Christine Pepe joins Utopia as VP, Business And Legal Affairs

Stockholm, 4th March 2022

Utopia Music, the Swiss Music fintech company, announced that Christine Pepe will join the company as VP, Business and Legal Affairs, reporting directly to Paul Stuart, Chief Legal Officer. Pepe will be based in the New York Metro area.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Christine to Utopia,” said Stuart. “Her diverse experience working across multiple sectors of the Music Industry, including collection societies, streaming services, and global media companies, makes her ideally placed to help us realize our goal of servicing all sides of the Music Industry.”

“I’m very excited to join Utopia,” said Pepe. “Here, I can combine my tech and music backgrounds, and contribute to the company’s mission to deliver ‘Fair Pay for Every Play’ to deserving Creators. Through its innovative business model, Utopia is in a position to  positively impact the entire Music Industry and all players in the value chain.”

Pepe joins from NBCUniversal, where she focused on digital and technology transactions and served as lead product counsel for CNBC’s subscription services. Prior to this, Pepe headed up Business and Legal Affairs at TIDAL, where she negotiated and structured global music licenses and streaming integration partnerships, including for the TIDAL/MTN Uganda expansion.  Later, she served as commercial counsel to Twitter, providing legal advice from the initial stages of product development, to launch, including for Twitter Blue (the Twitter subscription service).

Pepe spent over eight years with The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), where she rose to VP, Business and Legal Affairs. In her role, she was responsible for negotiating and structuring music licenses with digital streaming and OTT services, broadcast and cable networks, cable operators, and radio stations. Pepe also managed several “rate court” proceedings that established license fee structures for various emerging digital services  and advised on copyright (including DMCA) and related digital law matters.