Cary Sherman, who has served as chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for seven years, after a 20-year tenure at the trade association, is retiring at the end of 2018 to be succeeded by Mitch Glazer. But before exiting his post, Sherman, a veteran lawyer, took a moment to address a crowd of music professionals at the MIDEM Conference in Cannes on the seismic shifts he’s seen in the last two decades and reflect on the lessons he’s learned.

Watch Sherman’s speech in its entirety below.