Serona Elton, M.M. (UM '95), J.D., Frost School of Music associate professor, Chair of the Music Media and Industry Department, and Director of the Music Business & Entertainment Industries Program, was awarded the Phillip Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship at a faculty orientation meeting on August 17, 2018. Elton was recognized by a Selection Committee of her peers as an exemplary faculty member for her outstanding contributions as an educator, a scholar, and a practitioner in the music industry.
“I feel greatly honored and humbled,” said Elton upon receiving the award. “The professors in the Frost School of Music represent the top echelon of teachers and scholars in music. While we all work in the same broad discipline, we are quite specialized. My area, the music business, is not a traditionally academic one, and so my teaching and my research activities can look a bit different from those of my colleagues. For them to understand and appreciate the value of my work, despite those differences, is the greatest compliment they could bestow upon me.”
Elton has worked closely with major music companies, including EMI Recorded Music North America, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and most recently, with Warner Music Group, focused on practices involving rights management, licensing, royalty processing, and information management. She was active in a number of industry initiatives focused on information standards, representing EMI on committees regarding the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC), Sound Recording Database (SRBD) and Music Industry Integrated Identifier Project (MI3P), the latter of which lead to the forming of Digital Data Exchange (DDEX), a leading force today in the digital distribution of music. Elton is frequently asked to speak about topics such as music industry education, music licensing, and music copyright law at music industry and law conferences around the US and abroad. At Frost, she has implemented numerous curricular advancements, overseen a number of 'Cane Records projects, and spearheaded a new J.D./M.M. joint degree between the Frost School of Music and the University of Miami School of Law. Elton is a published author whose articles have appeared in the Journal of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association, the Florida Bar Journal, and Billboard Magazine, among others. She has served as President of the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association (MEIEA), and on the Recording Academy, Florida Chapter, Board of Governors. She is currently a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., and the Chair-Elect of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Executive Section.
