Panelists

Kristina Johnson | Universal Music Publishing Group
Kristina Johnson is the Senior Director of North American Copyright at Universal Music Publishing Group. In this role she oversees the U.S. and Canadian activity for Universal’s iconic catalog of 5 million copyrights as well as the end to end value chain of managing agreements signed out of the U.S. With thirteen years of copyright experience, she is driven to find creative solutions for improving music royalty collections in an ever-changing landscape. Kristina has been a primary stakeholder for building multiple proprietary copyright systems to adapt large scale data sets for modern requirements. A passionate leader and life-long learner, she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Mike Molinar | Big Machine Music
Mike Molinar is the President of Big Machine Music (BMM), where he brings over twenty-seven years of experience as a music publisher and advocate for creatives to lead Big Machine Music publishing, the sister company of the Big Machine Label Group. Molinar, who was named one of Billboard’s Country Power Players each of the last five years (‘20-‘24), oversees all aspects of BMM which was named 2021 Publisher of the Year by the Association of Independent Music Publishers Nashville.

In 2023, Molinar was re-elected to a 3rd term on the board of the National Music Publisher Association and in 2019 was appointed a member of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) board. He also serves as a board member for the Academy of Country Music, Music Health Alliance and sits the Country Music Hall Of Fame Education Council. Molinar was also named as one of ten Nashville participants in Global Action Platform’s 2021 Leaders Class for Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Program.

In 1998, Molinar graduated from Middle Tennessee State University where he was inducted into the College of Media and Entertainment’s Wall of Fame in 2021. He was also named a Rider Scholar while attending Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. in 1996. Molinar is a graduate of Leadership Music (2015) and a member of the CMA, ACM, AIMP and Recording Academy.

Emily Stephenson | Downtown Music

Emily Stephenson serves as Downtown Music’s President of Publishing. Stephenson oversees all of Downtown’s publishing administration and client acquisition efforts, leading a team of 100+. Prior to her current role, Stephenson served as the division’s Vice President of Business Operations and during her 12+ year tenure at the company has been responsible for various aspects of publishing administration and client services. Downtown’s roster includes songwriter and publishing clients, including Spirit Music Group, Jason Isbell, Big Yellow Dog, and the John Lennon Estate.

Moderator:
Duff Berschback | Concord Music Publishing

Duff Berschback is the EVP of Legal and Business Affairs at Concord Music Publishing, LLC.  Duff leads the team of lawyers and non-lawyer legal professionals in a variety of legal and business affairs matters, including contract negotiations, policy initiatives, litigation, and strategic publishing matters.  Berschback joined Concord in 2020 and prior to joining Concord he was SVP Business Affairs at Sony Music Publishing in Nashville for 13 years.  Duff began his career in entertainment law in 2001, working in private practice representing songwriters, publishers, producers, managers, and artists.

Society members must be in good standing and registered prior to the meeting in order to attend.  Contact  copyrightsocietyofthesouth@gmail.com if you have not received your invitation via email. CLE Credit is available for attending this event.