Victoria Oakley, Mitch Glazier, and David Israelite Take Part in Ralph S. Peer Lecture Series

In a conversation moderated by Israelite, Oakley and Glazier discussed the global landscape of the music industry and its future with artificial intelligence.

David Israelite, Victoria Oakley, and Mitch Glazier sit on stools in front of the audience — Left to right: David Israelite, Victoria Oakley, and Mitch Glazier

On Monday, November 3, NYU Steinhardt’s Music Business program hosted the 2025 Ralph S. Peer Lecture in the Paulson Center’s ensemble rehearsal and performance space. This year’s speakers were Victoria Oakley, CEO of the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), and Mitch Glazier, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA). David Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, moderated the conversation. Israelite and Glazier are also adjunct faculty members in the Music Business program.

The conversation highlighted topics including the ever-evolving role of record labels, the challenges and opportunities across different global regions, and how artificial intelligence might impact creators, businesses, and consumers.

Drawing on his nearly 20 years with RIAA, Glazier noted that he’s seen the music industry change rapidly. “When I started, record companies were gatekeepers, which made competition fierce,” said Glazier. “Today, you go to the record label because the competition is so fierce. The democratization of the industry has made it possible for many more artists to compete, so the record labels play a vital—but very different—role.”

Israelite, who has moderated two prior Peer Lectures, also asked questions about AI regulations in the United States and abroad. Both speakers agreed that the music industry is flexible and adaptable, and that the marketplace will likely solve many challenges even before policymakers can anticipate them. They also discussed how theft and piracy have changed over time, with the shift to digital music creating more need for the industry to innovate.

Six people pose for the photo — Left to right: Jack H. Knott, Mary Megan Peer, Victoria Oakley, Ralph Peer II, Mitch Glazier, and David Israelite

A relative newcomer to the industry, Oakley spent nearly two decades in the British Diplomatic Service—along with time as global director of public policy at Google and as leader of the global strategic communications consultancy Portland—before joining IFPI in 2024. When asked to speak to students seeking careers in music business, Oakley offered profound encouragement: “Do it! This is a messy, complicated, interesting industry, and it’s filled with good people who care about creators. It’s great to have joined an industry that is joyful and borderless, that truly brings happiness to people.”

The audience of students, staff, faculty, and community members had the opportunity for a Q&A, where attendees inquired about the future of music videos and the current generative AI “free-for-all.”

In his opening remarks, Jack H. Knott, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of Steinhardt, noted that these questions “echo the concerns that Ralph S. Peer [Sr.] himself grappled with nearly a century ago when he pioneered new models for discovering talent, protecting copyrights, and ensuring that artists could sustain careers making music.” Knott thanked the Peer family and peermusic for their ongoing partnership as well as Larry Miller, clinical professor of Music Business and executive director of the Sony Audio Institute, who helped start the Peer Lecture Series in October 2019.

The series’s namesake, Ralph S. Peer Sr., was a talent scout, record producer, and music publisher. His son, Ralph Peer II, is the executive chair of peermusic, and his granddaughter, Mary Megan Peer, is the CEO of peermusic. The Peer family were in attendance at the 2025 lecture, along with senior members of the peermusic team.