Meet the ASCAP Board

A writer member of ASCAP for over 40 years, Richard Bellis has scored more than 45 films and television movies and received an Emmy Award for the original score to Stephen King's IT, as well as nominations for HBO's Doublecrossed and ABC's Double, Double, Toil and Trouble. Bellis is not only a score composer but a songwriter as well. He has written songs for the Disney Theme Parks, the Olsen Twins and many of the movies he's scored. His sense of community among music creators has led to over two decades of service. Bellis taught at USC in the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program for 11 years followed by teaching several courses for UCLA's Extension program and lecturing internationally. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as President of The Society of Composers and Lyricists and, for the past 20 years, acted as host/mentor of The ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis. His book, The Emerging Film Composer: An Introduction to the People, Problems and Psychology of the Film Music Business, is highly regarded by educators and industry professionals alike. Bellis is currently serving on the Board of Directors of ASCAP.

Based in New York, Mary Megan is peermusic's Deputy CEO. Founded by her grandfather Ralph S. Peer, peermusic is an independent global music publishing company with offices in 28 countries. With well over a quarter of a million titles in its catalog, peermusic works in all genres including pop and rock, urban, Latin, classical, country and blues. For over 90 years, peermusic has consistently and relentlessly broken new ground by becoming home to some of the best and brightest talent in music. peermusic proudly represents songwriters as diverse as Hoagy Carmichael ("Stardust"), Jimmie Davis ("You Are My Sunshine"), Perez Prado ("Mambo #5"), Donovan ("Mellow Yellow"), Liam Sternberg ("Walk Like an Egyptian"), Morten Lauridsen ("Lux Aeterna"), Tricky Stewart (Single Ladies) and James Giannos ("Bieber's No Pressure"). Peermusic takes pride in its extensive global network of local offices and the close collaboration of its writers and staff across international borders. The company provides boutique-like attention to its writers while offering a global reach no other independent company can provide. Mary Megan's responsibilities include overseeing peermusic offices in Asia and Brazil. From 2011 to 2013, Mary Megan was the Managing Director of peermusic's Buenos Aires office, representing both local and international writers in Argentina. peermusic's first office in Latin America was in Argentina and today the company has more offices on the continent than any other international music publisher. peermusic proudly represents a wide range of works from this influential region, from classic 1930s tangos to today's Rock en Español and urban bachata. Before joining peermusic in 2009, Mary Megan worked in investment banking, advising media and entertainment companies on their M&A and financial strategies at Piper Jaffrey and Jefferies. Mary Megan holds a BA with honors from Stanford University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

For nearly three decades, songwriter-producer Desmond Child has reigned as one of music's most successful creative forces. His accolades include Grammy awards, over 70 Top 40 singles and songs that have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide. Child's career has been highlighted by a stunning array of diversity. His collaborations run the gamut: from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith to Ricky Martin, from KISS to Kelly Clarkson, from Cher to Katy Perry. Child's experience as a recording artist played a role in his songwriting future. His songs caught the ear of KISS guitarist Paul Stanley. The result was "I Was Made for Lovin' You," which is still one of the biggest hits in the KISS catalog. Stanley then passed Child's phone number to New Jersey rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. The three ended up in the basement of Sambora's parents' house, where they penned Bon Jovi's first #1 single, "You Give Love a Bad Name." The collaborations continued with more chart-toppers like "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Bad Medicine." Child soon began duplicating the feat with Aerosmith - "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)," "Angel" and "Crazy," among others. During the same period, he co-wrote Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and all of the tracks on Alice Cooper's Trash LP (including the hit single "Poison"). Child began branching out, co-penning songs with Michael Bolton, Cher and more. In the late '90s, Child returned to his Latin heritage via collaborations with Ricky Martin, including the #1 smash "Livin' La Vida Loca" and the 1998 World Cup Theme "The Cup of Life," which hit #1 in 22 countries around the world. Child and Martin recently had another high charting album with Música + Alma + Sexo. Other recent projects include: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry and new artists De La Torre and The Hummous. Desmond Child was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008 and serves on its Board.

Irwin Z. Robinson is Vice President, Industry Affairs for Cromwell Music. Headquartered in New York, Robinson formerly served as Chairman of Paramount Allegra Music, the worldwide music publishing division of Viacom's Paramount Pictures. Prior to Paramount Allegra, Robinson served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Famous Music Publishing. At Famous, Robinson's mandate was to grow the company domestically and internationally. Within eight years, Famous had moved solidly into the mainstream of contemporary music by streamlining and modernizing its operations, dramatically expanding its catalogue and activities and moving aggressively into the global arena. When Viacom sold Famous to Sony/ATV in 2007, it was ranked as one of the industry's top 10 companies. Before leading Famous, Robinson headed two of the industry's leading international music publishing companies - the Chappell/Intersong Music Group-USA and EMI Music Publishing Worldwide. He was appointed President of the legendary Chappell/Intersong in 1977, serving concurrently as Senior Vice President of parent company Chappell and Company, Inc., starting in 1985. After the merger of Chappell and Warner Bros. Music in 1987, he was asked to re-join EMI and was named President and Chief Executive of EMI Music Publishing Worldwide. Robinson was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1962. In 1964, he joined Screen Gems-Columbia Music as House Counsel and subsequently became Vice President and General Manager. Robinson held that position following EMI's purchase and consolidation of the company into Screen Gems-EMI Music, Inc. As one of the music publishing industry's most dynamic and innovative leaders, Robinson was honored with the prestigious Abe Olman Publisher Award for lifetime achievement in music publishing at the 29th Annual Songwriters' Hall of Fame Awards Dinner and Induction Ceremony on June 10, 1998. He is presently Chairman of the Board of the National Music Publishers Assocation and the Harry Fox Agency. He is a member of the ASCAP Board of Directors and serves on the Executive Committee of both ASCAP and NMPA. Robinson is also on the Board of the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and has served as a trustee of the U.S. Copyright Society.

Caroline Bienstock is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlin America, Inc., the company her father, music publishing titan and Carlin Chairman Freddy Bienstock, named for her. She is currently celebrating her 24th year with the family business. A New York City native, Bienstock graduated cum laude from Yale College before earning her JD at Boston University School of Law. She then worked as an associate at the New York office of the prestigious Chicago law firm Seyfarth Shaw Fairweather and Geraldson. Subsequently, she earned an MBA from the Wharton School, and then worked in the Private Client Services division at Goldman, Sachs and Co., before beginning her tenure at Carlin America. In her present post, Bienstock's areas of concentration include the Carlin operation in Nashville, the organization wide expansion into film music acquisitions and licensing, catalog growth and administration and the Carlin Music Publishing Canada Inc. subsidiary. Bienstock also currently serves on the Boards of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and the Harry Fox Agency. She is the Executive Director of the New York Chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP). Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Panel of the BMI Foundation and on the Board of Directors of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. She is also a Member of both the Copyright Society and the Entertainment and Sports Law section of the New York State Bar Association.

Bruce Broughton works in many styles and eclectic venues, but is best known for his film scores to Silverado, Tombstone, Lost in Space, The Rescuers Down Under, Miracle on 34th Street the Homeward Bound adventures; his television themes to JAG, Dinosaurs and Tiny Toon Adventures; TV mini-series Roughing It, The Blue and Gray, True Women; TV movies (Warm Springs, the two Eloise films) and countless episodes of TV series such as Dallas, Quincy and Hawaii Five-O. He has been nominated for an Oscar, a Grammy and 22 Emmys, having won the latter award a record 10 times. He has composed music for many of the Disney theme park attractions throughout the world, and wrote the first orchestral score for a CD-ROM game, Heart of Darkness. Broughton conducted and supervised the recording of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" for Fantasia 2000, and has recorded critically acclaimed performances of classic film scores by Miklos Rozsa and Bernard Herrmann. As a composer of concert music, Broughton has composed many works for orchestra, among them a popular tuba concerto, a piccolo concerto, the children's fantasy The Magic Horn for narrator and orchestra, and has had his works commissioned and performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony and by members of the San Francisco Symphony. In addition, he has numerous published works for band and chamber groups. Broughton is Chairman of the Music Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a past president of The Society of Composers and Lyricists and a former governor of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is a lecturer in music composition and orchestration at UCLA and has taught film composition at the University of Southern California. Broughton currently serves on the ASCAP Board of Directors.

Trained as an oboist at the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, Jim Kendrick began his publishing career in 1977 helping to establish European American Music (EAM) before studying law. Following graduation from Rutgers Law School in 1983, he specialized in intellectual property matters with a particular emphasis on the music and audio-visual industries. In addition to practicing law, Kendrick has also served as Chief Executive Officer of Boosey and Hawkes, Inc. He rejoined EAM in March 2002. Kendrick became a director of ASCAP in 2007 and was named Treasurer in 2008. Kendrick is also Secretary and a Director of The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., The Amphion Foundation, Inc., the Virgil Thomson Foundation Ltd., The Koussevitzky Music Foundation and The Charles Ives Society, Inc. He also is a director of New Music USA and a member of the Advisory Committee of the Alice M. Ditson Fund. He is a member of the Executive Committee of The International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, and counsel to the Music Publishers Association of the United States and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is a frequent speaker on copyright and music industry business practices both in the US and overseas.

Paul Williams is one of the most beloved and respected music creators in the world. An Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning Hall of Fame songwriter, his songs, from "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" to "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "The Rainbow Connection," have touched millions of people for generations. As President and Chairman of ASCAP, he is also a leading spokesman for music creators in the digital age. Williams' standards have been recorded by such diverse musical icons as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Jason Mraz, The Carpenters and Kermit The Frog, among others. In 2014, Williams earned an Album of the Year Grammy for co-writing two songs which he also performs, "Touch" and "Beyond," with Daft Punk on their critically-acclaimed album Random Access Memories. Williams is currently working with Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro and Argentine composer Gustavo Santaolalla on a stage musical adaptation of del Toro's acclaimed film Pan's Labyrinth.

Michelle Lewis is a fierce New Yorker now based in LA, where she is a singer, songwriter, composer, and music creators' rights advocate. From her early career as a recording artist signed to Irving Azoff's Giant Records, to her first radio hit, Cher's "A Different Kind of Love Song" in 2002, to the 2014 worldwide #1 single "Wings" by the British girl group Little Mix, Ms. Lewis brings authenticity, grit, and heart to a diverse array of music projects. For the last decade, Ms. Lewis has branched out into the world of songwriting for TV and film projects, most notably as a Peabody Award-winning composer of all original music for Disney Jr.'s hit show, Doc McStuffins, now beginning production of its 5th season. She also received her first Emmy nomination in 2016 for her work as a composer on the Nickelodeon show, Bubble Guppies, and has composed the theme songs to many other beloved animated series. In 2014, Ms. Lewis co-founded the non-profit Songwriters Of North America (SONA). As Executive Director of SONA, she is deeply connected to the music creator community and is committed to growing the number of informed songwriters and composers able to advocate on their own behalves. She regularly communicates with leaders from Silicon Valley to Washington DC, fighting for the protection of songwriters and the value of musical works in the digital age. She is not afraid of taking action - SONA is the songwriter organization that sued the Department of Justice over its 100% licensing ruling in 2016.

Zach Katz currently serves as BMG US President, Repertoire and Marketing, spearheading both music publishing and recordings. Katz and his team are in charge of BMG US rosters including music publishing star writers such as Bruno Mars, will.i.am, DJ Snake, John Legend, Pitbull, Frank Ocean and Quincy Jones and recordings artists such as Blink-182, Janet Jackson, Alabama, Iron Maiden, Scarface and OK Go. While currently based in BMG's Los Angeles office, Katz is also responsible for BMG teams in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville, as well as Rise Records in Portland, Oregon. Katz began his career at BMG in 2012 as Chief Creative Officer and his appointment to President came just four months after he was promoted to President of Music Publishing, BMG US, leading the company's creative teams in the LA, New York and Nashville offices. Katz brought BMG a run of chart success which boosted the company's market share to double digits. Key signings Katz has overseen include Bebe Rexha, DJ Snake, Monsters and Strangerz, John Ryan, Bibi Bourelly, The Strokes, Greg Wells, Verse Simmonds, Gente De Zona and Nathaniel Rateliff. He currently serves on the National Music Publishers' Association Board of Directors. Prior to BMG, Katz co-founded record label Beluga Heights with his client/partner JR Rotem, where they scored multi-million dollar album sales and tens of millions of singles sales with artists including Jason Derulo and Sean Kingston. Previously, he served as GM of Groove Attack USA. He began his career in 1996 as a music attorney.