Leong May-Seey appointed IFPI Regional Director for Asia

29th March 2006

IFPI today announces the appointment of Leong May-Seey as regional director for Asia. May-Seey has worked as IFPI's regional counsel and deputy regional director for 12 years and has been instrumental in shaping the recording industry's agenda in Asia, including mainland China.

May-Seey will co-ordinate IFPI's priorities across Asia, ranging from legal policy and government affairs to helping develop the digital music business and unlocking the music market of mainland China. She oversees the activities of ten national groups in the region as well as IFPI's representative office in Beijing.

May-Seey has played a leading role in IFPI's operations in Asia in recent years, in particular setting up national collecting societies for performance royalties and more recently preparing a robust industry strategy to tackle Internet piracy in China. She is a career lawyer who worked on intellectual property issues in private practice in Singapore before joining IFPI in 1991.

Announcing the appointment today, IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: "May-Seey has a played a key role in leading IFPI's agenda in Asia and I am delighted that she will now be heading our activities across the region. May Seey has shown herself to be a highly skilled advocate for the recording industry over many years, influencing government policies, handling the challenges of China and helping expand record industry revenue streams. I am very confident that under her leadership we are very well placed meet the challenges and opportunities that we face in Asia over the next few years."

May-Seey said: "Asia has the most diverse and vibrant music markets in the world, and our industry in the region is going through a period of amazing changes. There are huge challenges for us, particularly in China, in the fight against piracy and in creating a digital music business. This is a great time to be co-ordinating IFPI's work in the region and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to do so."

Lachie Rutherford, chairman of the IFPI Asia Pacific Regional Board and head of Warner Music Asia Pacific, adds: "May-Seey and I have worked together for many years on IFPI initiatives across Asia and her promotion is a timely and positive development for the recording industry in the region. I look forward to working with her in pursuit of the recording industry's goals over the coming years."

For further information please contact:
Adrian Strain or Alex Jacob
+44 (0)207 878 7935
alex.jacob@ifpi.org