Georgetown Law

Michael Huppe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SoundExchange, an organization that provides royalty solutions and advocacy to ensure all music creators are paid what they deserve. Under Professor Huppe’s leadership, SoundExchange has distributed more than $8 billion in digital performance royalties and expanded its operations to serve both the recording and publishing communities.

SoundExchange represents the entire recorded music industry with a board of directors comprised of artists, major and independent record labels, artist managers, union heads, and trade associations. The company is the only entity in the U.S. entrusted by the Copyright Royalty Board to track, collect and distribute digital performance royalties for sound recordings. SoundExchange represents more than 200,000 recording artists’ and master rights owners’ accounts, and collects royalties from more than 3,000 digital streaming services, including satellite radio (such as SiriusXM), Internet radio (such as Pandora & iHeart Radio) and cable television music channels (such as MusicChoice). SoundExchange’s footprint has expanded to include two subsidiaries, SXWorks and the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), which provide a range of products and services for the publishing community.

Professor Huppe began his career as a commercial litigator and joined SoundExchange as its General Counsel in 2007, helping to forge the policies that would move the organization forward through advocacy, efficiency and strong partnerships. He also oversaw rate proceedings that brought increases of over 300% to artists and labels for the use of their music on Internet and satellite radio.

Professor Huppe is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Community Advisory Board of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and on the National Board of Trustees for T.J. Martell.