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Executive Bios
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Mitch Bainwol
Chairman and CEO
Recording Industry Association of America
Mitch Bainwol is Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the organization representing the nation’s major music labels. The trade group's member companies are responsible for creating, manufacturing, or distributing 85 percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States.
Bainwol joined the RIAA as CEO in 2003 following a twenty-five year career in federal policy-making and politics. Since joining the RIAA, Bainwol has helped lead the music industry’s campaign to curb piracy and transition its business to the digital world. During recent years, the RIAA won a seminal U.S. Supreme Court MGM. v. Grokster decision that protects intellectual property rights in the digital age and also secured needed Congressional reforms, such as the PRO-IP Act, that update the nation’s anti-piracy laws.
Additionally, Bainwol has helped revitalize a coalition of music organizations that now frequently work together on a variety of industry issues such as anti-piracy strategies and advocating a level playing field for digital music distribution models. He has strengthened artist relations and devised programs to promote and recognize emerging digital formats, such as expanding the RIAA’s Gold and Platinum Program to include legal downloads and mobile phone ringtones.
The Washington Post called Bainwol a “Top D.C. Lobbyist and Man in Demand.” Capitol Hill’s Roll Call newspaper hailed Bainwol as one of the 50 most influential “politicos” in Washington. Campaigns and Elections magazine named him a “Mover and Shaker.”
Blender Magazine placed him twelfth in their “Powergeek 25” listing of the most influential people in web music. He was also identified by Entertainment Weekly as one of the most powerful people in show business and Internet Evolution named him the second most innovative and important player in online digital entertainment.
Bainwol was born in Munich where his father was stationed. He grew up in Germany, the Canal Zone, Maryland, and Thailand before graduating from Frankfurt American High School. With an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Rice University, Bainwol began his career as a budget analyst in President Ronald Reagan's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). During his Capitol Hill time, Bainwol was chief of staff to two United States Senators, two political committees and several Senate leadership offices and became recognized for his campaign capabilities.
Bainwol serves on the Boards of the National Fatherhood Initiative, the Bryce Harlow Foundation and Leadership Music (Nashville).
He and his wife, Susan, are the proud parents of three terrific children, all of whom are more musically gifted than him.
Cary Sherman
President
Recording Industry Association of America
Cary Sherman is the president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The trade group's member companies are responsible for creating, manufacturing, or distributing 85 percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States.
As the president, Mr. Sherman represents the interests of the $8 billion U.S. sound recording industry -- the largest market for prerecorded music in the world. He coordinates the industry's legal, policy and business objectives and his responsibilities include technology, licensing, enforcement, and government affairs issues, among others.
National Journal has described Mr. Sherman as an “intellectual property guru” and “one of the top copyright attorneys in the country.”
Before joining the RIAA as General Counsel of the organization in 1997, Mr. Sherman was a senior partner at the Washington, D.C. firm of Arnold & Porter, where he was the head of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group. One of his special areas of expertise during his 26 years at Arnold & Porter was reconciling developing technologies and intellectual property laws. He became president of RIAA in 2001.
Mr. Sherman graduated from Cornell University in 1968, and Harvard Law School in 1971. An amateur musician and lyricist, Mr. Sherman is the Chairman of the Board of the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. He also serves on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and BNA’s Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal, and has served on numerous other boards, including the Copyright Society, the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, The Computer Law Association, and The Computer Lawyer. He is also co-author of a two-volume treatise published by BNA Books, Computer Software Protection Law.
