http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/13/business/media/ascaps-chief-executive-to-retire-as-digital-fights-loom.html 2014-12-12 21:47:48 Ascap’s Chief Executive to Retire as Digital Fights Loom In 17 years as its leader, John LoFrumento has helped the licensing organization grow. But the shift to streaming digital music is posing new challenges. === Ascap, the 100-year-old giant of the music licensing world, is going through a leadership change as it fights for regulatory changes that it says are necessary to survive in the digital age. The nonprofit organization, whose full name is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Ascap handles performing rights on behalf of songwriters and music publishers, collecting royalties whenever songs are played on the radio, streamed online or piped in to restaurants and shopping malls. In a statement, the group trumpeted its growth since Mr. LoFrumento, 70, took over in 1997, when it had 70,000 members and paid out $417 million in royalties. Today, its ranks have swelled to 520,000 and this year it expects to distribute more than $875 million. “Under John’s leadership, Ascap’s innovations and embrace of new technologies have shaped the evolution of performing rights worldwide,” said Paul Williams, a songwriter who is Ascap’s president and chairman. At the same time, Ascap and its rival, BMI, are asking the Justice Department for changes to the regulatory agreements that have This week Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music publisher, complained in a letter to its members about the poor royalty rates being paid by “This is a totally unacceptable situation and one that cannot be allowed to continue,” Mr. Bandier wrote. Complaints like these have led Sony/ATV, Universal and other big publishers to threaten to withdraw from Ascap and BMI if regulatory changes are not made, a move that could be devastating to those groups.