About Marc

More about Marc

Have you noticed the excerpt of handwritten music on the upper left corner of each page of this web site? It isn’t clip art. Clip art would look better. That music, in my barely legible hand, is the “A” section to an up-tempo swing number I wrote called “The Only Thing That Keeps Me Sane Is Song.” And yes, I gave myself permission to post my copyrighted intellectual property on this web site.

Doing the occasional gig or sitting at the piano at an open mic night at various clubs around Manhattan is something that does keep me sane after spending a lot of time helping other people deal with their legal problems. It also keeps me connected to the creative side of the music business as I’ve spent most of my career on the business side.

For example, from 2006-2008, I ran the New York office of Boosey & Hawkes, the classical music publishing company representing composers such as Adams, Bartok, Britten, Carter, Copland, Rachmaninoff, Reich and Stravinsky. I was responsible for Boosey’s North American business. I streamlined operations and increased profitability while also overseeing all licensing and contractual matters. I led the company’s group-wide expansion into jazz, personally signing renowned artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, David Benoit and Andrew Hill as well as the estate of Charles Mingus. I also formed the New York office’s synchronization licensing department, which markets the catalogue to music supervisors, ad agencies and film and TV production companies .

Here’s some more about my background and experience:

Prior to joining Boosey in 2004 as Vice President, Business Affairs, Marc was a Senior Attorney at BMI, where he prosecuted copyright infringement lawsuits throughout the country, defended the company in cases involving songwriters, publishers and labels and advised management on legislation affecting songwriters. From 1995 until joining BMI in 1998, Marc was the General Counsel of Second Floor Music, a boutique music publisher specializing in jazz. Before entering the music business, Marc was in private practice with a large international firm and a mid-size firm in New York where he concentrated in commercial litigation.

Marc is a requested speaker at various industry forums and educational institutions, including a recent music industry panel on internet marketing and analytics. He has taught recording industry and music publishing courses to Arts Administration majors with a concentration in music at Westminster College of the Arts of Rider University and is currently supervising an independent study on starting a business relating to classical music. He is also a member of the online faculty of BMI’s Songwriter 101 web site (www.songwriter101.com), where he writes articles about the music business. Marc is also a contributor to the fourth edition of the leading treatise, Kohn on Music Licensing (Aspen Press 2010), having provided material on printed music, preparation and rental of performance materials and grand rights licensing.

I’m also an avid tennis player and I cultivate my annual farmer’s tan on the grass courts of the historic West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, where the US Open used to be played and where I served time as club Secretary. During the winter months, members and their guests can hear me go into lounge lizard mode at Friday evening happy hours where I play cocktail classics like “The Girl From Ipanema” and “The Way You Look Tonight.” During the holiday season, I posted my song, “Let’s Have a Jewish Christmas,” on YouTube and on my other web site, www.marcostrowmusic.com, where it was enthusiastically received by my family and friends. And I’ll keep writing more songs until somebody pays me to stop.

Teaching and Speaking Engagements

Adjunct Professor, Westminster College of the Arts of Rider University (Independent Study Supervisor, Fall Semester 2011; Seminar on the Recording Industry, Spring Semester 2011; Seminar on Copyright and Music Publishing, Fall semester 2010)

Featured Speaker, Juilliard Composers’ Forum (October 2010, May 2005)

Featured Speaker, Pace Law School / Hudson Valley Bank CLE on Music Law (May 2010)

Panelist, MAC, Business of Cabaret (March 2010)

Panelist, MIDEM Jazz panels (January 2009)

Panelist, International Association for Jazz Education (January 2008)

Featured Speaker, Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus (November 2007; March, 2005)

Moderator, Association of Independent Music Publishers (Internet Marketing and Analytics Panel, February 2010; Sheet Music Panel, May 2009; YouTube Litigation Panel, September 2007; Grand Rights Panel, May 2006)

Featured Speaker, Manhattan School of Music (May 2007)

Judge, Semifinals, BMI/Cardozo I.P. Moot Court Competition (2005-2006)

Panelist, American Intellectual Property Law Association (Mid-Winter 2004; Annual 2003; Spring, 2001)

Featured Speaker, New York Intellectual Property Lawyer’s Association (December, 2002)

Articles

Getting Permission To Use Copyrighted Texts In Musical Works (www.songwriter101.com, October 2010)

Composing for Orchestras and Other Ensembles, Part II: Doing The Deal (www.songwriter101.com, September 2010)

Composing for Orchestras and Other Ensembles, Part I: Getting The Gig (www.songwriter101.com, August 2010)

Letter to the Editor, New York Times Magazine, November 30, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/magazine/30Letters-t-WHATISARTFOR_LETTERS.html?ref=magazine)

Co-author, “Music Industry to MP3: Resistance Is Futile” Corporate Counsel, July 2000.

Press

Marc has twice been profiled in Billboard (April 17, 2007 and billboard.biz September 10, 2008) as well as in Larry LeBlanc’s Celebrity Access Industry Profile (November 2008)

Memberships

Association of Independent Music Publishers (Board Member, NY Chapter, 2007-2010)

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NY Chapter)

Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

*****

Music Publishers’ Association (Board Member and Chair, Copyright and Licensing Committee, 2005-2009)

ASCAP Symphonic and Concert Music Committee (Publisher Member, 2006-2008)

Education

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. B.A magna cum laude 1986.

University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, Illinois. J.D. 1989.

Admitted to Practice

Licensed to practice law in New York state and federal (SDNY and EDNY) courts since 1990.