ASCAP Names Business Development Exec

Mark Sperling has joined ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, as senior VP, strategy and business development, looking to line up new alliances and partnerships for the music rights group.

He reports to Alice Kim, chief strategy officer.

Sperling had been an exec with New York boutique investment banking firm Allen & Co., where he handled transactions for Time Warner, National Geographic and PBS, among others.

Sperling also has a direct connection to his new clients. He is a musician who has performed in various bands since college, according to ASCAP.

“As a musician myself, I’m eager to make serving the interests of ASCAP's members my primary focus," said Sperling in a statement.

"As ASCAP seeks to capitalize on our rich data and other myriad of assets in today’s evolving music rights business, Mark will be instrumental in developing the new business models and creating the appropriate strategic partnerships," said ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.