CCC Webinar: Song Split Disputes – How To Get The Money Flowing

Moderators: 

Mara Schwartz Kuge | President & Founder, Superior Music Publishing

Carolyn Soyars | Manager, Copyright Licensing & Permission, Disney Music Group

Questions? Email is at [email protected]

Biographies

Mara Schwartz Kuge | President & Founder, Superior Music Publishing

Mara Kuge is President and Founder of Superior Music Corporation, a full-service music publishing and supervision company. Kuge has spent close to two decades in music publishing, including heading the Film and TV Music departments at Bug Music (now BMG) and 10th Street Entertainment (now Better Noise). She has extensive experience in both synch and A&R, having placed hundreds of songs in various media and signing major artists to publishing deals including the National, Grizzly Bear, Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama), Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), and Sleater-Kinney. Superior Music Publishing, a Los Angeles-based joint venture between Kuge and Modern Works Music Publishing, will soon be celebrating their seventh anniversary.

Kuge’s two most recent music supervision projects, “The Stand at Paxton County” and “For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close,” have both received distribution, and she is currently supervising “Jabberjaw! The Documentary,” about the legendary Los Angeles nightclub. She is a Past President of the California Copyright Conference, an Associate Member of the Guild of Music Supervisors and a professional member of NARAS.

Carolyn Soyars | Manager, Copyright Licensing & Permission, Disney Music Group

Carolyn Soyars has been active in the music world for over 20 years, both as a music rights professional and musician. Starting her music publishing career at Bug Music on Hollywood & Highland as a copyright assistant, she worked at Universal Music Publishing for 23 years handling, among many other responsibilities, split disputes and counterclaims. From 2018 to 2023 she was Manager Copyright Administration at BMG Rights Management, serving as the liaison between the sync and copyright departments, as well as working closely with the L.A. legal team. Beginning January 2024, she has taken a new role on the Copyright Licensing & Permission team at Disney Music Group. Elected to the CCC board in October of 2020, she oversees the Membership Committee, and assists with Scholarship Committee fundraising and oversight.

Corey Brulé | Senior Director, Synch Licensing, BMG Rights Management

Corey Brulé is a Senior Director of BMG’s Synch Licensing team with over a decade of experience in synch clearance & licensing. Corey specializes in negotiations for synchronization clearances for all categories including advertisements, television, films, trailers, video games, new media, and many other fields. With a specific interest in technology, Corey has had extensive experience working in advertising through digital media and assisted in developing BMG’s proprietary synch licensing software. With his extensive practice in all forms of media within the field, Corey has become a key resource at BMG and is devoted to educating and inspiring others.

Janelle Hawkes | Independent Publishing Administrator

Janelle Hawkes has worked in the entertainment industry for fifteen years throughout many mediums. Early in her career, Janelle worked at CMT and BMI in Nashville, specializing in licensing and programming, while building a wide knowledge of rights administration. Upon returning to New York, Janelle took on various business, licensing, and production roles in television and film for ABC, Warner Brothers, and Showtime, as well as various independent film companies in the area. In 2013, Janelle joined the Harry Fox Agency, leading the Licensing and Data Management teams, and later took on the position of Director of Copyright Administration and Licensing with BMG, specializing in navigating the ever-changing landscape of music right in the age of new media. She currently oversees Contract and Royalty Analysis for Loeb & Loeb, LLP, specializing in Valuations and Catalog Sales, while maintaining administrative relationships with a number of songwriters throughout Nashville. Janelle recognizes the value of a song, and uses her knowledge of licensing, registrations, copyright, and contracts on her true mission of supporting songwriters, artists, and anyone with a creative spark in their careers.

Angie Pagano | CEO, AMP Entertainment

Angie Pagano is the CEO of the multi-faceted music company, AMP Entertainment. After 15+ years at both indie and major publishing and record companies, Pagano felt the need for another female-led company in the music industry. Prior to launching AMP in 2020, Pagano was the General Manager of Artist Publishing Group and Senior Vice President of sister recording company, Artist Partner Group. For the better half of a decade, Pagano led APG in operations, business affairs, A&R, finance, synchronization, as well as the company’s overall compounding growth. Prior to APG, Pagano, who began her career at Chrysalis Music Publishing, became one of the key members responsible for the integration of Chrysalis into BMG. She was instrumental in the early building of BMG into what it is today, one of the largest publishers in the U.S. As an A&R, Pagano was involved in several hits including: Ava Max’s first album Heaven & Hell including singles Sweet but Psycho, Kings & Queens, My Head & My Heart; Fifth Harmony – Work From Home; Niall Horan – Slow Hands; Selena Gomez – Rare; Megan Thee Stallion – Diamonds (with Normani); Justin Bieber – Anyone; Tate McRae – Vicious; Kane Brown – Be Like That. Pagano’s clients have also been responsible for successes including: BTS – Butter; Justin Bieber – Holy; Ariana Grande – positions, 35+35, POV; Blackpink – Ice Cream (ft. Selena Gomez); Rihanna – Needed Me.

Maurice Russell | Head Of Rights Management, The MLC

A senior executive in the music and entertainment industry with over 20 years of experience and a deep passion for intellectual property (IP) rights management, licensing, business development, strategy, client service and operations management.

A results-driven leader with a solid track record in successfully transforming business operations through team building, process reengineering and innovative system software design and technology implementation.

An acknowledged subject matter expert with in-depth knowledge of intellectual property, licensing, data strategy and digital media who is a frequent speaker at key industry events, including Digital Music Forum, Music Biz and SXSW.

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