Elizabeth Matthews

Company: American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)Title: Chief Executive OfficerIndustry: Media and EntertainmentNotable in 2024: Matthews led ASCAP to its 11th straight year of financial growth, while embracing a "creator first, future forward" approach to music performance rights. A new partnership with New York University invests in AI music startups and will help them develop their technology.

Amid successive waves of digital streaming and AI upheaval for the music industry, Elizabeth Matthews, CEO of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, has battled for the rights and royalties of artists. She's racked up some notable wins.

Since taking the helm of the performing rights organization (PRO) in 2015, Matthews has overseen a record streak of financial growth for ASCAP, which continued last year. In 2024, the organization generated over $1.8 billion in revenue, an increase of $98 million from 2023, delivering just under $1.7 billion in royalty distributions for its over one million members, from songwriters to composers, lyricists and music publishers, the highest figures ever reported by a U.S. PRO, according to ASCAP. The record revenue and artist royalties were up 5.7% and 6.6%, respectively.

ASCAP is the only remaining U.S. public performing rights organization to operate on a not-for-profit basis, unlike BMI, meaning it does not charge a commission or take a profit, and distributes 90% of funds to members as opposed to private equity investors or shareholders. Over the past decade, it has generated an 8% compound annual growth rate in royalties paid to members.

That equals billions in revenue from a library of 20 million musical works licensed by streaming services, cable TV, terrestrial radio and satellite radio, and many other types of businesses, according to ASCAP, from retailers to hotels, clubs, restaurants and bars. Trillions of performances every year have to be processed by the organization to generate the 90 cents on every dollar that goes back to members as royalties.

Those revenue streams have been under constant threat in recent years, and Matthews has leveraged her professional experience as a lawyer and media executive to strike deals. She was a long-time Viacom executive before joining ASCAP as its general counsel in 2013, where she worked across MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Spike and Nickelodeon, among others. And previous to that, she had an expertise that has remained core to the battle on behalf of creative individuals today: Matthews was an intellectual property lawyer.

ASCAP has been an early adopter of AI principles for artists, signed international and university partnerships to protect the right of artists from technology, and has increased the organization's policy focus on Capitol Hill and across political battles nationally.

"ASCAP has been adapting to disruption for more than 100 years. AI doesn't scare us because we see technology as an opportunity to innovate for our songwriter, composer and music publisher members," Matthews said in 2023.

ASCAP was active in voter registration drives in 2024 across the U.S., mobilizing its more than one million members to advocate for artists' rights as part of making votes count. "It's vital for music creators to stay engaged with democracy and that starts with voting," Matthews said in a statement at the time.

At a 2024 ASCAP member meeting, she told artists, "We are biased towards humans. Software code doesn't need to eat, software code doesn't need shelter. ... We don't want the monies to shift to non-humans, because they are not creators."

The ASCAP library includes works from Beyoncé, Billy Joel, Cardi B, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa, Garth Brooks, Jay-Z, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Katy Perry, Lil Baby, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marc Anthony, Mariah Carey, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Usher. Under Matthews' leadership, the organization has added notable new members in recent years, including Taylor Swift/Lana Del Rey collaborator Jack Antonoff and Jared Leto, and in 2024 specifically, Kacey Musgraves, Def Leppard, Tate McRae, Jack White, and Graham Nash.