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Grammy Winners And Today's Hit Collaborators Among 32 New Panelists Announced For ASCAP "I Create Music" Expo, April 13 - 15 In Los Angeles

NEW YORK, March 6, 2017 -- ASCAP’s “I Create Music” EXPO - the United States’ largest conference for songwriters, composers, artists and producers – has announced thirty-two additional panelists for their 2017 conference, to take place April 13-15 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. Panelists at the 2017 ASCAP EXPO have contributed to some of the year’s most iconic releases: Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo,’ Rihanna’s ‘Anti’ and Justin Bieber’s ‘Purpose.’ The lineup includes Grammy winners, tastemaker A&R executives and multi-platinum hit-makers, all on hand to offer their knowledge and advice to those participating in this year’s EXPO.

Now in its 12th year, the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO has become an invaluable incubator for up-and-coming talent in the music industry. Young songwriters and producers are given the opportunity to advance their careers through networking, collaboration and mentorship opportunities with a diverse array of industry leaders. Throughout the three-day EXPO, ASCAP will offer panels, workshops, master classes, keynotes and one-on-one sessions to the 3,000-plus participants from across the globe.

Songwriters, producers, artists, executives, composers and authors added to the lineup include:

-        Brian Kennedy: four-time GRAMMY-winner who’s collaborated with Rihanna for a decade, including on her #1 hit “Disturbia” and her most recent record ‘Anti.’

-        Malik Yusef: six-time GRAMMY-winning songwriter credited on Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ and Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade.’

-        Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd:  writer of eight songs on Justin Bieber’s triple-platinum ‘Purpose,’ including the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit “What Do You Mean?”

-        Sam Hollander: co-writer of Fitz and the Tantrum’s smash single “HandClap,” along with 4 songs on the Grammy-nominated Panic at the Disco album, one of the top 5 selling albums of 2016. Hollander has produced for major artists such as One Direction, Katy Perry, Train, Daughtry, The Fray, Carole King and Weezer.

-        Dave Bassett: writer of two of 2015’s most prominent breakout hits, Rachel Platten’s triple-platinum “Fight Song” and Elle King’s #1 Adult Top 40 hit “Ex’s and Oh’s.”

-        Greg Wells: musician, producer and songwriter whose songs have appeared on more than 85 million albums sold. Wells has worked with Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Adele, Twenty One Pilots and more.

-        Dave Pirner: principal songwriter for the band Soul Asylum, including their Grammy-winning hit single, “Runaway Train.”

-        Eric Bazilian: founding member of The Hooters and writer of Joan Osborne’s “One Of Us.”

-        Mark Hudson: producer who has worked with Cher, Ringo Starr and Aerosmith.

-        Shawn Barron: Vice President of Urban A&R for Atlantic Records, discovered Drake on MySpace and signed him to his first recording contract in 2007.

-        Tommy Brown: writer of seven tracks on Ariana Grande’s platinum-certified ‘Dangerous Woman.’

-        Geoff Zanelli: Emmy-award winning film composer and frequent Jerry Bruckheimer collaborator. Scored upcoming ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.’

-        THEY.: up-and-coming R&B duo that meld diverse influences like Babyface, New Edition, Taking back Sunday and Kurt Cobain. Released their debut album “Nu Religion: HYENA” in February.

-        Vincent Berry: ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO alum who co-wrote Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated hit, “Sandcastles.”

Additional panelists are listed in alphabetical order:

-        Jean Baptiste: songwriter for the Black Eyed Peas and Madonna.

-        Lesley Barber: composer for Oscar-winning film ‘Manchester By The Sea.’

-        Paul Brill: International Documentary Award-winning composer.

-        Dae Dae: 300 Entertainment recording artist who scored a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Rap charts with “What U Mean.”

-        DallasK: DJ and record producer who has collaborated with Tiesto and Hardwell.

-        The Futuristics: songwriting and production duo who have worked with Halsey and Bruno Mars

-        Fran Hall: songwriter for Britney Spears and Selena Gomez.

-        Rob Hyman: co-writer of Cyndi Lauper’s #1 hit “Time After Time.”

-        Ism: producer who has worked with Chief Keef and Wiz Khalifa.

-        Danny Jacob: composed film scores for Shrek, Antz, Phineas and Ferb.

-        Gary Leon: A&R Manager for Atlantic Records’ Urban division.

-        Menace: Producer for Desiigner’s hit single, “Panda.”

-        Nez & Rio: production duo who have collaborated with A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q.

-        Carly Paradis: composer and pianist who has worked on television programs including BBC’s “Line of Duty,” ITV’s “Prime Suspect” and more.


-        Justin Rhodes: music business professor, hip-hop producer and author of the production handbook “These Beats Ain’t Free.”

Previously announced panelists include platinum-selling recording artist Aloe Blacc, Songwriters Hall of Fame member Desmond Child, Four-time ASCAP Country Music Songwriter of the Year Ashley Gorley, GRAMMY-winner Darrell Brown and more. For more information on the ASCAP EXPO and to register for this year’s conference, visit: www.ascap.com/expo. View the EXPO sizzle reel at: https://youtu.be/K7BT3CGQKUc https://youtu.be/K7BT3CGQKUc

About ASCAP 
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With 600,000 members representing more than 10 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. Learn more and stay in touch at www.ascap.com, on Twitter @ASCAP and on Facebook.

For more information, contact Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), Max Lefkowitz (mlefkowitz@shorefire.com) or Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media, (718) 522-7171.