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Chasing Your Money – What’s In It For Me?

June 24, 2021 @ 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm PDT

WITH
MICHAEL EAMES
RENE MEREDITH

MODERATED BY JOHN DEFARIA
SCL SongArts LA Committee

THURSDAY, JUNE 24
5:00-6:30pm PT // 8:00-9:30pm ET
YouTube Live Stream

Navigating the maze of royalty income for Independent Music Artists and Composers looking to maximize their earning potential in today’s Music Business.

  • How do you maximize your earning potential?
  • What different licensing royalties are there?
  • What about independent distribution and neighboring rights?
  • What mistakes should you avoid?

This is about what royalty streams are available and what musicians, composers, and songwriters can do to get every penny they deserve.

Michael Eames is a trained composer, songwriter, and pianist who majored in music at Cornell University and completed the Certificate Program in Film Scoring at UCLA Extension; Michael also secured a minor in Business Management from Cornell. As president of PEN, Michael oversees all aspects of the operation as well as focuses on pitching the catalogue to all media and business development. Michael was chosen to serve (along with 4 other independent music publishers and 5 songwriters) on the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee (UROC) of The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) that commenced blanket mechanical licensing of the digital services in the U.S. on January 1, 2021. Michael also proudly serves on the Independent Publishers Advisory Council (IPAC) of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). Immediately prior to starting PEN, Michael oversaw the international and film & TV departments of Don Williams Music Group where he was responsible for song catalogs such as Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, and Roy Orbison among numerous others. He also worked previously for Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and the management and music supervision firms The Derek Power Co and Seth Kaplan Entertainment. Michael served as the National President of the Association Of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) from 2015-2018 and served as its National Vice President from 2013-2014.

Michael wrote the music publishing section of the Hal Leonard/Rowman & Littlefield-published book entitled Five Star Music Makeover: The Independent Artist’s Guide for Singers, Songwriters, Bands, Producers and Self Publishers (2016) and is co-author (with Bobby Borg) of the upcoming book Introduction To Music Publishing For Musicians to be published by Rowman & Littlefield in July 2021. He is a frequent guest speaker in both real and virtual classrooms and panel discussions worldwide and co-teaches (with Bobby Borg) the online UCLA Extension class Music Publishing: A Creative And Business Perspective.

Rene Merideth is the Co-Founder and COO of Exploration, a media management, and technology company headquartered in Los Angeles. She is primarily responsible for copyright, licensing, and royalties. Exploration is proud to be the company of choice to compile and administer the metadata identifying much of the world’s most important media. Rene graduated from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee with a degree in Music Business, after which she quickly climbed the music publishing ranks. Starting as a Mechanical Licensing Manager at Windswept, she has since served as the Director of Licensing at Bug Music, Director of Licensing at BMG Chrysalis, and VP of Operations at AdShare. Rene has been a speaker and writer at events and publications produced by Billboard, the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP), the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP), Songwriters of North America (SONA), the Grammy Foundation, the Recording Academy, and is a board member of the California Copyright Conference (CCC). In addition, she hosts her own podcast called Red Dragon Sessions, where she tells stories – good and bad – about her childhood and her time on the road. Rene is also an active contributor and supporter of Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund, a non-profit organization helping young women overcome abuse and neglect.

In addition to her industry success, Rene is a renowned rugby photographer having shot hundreds of matches worldwide, including the Rugby World Cup in 2015. She is a powerful and respected voice in a male-dominated industry and a proud advocate of women’s empowerment and equality.

John DeFaria is constantly engaged in the art of music-making, whether it be as a composer, guitarist, producer, or performer. Always excited by a challenge he finds it hard to stay away from different directions in music. Whether it be contributing to the multi-platinum success of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, collaborating with producers such as Phil Ramone, George Duke, Maurice White or David Foster, or touring with Kenny Loggins, Bob James, Kitaro, and Jon Anderson of Yes, John loves stretching his talents out. “It’s always fun to try something new.” John won the ASCAP pop award for his hit song “Get On Your Feet” and also won an American Music Award for favorite Pop/Rock group with Gloria and the MSM crew. As a musician, John has recorded on numerous movie scores such as Holes, James Cameron’s Ghosts of the Abyss, Uptown Girls, and A Lot like Love. John’s adventures into composer-hood have also yielded him top commercials for Direct TV and Subaru and television shows for Lifetime, Discovery Channel, Warner Brothers Telepictures, and The Oprah Winfrey show. John worked extensively on the PBS documentary series Ocean Adventures with Jean Michelle Cousteau, which was nominated for an Emmy award for best Music and Sound Design. John also scored the Warner Brothers movie Dukes of Hazzard 2 -The Beginning John wrote the music for the Nat Geo special, And Man Created Dog which received a Golden Reel Award from the Motion Pictures Sound Editors Guild for best sound in a documentary. Recently John has scored commercials for Weathertech, Midfirst Bank, and Gilt.

*** IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ ***

FREE for current SCL members (click HERE to check membership status).

Attendees will be emailed a Screening Link upon Registration and a Q&A YouTube Live Stream link on Thursday, June 24, 10 minutes before Q&A start.

Attendees can ask questions on YouTube chat, and the SCL Host will pass them on to the Moderator. The SCL Member Code of Conduct applies to online Q&As.