Stephanie Ruyle Named Exec. VP/Head Of Licensing For ASCAP

Stephanie Ruyle

ASCAP has appointed media executive Stephanie Ruyle as Executive Vice President and Head of Licensing, reporting directly to ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews.

Ruyle succeeds Vincent Candilora, who led ASCAP’s licensing since 1995, and who in 2016 announced he would be retiring at the end of 2017. As a key member of ASCAP’s leadership team, Ruyle will be responsible for ASCAP’s licensing revenues and operations across all platforms including broadcast and cable television, terrestrial and satellite radio, digital, live concerts, venues, retail, restaurants, bars, background music, etc.

Prior to joining ASCAP, Ruyle was Executive Vice President, Distribution and Affiliate Relations, for Participant Media’s television venture Pivot, a millennial targeted television network focused on socially relevant content.

Ruyle began her career in entertainment and media with Viacom in their distribution group. She served in a series of ascending positions within Viacom over a career that spanned 17 years with leadership positions in national accounts, field sales, affiliate marketing, and affiliate ad sales. In addition, Ruyle led the distribution efforts for Viacom’s international content in the U.S., the initial launch of EPIX as well as leading the strategy and negotiations for a number of major MVPDs.

Ruyle obtained her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and earned her B.A. from the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Ruyle also served on Kellogg’s Alumni Board of Directors, is a Betsy Magness Leadership Institute Fellow, and attended ongoing leadership development programs at both Harvard and Stanford Universities.

ASCAP CEO Matthews says, “Stephanie brings a wealth of experience driving revenue growth and negotiating multifaceted licensing agreements, which is vitally important to the execution of our strategic plan of transformation and modernization in an increasingly complex and evolving media environment. Her deep understanding of content strategy, distribution, sales and affiliate marketing across media platforms will prove incredibly valuable to ASCAP as we innovate to provide our members and our licensing partners with new opportunities for success through music.”

Ruyle says: “I have seen firsthand how important music is to the success of any media venture. ASCAP has the strongest repertory of music in the world and that is why I am so excited to be part of ASCAP’s mission to ensure that the music of its members is recognized in the marketplace for the enormous value it brings to our licensing partners.”