to LA that she had her first radio hit as a songwriter with Cher’s “A Different Kind of Love Song” in 2002.  She spent the next 10 years as a go-to top-liner and songwriter, writing hits including the worldwide #1 single “Wings” by the British girl group Little Mix.  

For the last decade, Michelle 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 Jr’s hit show, Doc McStuffins and Emmy-nominated songwriter of the beloved Nickelodeon series The Loud House. She and her co-writers won an Emmy this past year for Outstanding Original Song for “Unsaid Emily” from the Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms. She has over a half-dozen TV themes currently airing; including Doc McStuffins, The Loud House, Ada Twist, The Harvey Street Kids, Sydney 2 the Max and DC Super Hero Girls.  

Michelle is solidly situated on the leading edge of issues facing songwriters as evidenced by her many roles: as SONA’s executive director; as a member of ASCAP’s Board of Directors; as an LA Chapter board member of the Recording Academy, as well as serving on the executive committee of the Music Peer Group for the Television Academy. She is deeply committed to the ongoing fight to make streaming royalty rates more fair to creators, to the education and empowerment of creators through metadata, to the implementation and utilization of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) and to the fight for songwriters to get healthcare and workplace safety standards in place.  In 2019 she won the California Copyright Coalition’s (CCC) Apollo Award and was on Rolling Stone’s “Future 25” list.

Born in Chester, and raised in Cambridge, England, Michelle began playing the piano at age seven and started composing original music very soon after.  At 22 she moved to Los Angeles and started playing the local club circuit. Her songs started garnering the attention of music supervisors, and soon her music was featured in many TV shows.

By 2008 she was signed to a publishing deal at Windswept Pacific/BUG Music/BMG  She has had cuts with French artist Nolwenn Leroy, French DJ Quentin Mosi (winners Star Academy) and Danish artist Teitur Lassen as well as leant her vocals to many DJ projects throughout Europe.

To date, Michelle’s music has been featured on every major US network and has served to enhance the drama on shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Parenthood, Las Vegas, One Tree Hill, Smallville, How I Met Your Mother and Ghost Whisperer, as well as document the ‘real life’ trials on shows such as MTV’s The Hills and The City as well as So You Think You Can Dance, Biggest Loser and America’s Funniest Video’s.

Not limited to the small screen, Michelle’s music can be heard in many films, including Peaceful Warrior, Captivity, Sherrybaby, and Disney’s Bridge to Terabithia. Her songs and voice can be heard in Trailers (CBS Films 7500) and commercials (Canon Camera, Travelers Insurance) and in 2014 she scored the feature film Muffin Top.

Always writing and collaborating, Michelle has written and produced several CDs of music, experimenting with different styles and genres. As well as her own music, Michelle lends her songwriting, vocals and production to an Electronica project entitled ‘Pplrs’ with producer Chris Thompson and a children’s project entitled “Toozigoots” alongside long-time songwriting partner Meg Toohey (The Cold and Lovely, Waitress the Musical)

Michelle has also been a reoccurring volunteer at Rock and Roll Girls Camp Los Angeles since 2012, and a visiting songwriter at WriteGirl LA.

Shay M. Lawson is the managing attorney at the Atlanta-based intellectual property and entertainment Law Firm of Lawson McKinley.  She serves as co-chair of SONA’s DE&I committee in addition to two consecutive terms as a board member for the Atlanta Chapter of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYS®) as co-chair of advocacy. Shay has been recognized by Billboard magazine as a top music lawyer, and her work protecting clients has been featured by Black Enterprise, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Atlanta Business Chronicle and Essence. Prior to launching her law firm in 2016, Shay worked in varying capacities across the DE&I landscape as a thought leader for organizations seeking to recruit and retain diverse talent and clients. She is an alumna of Hampton University and Case Western Reserve University College of Law and holds a certificate in Minority Political Leadership from the Grace E. Harris Leadership School at Virginia Commonwealth University.

She is best known for penning culturally resonant, female-empowerment anthems such as Christina Aguilera’s No. 1 smash, “What a Girl Wants” and Meredith Brooks’ GRAMMY-nominated, “Bitch.” 

Shelly has written for Jessie J, Keith Urban, Britney Spears, Brandy, SmashMouth, Natasha Bedingfield, Reba, Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus, INXS, Backstreet Boys, Michelle Branch, DiVinyls, Pretenders, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Her songs have appeared in numerous films and TV shows such as The Blind Side, The Hot Chick, Princess Diaries, Center Stage, What A Girl Wants, What Women Want, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Raising Helen, A Walk To Remember, The Bourne Identity, Orange Is The New Black, Glee, Orphan Black, Smash, 30 Rock, and Grey’s Anatomy. 

Shelly is also an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)  

Her memoir Confessions Of A Serial Songwriter which chronicles her journey from a young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to writing hits of her own, earned her a second GRAMMY-nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. 

Her experiences, accomplishments and the circles in which she has traveled give her a unique perspective on the music business: that of a professional woman who fought her way into a highly competitive industry, found a way to succeed, balanced a thriving career with a family and who has witnessed firsthand the changes that have turned the industry upside down. 

Along with her SONA colleagues, Shelly has found great purpose in advocating for creators’ rights while at the same time staying true to her first love:  the often elusive but always immensely satisfying act of writing a great song. You can follow her musings about the life of a professional songwriter in her popular Serial Songwriter blog.

Siddhartha Khosla is a three-time Emmy-nominated film and television composer, singer/songwriter and producer of the band Goldspot.

He received Emmy nominations in 2021 and 2019 for Outstanding Music Composition For a Series and in 2020 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for his original song, “Memorized,” (shared with Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith) for his work on NBC’s Emmy-winning drama series, This Is Us, now in its sixth season. After playing in a hugely powerful montage to end the episode, “Memorized” skyrocketed to the #1 spot on the Billboard Soundtrack Song charts and #13 overall. 

Sidd has the distinction of being the first South Asian person to be nominated in the Primetime Emmy score and song categories.

He also co-composed the hit song, “We Can Always Come Back To This” for the show, which ranked #12 overall and #1 in the Billboard Blues charts for four consecutive weeks. His original songs “Memorized,” “Invisible Ink” and “We Can Always Come Back To This” earned Guild of Music Supervisors Award nominations for Best Song/Recording for Television.

Among Sidd’s most recent projects are Hulu’s popular hit comedy/crime series Only Murders in the Building starring Steve Martin and Martin Short; Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly’s comedy film Queenpins starring Kristen Bell and Vince Vaughn; Amazon’s dramedy film I Want You Back directed by Jason Orley and starring Jenny Slate; and the upcoming Netflix comedy Your Place Or Mine, directed by Aline Brosh McKenna and starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher.

His television and film credits include the critically-acclaimed Hulu limited series, Looking for Alaska; Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu; the 2019 Netflix hip-hop drama feature Beats; the indie drama feature The Sounding from director Catherine Eaton starring Frankie Faison and Teddy Sears (winner of 17 awards including Festival Grand Prizes from several festivals including Woodstock, Bend, Istanbul, Napa, and Cinequest); and the comedy feature film, Fat Camp.

In November 2013, Sidd was invited as the musical guest for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Diwali celebration at the White House, where he delivered an emotional performance of several of his original songs. He has also been performing his music from This Is Us for audiences worldwide including those in Los Angeles at the Ford Theatre and at the MOSMA Festival in Málaga, Spain.