Michael Huppe

Early life

Huppe learned to play the trombone at a young age and enjoyed Classic rock music. He was also instructed in piano and keyboard. Of this time Huppe has said, "I always had an interest in music and the creative side but I wasn’t good enough to make music a career, so I never thought I would end up in the industry. Even so, I never let it drop. During law school, I helped put on musicals and other productions." He graduated with a BA from the University of Virginia and with a JD from Harvard Law School in 1995.

Early career

Huppe began his legal career as a litigation associate with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld after clerking for Leonie M. Brinkema, a United States District Court judge, in the Eastern District of Virginia. He has said that his career trajectory was largely set by the intellectual property cases he encounter as a federal court clerk.

RIAA

After working at Akin Gump until 1999, Huppe served as an anti-piracy consultant with the Recording Industry Association of America, eventually becoming senior vice president, business and legal affairs and deputy general counsel for RIAA. He also worked on behalf of major music labels. At RIAA he oversaw major litigations, including royalty rates litigations for its holding SoundExchange, the United States' online music royalties collections agency. The Washington Post wrote that, "Huppe has had a front-row seat at some of the industry’s most turbulent moments. He joined the Recording Industry Association of America as a lawyer and policy adviser just one month after it filed a lawsuit against file sharing service Napster. That legal action shaped his industry view."

SoundExchange

Eventually SoundExchange would become its own independent entity and Huppe became the general counsel of the non-profit. In his capacity as general counsel, Huppe both oversaw all of the legal aspects of SoundExchanges business, but also served as a public face for the company during interviews and public statements. He also held the position of executive VP, where he worked with the organization's president John Simson on policy and future strategy. In that role, Billboard Magazine wrote that, "Huppe has been instrumental in SoundExchange's rate-setting proceedings and agreements with industry services." In February 2011 SoundExchange named Huppe president of the non-profit after the departure of Simson; Huppe also serves as CEO. In addition to overseeing all aspects of SoundExchange and planning its future, Huppe has lobbied the US Congress and publicly against such potential legislation as the Internet Radio Equality Act.

Academia

Huppe is an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches music law, the history of the music industry and advanced copyright law. He has also lectured as several other universities on intellectual property topics.