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Ivan J. Parron
Ivan Jose Parron, Esq. (born March 1st, 1969) is an American attorney and entrepreneur. He is the founder of and principal attorney for Parron Law, an entertainment, media and sports law firm based in Miami Beach, Florida. He also created and oversaw the online music distribution company Ritmoteca.com, Inc. in the late 1990s, the world’s first legal source for downloadable Latin music and music videos.

Early Life
Parron was born at Mercy Hospital in Miami, Florida, the son of Ivan Parron, Sr. and Norma Parron, both of whom emigrated to the United States from Cuba in the 1950s.

Education
Parron attended Montessori preschool in the suburb of Miami Lakes and went on to elementary school at Atlantic Christian School. As a pre-teen he took an interest in film and began making movies with friends; he also enjoyed music and took up the saxophone at a young age. The first two years of his high school career were spent at the prestigious Miami Country Day Preparatory School in Miami Shores; during his time there he ran track and field. Parron transferred to Hialeah Miami Lakes public high school his junior year; he played varsity football while there and was elected student council president. He graduated in 1987.

Parron began his college years at Florida State University, where he majored in computer science; he eventually transferred to Florida International University and received a bachelor's degree in business administration with a double major in marketing and international business. In time, he went to law school at FIU and received a law degree from there.

Universal Music Group
His first position out of law school was as in-house attorney at Universal Music Group, based out of the Miami Beach regional office which oversees the U.S. Latin market, Spain and Portugal. During his tenure, Parron represented the company in negotiations and worked with dozens of artists including Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, U2, Madonna, Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, Akon, and Daddy Yankee. He also oversaw business and legal affairs for several of the company’s joint ventures, was instrumental in the company’s efforts in obtaining digital and mobile distribution rights from its artists, spearheaded an effort to monetize music videos and develop an American Idol-style reality television venture.

Internet Marketing Consultants
During the early part of this period, Parron also founded and acted as president of Internet Marketing Consultants, Inc. which in 1995 was one of the first Internet and new media consulting firms in Florida. He was a consultant for international television media brands and companies, including MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, and Discovery Channel.

Ritmoteca.com
During the Dotcom boom of the late 1990’s, Parron was the founder and CEO of Ritmoteca.com, Inc., the world’s first legal source for downloadable Latin music and music videos via the Internet and mobile networks. The company was an early predecessor to the Apple Inc. iTunes business model. As CEO, he oversaw the vision and implementation of the company’s business plan, capitalization, and forging of strategic partnerships. Parron helped pioneer the deal structure for digital distribution of music, signing digital distribution agreements with over 60 top independent record labels and aggregating exclusive digital rights to over 600,000 music tracks and videos, including exclusive digital distribution rights to catalogs of artists including Marc Anthony, Carlos Vives, Tito Puente, and Celia Cruz. His input also led his company to become the first Latin music venture to sign digital music distribution deals with major record labels, including Sony, BMG, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. Under his leadership, Ritmoteca forged strategic alliances with companies, including Microsoft, AOL, Real Networks, Nokia, Motorola, and Napster. Parron built the company up to 150 employees with satellite offices in Europe and backed by private and institutional investors, including Bain Capital in Boston.

Parron Law
Following these ventures, Parron founded Parron Law, which now represents several high profile clients in the entertainment, sports and media fields. Parron works as business and legal counsel to television networks, motion picture studios, producers, writers, directors and actors. His law practice has particular emphasis on representing producers and production companies such as Endemol Latino North America in the international licensing and distribution of format television. The firm also has a particular focus in the unscripted/reality television genre. Parron is currently an appointed board member and officer of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law section of the Florida Bar, as well as an appointed board member of both the Miami-Dade County Film and Entertainment Advisory Board and the City of Miami Beach Film & Television Production Industry Council. On March 20th, 2011, Parron was named president of the Florida Grammy board of governors.

Parron is licensed to practice law in the State of Florida, US District Court in the Southern District of Florida, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the United States Supreme Court, and the District of Columbia.