ASCAP Launches New Advanced Research & Innovation Initiative

ASCAP is launching a new initiative to explore how advanced technologies, new business approaches and creative collaborations can drive value for its music creator members and music users. The ASCAP Advanced Research & Innovation Initiative will help to identify and develop new areas of growth and efficiency through a series of efforts including external participation in technology accelerators, prototyping research projects, cross-pollination with the startup community and knowledge-sharing through a speaker series to inspire ASCAP members and employees.

To kick off the program, ASCAP has partnered with the NYC Media Lab, a public/private partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation that connects media and technology companies with New York City’s universities to drive innovation, entrepreneurship and talent development.

ASCAP will launch the Advanced Research & Innovation Initiative at today’s NYCML Summit, where it will lead a workshop, “How Emerging Technology is Changing the Music Industry” at New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn. As part of the NYCML partnership, ASCAP will conduct research in collaboration with a faculty-led research team on ways to better serve ASCAP members by leveraging applied technologies in areas such as machine intelligence, extended reality and other emerging disciplines. The music organization will also take part in NYCML’s Combine Startup Accelerator, which helps NYC’s university ecosystem extend and commercialize new technologies.

The program will also include a bi-monthly speaker series that will feature motivating and educational speakers on a broad range of innovation topics held at ASCAP offices in New York City, Los Angeles and Nashville.

“To realize our future, we are broadening our lens to envision it. With the Advanced Research & Innovation Initiative, we are looking further into the technology horizon to seek out what may be possible to super-serve and support our songwriter and publisher communities for years to come,” said Nick Lehman, ASCAP Chief Strategy & Digital Officer. “We are pursuing this program as a deliberate way to provide a funnel for the deep passion that ASCAP employees already bring to their work, in order to harness innovation that matters to our members. By exploring new technology, talent, business approaches, and partnerships, we can create new value as ASCAP evolves into the next century.”