How much changes in a year. Last year's Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Grammy Week Event took place during a recording business boom, when artificial intelligence was still an issue on the horizon and TikTok seemed like a surefire way to meet new artists. This year's event, held on Friday (February 2), took place amid a boom shadowed by clouds of uncertainty, including a difficult environment for young artists, a restructuring of Universal Music Group's labels and what looks like the start of a battle with TikTok.
The winner of this year's ELI writing competition, a law student Olivia Fortunato, wrote about the idea of a federal right of publicity after the massacre — a topic that was barely on the radar of most lawyers a year ago. The keynote speaker, president/CEO of Capitol Music Group Michelle Jubelirer, seemed to hint that the label's run may be coming to an end. And the Entertainment Law Initiative Service Award, Atlantic executive vice president of operations and legal affairs/general counsel Michael Kushnermentioned how much the industry has changed since the CD era in a way that could be taken as a sign of more changes to come.
Jubelirer's speech drew a lot of attention, coming a day after Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a restructuring of its labels that would give President/CEO of Republic Monte Lipman head of the company's East Coast labels and president/CEO of Interscope John Janick responsible for its western shores. This raises some questions about the future of Capitol Music Group that Jubelirer's speech did not answer, but did drop a hint. (A public relations representative for Capitol declined to comment.)
Jubelirer said her mantra was one question: “Am I changing the record label more than me?” When he was standing at the event, “I'm dealing with this very assessment,” he said. “Asking myself that very question. And, for the first time in a long time, I'm not so sure about the answer.”
Most of her speech was more upbeat: She talked about growing up in Altoona, Penn., as a Guns N' Roses fan. how did he go from an M&A law job at Sony to the music law firm now known as King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano? and her time at Capitol Music Group, where she worked with Katy Perry, Paul McCartney and, most recently, Ice Spice. He also praised several mentors and friends, including the CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group Jody Gersonand took a moment to point out to her mom, “the silver ballast over there.”
President/CEO of Atlantic Music Group Julie Greenwald presented the ELI Service Award to Kushner, who has worked closely with her and the president/CEO of Atlantic Craig Kalman. Kushner came to Atlantic after stints at Universal, Sony and PolyGram, where he began at the same time as Sony Music Entertainment executive vice president of corporate affairs/general counsel Julie Swindler. After Greenwald's speech, Kushner received the usual video tribute, full of praise both serious and silly.
Kushner then talked about the importance of mentoring and the changes he's seen in the music industry, where the only constant seems to be change itself.
