Alumnus Sets the Tone for Accounting Career in the Business of Music

Matthew Palermo ’12 (WSM/NEW), ’13 M.S., credits his parents for introducing him to a lot of music while growing up in Syracuse, New York, and he has always had a passion for playing various instruments and songwriting. He even recorded a few demos as a student at Syracuse University, while studying accounting at Whitman and public relations at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. After graduating from Whitman with a master’s degree in accounting, he wasn’t quite sure how to combine his musical interests with his career, but he was determined to make it happen. 

Palermo’s first job was at Ernst & Young in New York City as an audit associate in its financial services office. After four years, he wanted to explore other options and gain new skill sets beyond public accounting, so he took a position as a financial analyst at the Blackstone Group. All along, he kept looking for ways to transition his skills into the music business. While considering his options, he applied to earn a master’s degree from the Music Business Program at New York University (NYU). Around the same time, he joined EisnerAmper, a mid-sized accounting firm with a sports and entertainment division, where his clients included the NBA and Major League Soccer. 

In February 2020, he was accepted at NYU, but three weeks later COVID-19 brought the world to a halt. “In some ways, it ended up being a blessing in disguise because the first year at NYU went remote, so EisnerAmper gave me the flexibility to pursue my master’s degree and continue my job,” he explains.  

At NYU, he met Professor Larry Miller, the director of the music business program, who took notice of Palermo’s professional background in accounting and finance and became a mentor. “He opened up a whole new world to me in the music industry, particularly in the copyright valuation space,” Palermo says. 

Miller connected Palermo with a colleague who owned a boutique consulting firm in the music industry, which ultimately led him to a job at Citrin Cooperman, a firm well respected for providing professional services to the film, television and music industries. There, Palermo’s education, professional experience and love of music converged. For the past two years, he has been a manager in the firm’s music economics and valuation group. 

Palermo (right) posing with his team at Citrin Cooperman during the 2024 National Music Publishers Association Annual Meeting.

“In my group at Citrin Cooperman, people primarily come to us if they are buying a music catalog and require a third-party valuation, either to obtain financing to purchase a catalog or to gain an understanding of the value of their catalog before shopping it out to the market,” he explains. “When we conduct a valuation, we’re taking the catalog’s historical royalty cash flow and putting that into a discounted cash flow model, then forecasting those cash flows into the future to determine what the fair market value of the catalog is. Our in-depth knowledge of the growth trends in the music industry and understanding of the royalty sources payment trends is what separates us from our competition.” 

Citrin Cooperman is well regarded in this space and has relationships with the largest performance rights organizations in the industry. “We see everything—catalogs of copyrights for evergreen hits from the ’60s,’70s and ’80s; country, Christian, hip-hop, Latin and more. Lately, we’ve seen more catalogs of copyrights for music made for movies and television shows. We’ve also seen our clients coming up with more creative ways to exploit the copyrights they own,” he explains, noting examples such as successful music biopics, Broadway shows and creative synch opportunities.  

He acknowledges the people who helped him find his way to a career using his accounting skills in the music industry. “Now, I try to be a mentor as the next generation of Orange finds ways to create the careers they want,” says Palermo, who is chair of the Whitman Lubin School of Accounting Alumni Council.  

“I tell students that there are ways to combine your accounting careers with other interests and passions. Not everyone has to take the traditional public accounting route, but you have to be smart about your career moves,” he says. “It’s going to be a ride, and it won’t always be linear, so always look two steps ahead to see if the path you’re on will take you where you want to be. When I joined Citrin Cooperman, I told them that I wanted to be a leader in the music business industry. That’s the path for me.” 

By Caroline K. Reff