ESMAA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Data and Distribution Manager
Ceasar has held a distinguished career in music rights management over several decades. Beginning his career as the first Country Manager for Warner Chappell's entry into the Philippines, he moved on to a role as the head of Star Songs Music Publishing, a division of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting network. This eventually led to roles at The Filipino rights society FILSCAP, where he oversaw a team of 30 as the Licensing, documentation and distribution manager and later at the IFPI, as the regional head of licensing for Asia.
He joins ESMAA with an extensive background in licensing and distributions, overseeing ESMAA's distribution work as it develops the first Gulf music rights database.
Job Titles:
- Legal & Business Affairs Manager
Cynthia is the Legal & Business Affairs Manager at ESMAA, specializing in simplifying copyright and music business matters for rights owners in MENA.
Drawing upon her extensive knowledge of copyright law, she has negotiated and secured licenses for prominent labels, artists, music festivals, and brands over her career.
Cynthia's diverse background includes previous roles at law firms, music labels, and handling music licensing responsibilities at South Asia's largest digital music streaming service, JioSaavn.
Her areas of expertise includes Intellectual Property, Licensing & Royalties, Employment Practices, Policy Formation, General Business Advisory, Commercial Contracts, and Music-Media services for multinational corporations.
Cynthia holds a B.A., LL.B (Hons.) from Jindal Global Law School and a U.S. Business Law certification from Columbia Law School. She is currently pursuing her LL.M. in International Law and Foreign Affairs at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) College of Law in Qatar.
Job Titles:
- Artistic Director
- Executive Director
At ESMAA, Iain leads all licensing negotiations with music users, liaising with industry stakeholders to ensure the rights of music creators are appropriately represented and valued.
Iain has a deep background in both collective rights management and the licensing of music rights for all types of media production, distribution and dissemination and on a multi-territory basis.
He spent many years at a senior management level at PRS for Music and more recently has worked on projects focused on inflight entertainment and broadcasting, including within the Gulf States, and providing assessments for the funding of digital media innovation projects.
Job Titles:
- HEAD of SOCIETY RELATIONS
Michael is an expert in the area of music rights management, whose past consulting clients have included Sound Exchange, CISAC, BMAT, CMRRA and a number of PROs. Prior to setting up his individual practice, he acted as Chief Business Development Officer at ICE Services in Europe with responsibility for sales and strategy, as well as serving as Vice President of International Business Development at ASCAP. At ASCAP his mandate was to maintain strong society and publisher relationships around the world and maximize foreign revenue. Michael also directed a number of operational areas at ASCAP, and served on CISAC's Supervisory Board, the DDEX Board of Directors, and the FastTrack Management Board. He is also a pretty good bass player.
Job Titles:
- Head of Business Development and Government Relations
Saqer Al Qassimi is an Emirati national with extensive expertise in corporate development and operational strategy. As a business owner and entrepreneur, he values the importance of intellectual property and strongly advocates for the protection of music creators' rights. He has also been a longtime vocal advocate for the growth of the music industry on a local and regional level.
Additionally, Saqer has a personal passion for music and songwriting, with over 15 years of experience in music production and investing in music projects He holds a degree in finance and business administration and is a founding member and sits on the board of directors for the Emirati Musicians Association.