00:00Hi, so let me take you back in time real quick. I'm 13 years old, I'm living in
00:08Germany and I'm obsessed with Britney Spears and the Spice Girls and I'm
00:12learning English from them. Every day after school I run home to my basement
00:18and I pour over the writing credits on my CDs and one day eventually I get the
00:25courage to write my own music. At that time I had no idea how important
00:30organizations like ASCAP are when it comes to protecting songwriters and
00:38sorry oh my god this is so I'm so like nerve-wracked right now but now I do and
00:43that's why I'm so excited to be here honoring Elizabeth Matthews. Beth became
00:52CEO of ASCAP in 2015, leading an organization that represents more than
00:59one million composers, songwriters and lyricists and publishers. ASCAP is the
01:06only US performing rights organization that operates in an oh I'm so sorry I
01:16need to grab my little writing thing real quick. I have an I thing it's like a recent
01:21thing you know. Beth became the CEO of ASCAP in 2015, leading an organization that
01:29represents more than one million composers, songwriters, lyricists and
01:33publishers. ASCAP is the only US performing rights organization that
01:37operates on a not-for-profit basis and delivers 90 cents on every dollar
01:43collected back to members, like me, as royalties. In 2025 alone, 1.8 billion
01:50dollars was distributed to members, allowing us to continue making a living
01:54doing what we love. Beth has modernized music licensing, championed transparency and
02:01new technology and made ASCAP a leader in protecting songwriters in the
02:05age of AI. She proves that being a boss and being an advocate can go hand in hand.
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