ABOUT

John Phelan is Director General of ICMP, the global trade body for the music publishing industry. ICMP’s membership spans the ‘Majors’, more than 1,000 ‘Indies’ and 76 national trade associations across 6 continents.

On aggregate, ICMP represents and defends the rights behind approximately 90% of the world’s commercially released music – today more than 105 million tracks, of more than 5,000 genres.

Our industry is the nexus point between music and the market - we are the direct investors in songwriters and composers to create the world’s music and then bring it to a global audience of billions. Our companies do so by licensing every type of music engagement - including streamed audio/video, TV, digital emerging technologies, radio, physical sales, gaming, live etc. Our sector invests constantly in advancing the technologies via which people discover and access music.

John’s background is steeped in music, having started violin and piano studies as a child and going on to play in symphony orchestras professionally. He studied law and then orchestral conducting at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire before taking on roles within the sector. John has lectured at Lausanne University and The Paris School of Business Management.