ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews announced that key marketing executive Lauren Iossa has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, effective July 1, 2015. Iossa will join the organization’s executive leadership team llascapand will continue to report directly to Matthews. Based out of New York City, she will oversee all of ASCAP’s global public relations, brand and corporate marketing activities, as well as communications and special events. 

Regarding Iossa’s promotion, Matthews commented: “As we move towards increased efficiency and transparency for our members and licensees, Lauren and her team are a central component to executing these pivotal changes in the organization and providing strategic guidance. Her deep knowledge of ASCAP’s history, her commitment to our mission and her passion for music make her a uniquely effective advocate for this organization and for the rights of music creators worldwide. She is an incredible asset to ASCAP’s executive team as we navigate a transformation for a new era in advocacy and rights management.”

“Songwriters and other music creators are at a critical juncture in terms of how their music is valued in the marketplace, and ASCAP is on the front lines of the fight to modernize the music licensing system and protect their copyrights and their livelihoods,” said Iossa. “Building ASCAP’s brand as a modern rights management company calls for strategic activities that communicate our unmatched value to members, licensees, members of Congress and policy makers. I look forward to working closely with the other members of Beth’s leadership team to capitalize on our momentum and to protect the value of music and the rights of the people who create it.”

Iossa, formerly SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, has played an important role in transforming ASCAP’s public face to the advocacy-focused, service-oriented organization it is today. During a time of tumultuous change in the landscape of litigation, copyright reform and the consent decree review process, she helmed an effective multi-platform marketing and communications campaign to ensure that the voices of ASCAP and its members are heard loud and clear to protect the rights of music creators. She is also the architect of one of ASCAP’s most successful brand initiatives, the annual ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, which just celebrated its 10th year and has become the premier annual gathering of music creators for networking, education and advocacy, having hosted more than 20,000 attendees. She was a member of the Advisory Committee for the CISAC World Copyright Summit in 2013. In 2012, Billboard Magazine honored her as an influential woman in the music business.

Iossa currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Chapter of CISV, an international organization whose mission is to promote action for peace and social justice throughout the world. She also serves as an executive partner in the PENCIL program to aid New York City public schools, where she was honored for the success of her work with East Fordham Academy for the Arts in the Bronx.

Before coming to ASCAP in 1984, Iossa held executive positions in several music-based arts organizations, including as Program Director of Meet the Composer (now New Music USA), and Executive Director of Outward Visions, Inc. She graduated from Williams College, with a major in philosophy and minor in music.

The WiMN had the chance to talk to Iossa earlier this year, where she discussed her passion for her daily work, being a music lover, her experience as a woman in the music industry, and more. Check out that interview here!