About Steven
From the deal table to the mediation table.
Steven Corn is a mediator in the DC Metro area (DC, Maryland and Virginia) and the author of Beyond the Argument. Three decades of negotiating in the music business taught him how often what people ask for differs from what they need.
Where the work began.
Steven spent about three decades negotiating in the music industry, building and running businesses where a split sheet or a royalty statement could decide whether a relationship survived.
He learned that a person’s stated position (“I want this amount”) is rarely the whole story. Behind it sits a reason, and behind the reason an unspoken need. In mediation, Steven helps the parties look past their positions to those needs, so they can solve the right problem themselves.
He now mediates family, business and creative disputes in person across the DMV and by video anywhere, and wrote Beyond the Argument to put that approach in everyone’s hands.
Four commitments.
Impartial
Steven doesn’t take sides, and the decisions stay with you.
Confidential
What’s said in the room stays there, within the limits of the law.
Honest
He says what mediation can and can’t do, and never promises a result.
Patient
Real issues take time to surface. He makes room for the parties to get there.
Steady
When the room gets heated, Steven stays calm, so each person can say what matters and still be heard.
The music business.
The same instincts apply in a family or business dispute: listen for the need under the position.
- Co-founder, BFM DigitalA digital music distribution company serving hundreds of labels and content partners.
- Co-founder, BFM JazzA jazz record label whose releases won Grammy Awards. The awards belong to the artists.
- Business affairs, Made In Memphis EntertainmentLabel, distribution, synchronization and publishing operations.
- Faculty, Los Angeles College of MusicTeaching music publishing, royalties, distribution and contracts.
Training and affiliations.
Rostered mediator for Maryland Circuit and District Courts and DC Superior Court
- Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence (MPME)
- Mediator, Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County
- American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution
- Statewide California Mediation Association
What each means, and doesn’t: Standards & disclosures.
Meet Steven.
A free 20-minute consultation to see whether mediation fits. No cost, no obligation.
Get your free consultation (888) 638-4763
- Maryland and DC Court Approved
- 5.0 on Google
- Free 20-minute consultation