PLAQUE BUILDUP

The RIAA feted the 75th anniversary of the recording industry’s Music Performance Trust Fund at the 2023 "Curtain Up! LIVE from Broadway" finale concert in New York’s Times Square on 9/10. We were expressly not invited, due to prior kerfuffles involving Tri-State area livestock that scarcely merit recapitulating. Aaaaaanyhoo, MPTF has distributed more than $620m in financial resources and assists more than 500 Music in the Schools programs; we, by contrast, merely take up space. Seen here accepting a lovely plaque commemorating the occasion and fearfully anticipating the unsavory jokes that will accompany it are (l-r) UMG SVP Global Revenue & Royalty Optimization and Co-Chair of MPTF’s Oversight Committee James Harrington, Trustee of MPTF Daniel Beck and Sony Music SVP Artist Initiatives & Business Administration Susan Moultrie.

This similarly compelling tableau finds WMG VP Biz & Legal Melissa Battino, Beck, AFM International President Tino Gagliardi and Moultrie wondering how the hell we've stuck around for 37 years.