Joel Flatow is Senior Vice President of Artist & Industry Relations and Chief of West Coast Operations for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He first joined the RIAA in 1995 to help mobilize grassroots, artist and industry engagement to secure passage of the "Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995,” signed into law by President Clinton on November 1, 1995.

Flatow opened the RIAA’s first west coast operations office in September 2000, focused on RIAA’s statewide relations, politics and policy for California. He developed the RIAA’s artist relations program, building relationships with individual recording artists and aiding in the development of national campaigns. Flatow helped build the association’s industry relations department, fostering joint activities among various constituencies of the music community and building coalitions to strengthen the voice of music creators – a role for which he was termed in an L.A. Times profile (7-10-08) as “The RIAA’s Musical Diplomat.”

Flatow previously served as Legislative Director of the Congressional Arts Caucus, one of Capitol Hill’s largest and most active bipartisan legislative service organizations, advocating for federal arts support and monitoring a wide range of cultural, arts and entertainment industry-related legislation. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He is a graduate of Yale University, as well as of Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music Pre-Colleges.

Flatow currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Ally Coalition and National Music Council, as well as the West Coast Committee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.