Songtrust Continues To Scale Its Music Publishing Administration Services Worldwide, With Its Client Base
Songtrust® today announced the promotion of three executives across key departments. Lisa Robinson has been named Vice President of Income Tracking; Anna Bond has been appointed Head of Creative and Partnerships, a newly created department; and Rob Wetstone has been promoted to Global Head of Client Relations. These appointments come as Songtrust continues to rapidly scale its music publishing administration services around the world.
“Music publishing is notoriously complex, and Songtrust’s growth wouldn’t be possible without the incredible team we have in place. The appointments of Lisa, Anna, and Rob are reflective of our departments’ ongoing expansion as we work daily to ensure that songwriters around the world are able to collect their music publishing royalties from as many pay sources as possible,” said Molly Neuman, President of Songtrust.
“With Lisa continuing to build our Income Tracking capabilities, and Anna’s new department focused on our creative strategy and business partnerships, as well as Rob’s expanded remit to songwriters all over the world, I’m very enthusiastic about what we'll be able to accomplish together this year.”
As Vice President of Income Tracking, Lisa Robinson will continue to oversee the team tasked with ensuring every Songtrust client is properly compensated for their music's usage around the world. A 20-year industry veteran who previously held roles at Harry Fox Agency and EMI Music Publishing, Robinson joined Songtrust in 2019. Under Robinson’s leadership, last year, the team submitted more than 15,000 Income Tracking claims to pay sources to proactively collect royalties for clients.
“Songtrust has ‘trust’ in its name for a reason, and that’s because it’s vital that music creators trust us and our work. Every day in the Income Tracking department, it’s our job to ensure that each and every one of our clients are properly compensated for their music's usage around the world" said Robinson, who has previously held Income Tracking roles at Harry Fox Agency and EMI Music Publishing.
“In 2020 we submitted to pay sources more than 15,000 Income Tracking claims to proactively collect royalties for our clients.”
Anna Bond will now oversee the company’s creative strategy, branding, messaging, and client-focused business partnerships as Head of Creative and Partnerships, a newly created department. Songtrust has built a reputation as the destination for comprehensive, reliable, and accessible educational materials on music publishing; in her new role, Bond will direct the company’s expanded efforts in that regard, as well as shape the way Songtrust tells its story within the broader music industry and beyond. A 15-year veteran of the music industry, she previously led the Business Development team as its Senior Director.
“Over the past two years, I’ve been thrilled to be part of Songtrust’s growth by bringing on clients from the world of independent publishers and distributors, as well as developing relationships with artist management firms, lawyers, and others who represent musicians,” said Bond.
“Communicating our offering, our differentiators, and our core values have always been a key part of my role, and I’m very excited to take on that responsibility and scale it across all of Songtrust’s channels."
In Rob Wetstone’s newly expanded role as Global Head of Client Relations, he will direct the company’s global strategy for onboarding songwriters and provide them with the ability to register their musical works with pay sources around the world and get paid for their music. Under Wetstone’s leadership, Songtrust continued to scale its client relations approach in 2020, bringing on songwriters and music companies from countries all over the world including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Taiwan, among others. Prior to Songtrust, Wetstone was a Vice President of Digital Strategy and Operations at Sony’s RED Distribution (now The Orchard).
“Every day, we hear stories of our clients from around the world, and it’s a daily testament to the importance of music in our lives, as well as the challenges music creators face with getting paid for their work regardless of their stature in the industry,” said Wetstone, who was previously VP of Digital Strategy and Operations at Sony’s RED Distribution (now The Orchard).
“A year ago when I started at Songtrust, I had said that I was energized to be here - and now, with songwriter catalogs being acquired at record rates, the need for accessible and accurate music publishing royalty payouts is more important than ever.”
These appointments come during a period of significant growth for both Songtrust and increased visibility on the importance of access to global royalty collections to the sustainability and success of every songwriter. According to the Nielsen Music/MRC Mid-Year Music Report, total audio streaming increased globally by 22.6% year-over-year during the first six months of 2020 when compared to the same time period in 2019. In addition, MIDiA Research is forecasting user-generated content to generate more than $3.2BN in global revenue for music rightsholders over the next two years, as social media remains a dominant force in music discovery and consumption. Songtrust clients are able to maintain their creative autonomy as with Songtrust they retain full ownership of their catalog while accessing Songtrust’s global royalty collection network of 65 pay sources covering royalty earnings from 215 countries.
