with Martin Lorentzon. As CEO of Spotify, Ek's role is to guide the vision and strategy of the company as it grows. Leading the management team from his hometown of Stockholm, Ek is also responsible for nurturing a passionate working environment for everyone at Spotify.Prior to Spotify, Ek founded Advertigo, the online advertising company acquired by TradeDoubler, and previously held senior roles at Nordic auction company Tradera (acquired by eBay). He was also chief technology officer at Stardoll, the fashion and entertainment community for tweens that now boasts more than 100 million users worldwide.Branca specializes in the music and live appearance industries. He is a leading artist representative, having represented an unprecedented 29 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Aerosmith, the Beach Boys, Bee Gees, the Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, and Carlos Santana, among others, and such other artists and celebrities as Enrique Iglesias, Nickelback and Mike Tyson. He has been at the forefront in the acquisition and sale of music publishing catalogs, including the acquisition of the Beatles catalog, ATV Music, for Michael Jackson, as well as its merger with Sony Music to create the worlds third-largest music publisher, Sony ATV Music. Branca has also been the architect of the sales of many major music catalogs, including Berry Gordys Jobete Music Co., the Kurt Cobain catalog, the Leiber and Stoller catalog, and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.He serves on the board of trustees for Occidental College, participates as an active fundraiser for the UCLA athletic department and serves as the Co-Chairman of MusiCares' 20th Anniversary Campaign, a campaign in support of the leading industry charity devoted to helping members of the music community. Branca also serves on the Board of Trustees for the GRAMMY Museum and the Pauley Pavilion Renovation Campaign Committee.ELI has three components: the Writing Competition, a GRAMMY Week ELI luncheon featuring a prominent keynote speaker, and a Legal Seminar series. The ELI Writing Competition invites law students to write a 3,000-word paper on a compelling legal topic facing the music industry today. Past award-winning topics have featured issues germane and timely to the music industry including bootlegging, music sampling and litigation against peer-to-peer network users. The deadline to submit an online application is Jan. 2, 2012, at 11 a.m. PT. For complete contest rules, send an e-mail to eli@grammy.com or visit www.grammyfoundation.org.The contest culminates with the winning student authors discussing their essays in a question-and-answer presentation at the prestigious ELI luncheon. Past luncheon keynote speakers have included Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); Clive Davis, chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment; Timothy J. Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG; will.i.am, GRAMMY Foundation Board member and frontman/producer of the multi-GRAMMY-winning group the Black Eyed Peas; and Strauss Zelnick, former president and CEO of BMG Entertainment, among others.Once again, this year the Foundation added ELI Writing Competition workshops at prominent law schools around the country with the goal of helping students with their essays. ELI also continued its partnership this year with www.box.com