LOS ANGELES -- (SPW) --

The upcoming Production Music Conference (“PMC”) hosted by the Production Music Association (“PMA”) is proud to announce this year’s 2nd Annual Mark Awards honorees, Shawn LeMone and Peter Cox.
 
"The Production Music Association (PMA) is thrilled to welcome two long time advocates of the production music community, Mr. Shawn LeMone (ASCAP Senior Vice President, Film & TV) and Mr. Peter Cox, longtime production music composer, producer and executive”, says Randy Thornton, PMA Chairman. 
 
Shawn LeMone will receive the Ambassador Award which is given to an individual from any field who has devoted exceptional service towards ensuring a thriving and sustainable production music industry. Peter Cox will be honored with the Hall of Fame Award, which is given to an individual of a current or pre-existing production music library whose work has made significant contributions towards the advancement of the production music industry.
 
“I’m delighted to see Shawn LeMone recognized for his untiring efforts to bring production music to the forefront of ASCAP’s attention.  Shawn is dedicated to ensure that all composers and publishing companies are treated fairly and has played a huge roll in helping to have the PMA’s voice heard within the PROs. 
 
Peter Cox is a legend within our industry. Having been involved literally from the very begging of production music, Peter has set a standard that most of the rest of us merely strive to achieve.  A long time advocate of composer rights, he has always put the music first and continues to set a very high bar of achievement.
 
I can’t think of two more deserving individuals,” says Thornton.
    
The Mark Awards is a one-of-a-kind awards ceremony that honors outstanding production music in 24 categories. Production music is the sonic lifeblood of so many audiovisual productions, from television programs, to promotional campaigns, to major theatrical releases. Named in honor of the late Andy Mark, who was a library owner and founding member of the PMA, The Mark Awards recognize the very best in production music.  The awards ceremony will take place October 18^th at the Le Méridien Delfina in Santa Monica.
 
The PMC takes place at Le Méridien Delfina in Santa Monica on October 17th and 18th.

The newly expanded 2-day conference kicks off with a keynote by renowned film composer Harry Gregson-Williams (The Martian, Shrek, Chronicles of Narnia), followed by a keynote on Day Two by recording artist, songwriter and essayist D.A. Wallach.
Featuring the best and brightest in the production music world, the conference will host business, creative and technology panels and will consist of industry presentations, educational seminars and networking events. The goal of the conference is to bring together the global production music community and provide actionable solutions for our industry and our clients. The conference will inform on current trends and tools, share the creation of industry-wide technology standards, and provide a state-of-the-industry to the composing, songwriting and publishing communities. The PMC strives to provide a positive and inspired forum for attendees and, after only two years, is now a fixture in the calendar for people involved in all aspects of production music.
 
Registration is available at http://pmamusic.com/pmc2016/
 
About Shawn LeMone
Shawn LeMone is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Film & Television / Visual Media Department in ASCAP’s Membership Group. Shawn advocates on behalf of film, television and video game composers and resolves high level crediting and distribution issues. His Department is responsible for servicing ASCAP’s composer members and maintaining a strong market share across all audio-visual media on a worldwide basis.
 
Having joined ASCAP in 1995, LeMone has spearheaded ASCAP’s outreach efforts to the film and television music community and the video game industry. He has been instrumental in the development of industry standards for television performance data and educating production companies on the role of performance rights. In addition, he is among those at the forefront of ASCAP's efforts exploring and employing strategic and technological innovations to better serve its composer and publisher members.
 
Prior to ASCAP, LeMone served as the Foreign Levies Administrator for both the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) from 1991 to 1995. During his tenure at the Guilds, he developed and administered a large royalty account derived from levies on the sale and rental of video tape in Europe.
 
LeMone graduated from UCLA in 1991 with a degree in Social Psychology. He has organized and participated in seminars at UCLA, the Society of Composers and Lyricists, American Film Institute, Game Developers Conference, Austin Music Foundation, Sync Summit, California Lawyers for the Arts and the California Copyright Conference, where he served as President of the Board of Directors.
 
About Peter Cox
Peter Cox, formerly the Managing and Creative Director of EMI's benchmark Production Music Library KPM, on whose behalf Peter co-created APM, is being honored and inducted into the prestigious Production Music Association 'Hall of Fame' this October, in Los Angeles.
 
Peter now produces and curates all product for the West One Music Group label 'The Scoring House', and his work and intimate knowledge of all things concerning the production and exploitation of media music has been continuous since 1974.
 
Peter appeared in the production music industry after a career as a successful Folk Music solo performing artist in the late sixties and early seventies in England, performing on the same bills as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Tom Paxton, Julie Felix and Al Stewart, to name but a few. Peter’s career then moved on as a recording artist, signing with Atlantic Records and then DJM, where Dick James wanted an artist to perform and record songs penned by new signings Reg Dwight and Bernie Taupin, ‘Your Song’ and ‘Holy moses’ being included in those early sessions. A short run of US appearances with Reg, now re-branded as Elton John, performing his own songs alerted Dick James to the potential of the Elton John formula, and thus emerged a global superstar, while Peter successfully answered a small ad in Melody Maker, which read “Wanted: Somebody with a thorough knowledge of music to join a music publishing company”. Thus, Peter was thrown in at the deep-end in the early days of KPM as producer, working with such production music legends as Keith Mansfield, Johnny Pearson, Johnny Scott and Brian Bennet, with Adrian Kerridge as sound engineer.
 
After 35 years at EMI Music Publishing, including 25 years as Managing and Creative Director of KPM coupled with 6 years on the board of PRS, Guy Hands acquisition of EMI Music classically failed to leave a perfectly successful division well alone, and Peter was made redundant and was offered the opportunity to create a new label ‘The Scoring House’ for West One Music Group with zero interference! This move not only re-united Peter with his old friends at APM, who represented the West One Music Group catalogues in North America at the time, but also the creative talent pulled together over many years by Fireworks Music for KPM under an output deal, which included, Richard Harvey, Graham Preskett, Brian Gulland, Nick Glennie-Smith and Harry Gregson-Williams, amongst many others.
 
Peter has seamlessly moved from vinyl, to CD, to online, and has produced more Production Music albums and hours of music, and signed more writers than anyone in this industry, his standards remain as high as ever, and his ears and dedication to bringing the best out of the wealth of musical talent around the world are as keen as ever. So, it is fitting that the PMA have decided to recognise such a consistent and globally respected creative force.
 
About The PMA
The Production Music Association (PMA) is the leading advocate and voice of the production music community. It is dedicated to advancing the unique value of production music and building connections to ensure a better future for its community. It is a non-profit organization counting over 670 music publisher and composer members. Major labels, independent boutiques, emerging composers and well-known Grammy™ winners are all part of its membership. Together, its members account for over 1,000,000 individual copyrights and PMA music is heard daily in over 65 countries. Its goal is to continue to provide of all its members the education, support, and advocacy the community deserves.