Below were the speakers at SF MusicTech Summit XIV on October 1, 2013.
Click here to view a PDF of the schedule.
Cisco Adler Bananabeat Records, CEO / Founder
Producer / Singer / Songwriter / Entrepreneur with a worldwide community of fans and a focus on re-writing the rules of the record business. Cisco has sold millions of albums, produced and written Top 40 hits, and has created a name for himself as a thought leader and influencer in the record industry and beyond. With an eye and ear for what’s next, Cisco has become a go-to guy for labels, brands, and tech companies looking to find new talent and expose them to the world. The future is BANANAS! Follow on Twitter: @MrCiscoAdler
Clint Bajakian Game Audio Network Guild, Co-Founder Clint will be joining the team at Pyramind Studios as Creative Director and Senior Composer after ten years (2004 – 2013) at Sony Computer Entertainment where he built and headed up the music production group as Senior Music Manager working on multi award winning franchises such as God of War, Uncharted, Warhawk, SOCOM and Journey. From 1991-2000, Clint was Composer and Sound Design Supervisor at LucasArts Entertainment Company, producing music and sound for franchises such as Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Star Wars, Full Throttle, Outlaws and Indiana Jones. His Outlaws score received a Special Achievement award from Computer Gaming Magazine in 1997. From 2000-2004, Bajakian was president and founder of his own independent audio production company, Bay Area Sound. Read more
Kevin ArnoldOpenAura, Inc., Founder / CEO
Kevin Arnold is a San Francisco-based music and technology entrepreneur with diverse interests who tends to bite off a bit more than he can chew. His first taste for building things started when he founded San Francisco’s internationally renowned Noise Pop Festival back in 1993. Today, Noise Pop Industries (NPI) manages a busy calendar of local cultural events year-round, culminating in the Treasure Island Music Festival. In 2012 NPI added the local events guide Do415 to its family, helping Bay Area nightlife denizens answer the question of what to do in San Francisco.
Nurturing his repressed inner technology geek, Kevin first learned the mysteries of databases during a stint at Oracle during the 90’s Bay Area tech boom, then quickly jumped into the bubbling digital music sector at local startup Listen.com. As Director of Data Services for Listen, Kevin was able to combine his love for music and technology by guiding the growth and development of Listen’s music metadata systems, data integration tools, and music royalty data warehouse for the Rhapsody digital music subscription service.
Building upon this experience, in 2003 Kevin founded IODA – the Independent Online Distribution Alliance – to help independents find their way in the new world of digital music. He grew the fledgling startup into one of the largest digital distributors of independent music in the world, combining his dedication to independents and unique understanding of the digital music landscape to benefit IODA’s global client base.
After completing the sale of IODA to Sony Music Entertainment in 2009 and the subsequent merger with the Orchard in 2012, Kevin joined the Global Digital Business group at Sony Music as Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor. With a mandate to focus on core problems facing the evolution of the industry, Kevin developed new business concepts that ultimately resulted in the creation and spinout of a new company, OpenAura, Inc., expected to make its debut in early 2014.
Kathy entered the music industry in February 2000 as an Executive Producer and Production Manager of an internet start-up, AKA.com, The Music Network. Prior, she worked as a Project Manager for Johnson & Johnson from February 1997 through January 2000. Nominated and elected into the first ever Women’s Leadership Initiative at Sony Music Entertainment in June 2008, Kathy Baker is profiled as a top digital marketing executive in the 2009 Business Plus book “Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your [entertainment] Business” by Thembisa S. Mshaka(Author), Vanessa Williams (Foreword). Kathy holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University, College of Engineering and was a Member of Pi Tau Sigma’s National Mechanical Engineering Honor Society from September 1992 through December 1996. She received a Graduate Certification in Internet/Intranet Management and Design from the Computer Technology and Applications Program at Columbia University in New York City. Follow on Twitter: @columbiarecords @katrod30 As an authority on licensing and digital content, Darryl has spoken at industry events including SF Music Tech, MIDEM, SXSW, Canadian Music Week, Music & Media Finland, Digital Music Forum East and West, New Music Seminar, and many more. Before launching LyricFind, Darryl was Manager of Digital Development & Distribution at EMI Music in Los Angeles, where he was involved in deals with companies such as MusicMatch, Napster, and iTunes. Darryl earned a Bachelor of Mathematics with a Business minor from the University of Waterloo. Follow on Twitter: @DBToronto Getty Images is a leading creator and distributor of still imagery, video, music and other premium content. The goal is to inspire communicators – and give them the tools to create inspiring work of their own. Follow on Twitter: @pointer8708 She joined Edelman after serving as vice president of communications at Warner Home Entertainment where she was charged with spearheading the global public relations launch of the DVD format on behalf of Warner Bros. and Time Warner, leaders in development of the technology. Throughout several controversial format and copyright battles, she served as the primary PR strategist and spokesperson for the companies. Prior to joining Warner, Gail received a political appointment in the first Clinton administration to serve as director of communications for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Donna Shalala. There, she developed and implemented communications programs to promote the agency and its divisions, including the FDA and Centers for Disease Control. Prior to that post, she served as a member of the national press staff and as the primary on-site satellite producer for candidates Bill Clinton and Al Gore during their ’92 presidential campaign. Gail began her career as an on-air broadcast journalist in local news and then as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., covering Capitol Hill and the White House. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California Los Angeles and a master’s in journalism from North¬western University. Gail has served as a board member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and was featured in the book, “Hire Me, Hollywood!” by Mark Scherzer and Keith Fenimore. Gail currently serves as Chair of Edelman’s Global Women’s Executive Network (GWEN) and is responsible for overseeing the company’s effort to increase the number of women at the senior most levels of the firm. Her blog, “Yes, I Can Walk in These,” can be viewed on Edelman’s global web site. Recently, Gail directed a short documentary film which has been recognized by a number of international film festivals. “A Journey with Purpose,” follows her nine-year old son’s trip to Auschwitz with his grandfather who was a prisoner there for four years. Gail wrote and produced the film with her 14-year old son, which is now among the library of teaching resources of Facing History, www.facinghistory.org, a non-profit providing supplemental learning materials to schools around the world to combat racism, anti-Semitism and prejudice, nurturing democracy through education. Follow on Twitter: @gailfbecker Isaac BessYouTube, Strategic PartnershipsIsaac started in the music business in 1994 at New York’s famed Matador Records. After stints in Tokyo as a music journalist, and ten years in San Francisco at independent labels (Quannum Projects) and independent distributors (IODA/Sony Music), Isaac joined YouTube‘s Business Development team in 2011. At YouTube, Isaac works with both independent and major labels, technology licensing and other strategic partnerships. Prior to joining VEVO, Cerda was Vice President, Technology at Myspace, as a result of a sale of Threadbox (fka Cc:Betty), where he was co-founder and CEO. Cerda incubated the real-time messaging service as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Venrock. Cerda was Vice President of Sales and Business Development of web voice company Jajah (sold to Telefonica in 2010), following a three year effort as co-founder and CEO of social communications company Jangl (sold to Live Universe 2008). Prior to Jangl, Cerda co-founded consumer VoIP service and device company, Ooma, and served as the company’s original CEO. Cerda worked in management and key roles in several successful startups: Director of Business and Corporate Development at Trapeze Networks (sold to Belden 2008), Director of Corporate Development at Procket Networks (sold to Cisco 2004), Director of Sales at Redback Networks (IPO 1999), Regional Sales Manager at Lucent by way of the Livingston acquisition (sold in 1997) and Business Development at Farallon/Netopia (IPO 1995). A sought after speaker on the conference circuit, Cerda has held high profile speaking slots at Business Insider’s IGNITION, SXSW Interactive, Supernova, Red Herring, Etre in Europe, VON, Dow Jones Venturesummit, Guidewire Group Summit, Community Next, SF Newtech Meetup, GigaOm Mobilize, AlwaysOn 100. Tim holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in Electrical Engineering/System Engineering and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. Tim is an accomplished musician and currently performs with BlackMahal and Coverflow, as well as a new live EDM “rocktronica” project called Rainbow Party. Follow on Twitter: @timechange Known throughout the technology and music industries as being “part ambassador and part evangelist,” Cohen was instrumental in crafting the licensing agreements upon which the Rhapsody subscription service and the iTunes Music Store were built. In his previous role as Senior Vice President of Digital Development & Distribution for EMI Music (home of artists including Coldplay and the Rolling Stones), Cohen led next-generation digital business development worldwide for this “big four” record company, which includes labels such as Capitol, Virgin, Angel/Blue Note, Parlophone and Chrysalis. During that time, EMI led the industry by embracing and exploiting new technologies and business models such as digital downloads and online music subscriptions, custom compilations, wireless services, high-definition audio and Internet radio. In addition to seeking out, evaluating and executing business opportunities for the company on a global basis, Cohen served as both a strategist and key decision-maker for EMI’s global new media and anti-piracy efforts. He worked to establish company-wide digital policies, which have provided EMI’s artists and labels a substantial advantage in the digital music arena. Prior to his role at EMI, Cohen served as Executive Vice President of Digital Music Network Inc., where he co-founded and served as Chairman of the groundbreaking Webnoize conferences. Cohen also led two highly successful new media consulting operations, DMN Consulting and Consulting Adults, attracting clients such as Amazon.com, Microsoft, Universal Studios, DreamWorks Records, Liquid Audio, Wherehouse Records/Checkout.com and various other entertainment, technology and new media organizations. Cohen also held senior management positions at both Warner Bros. Records and Philips Media. A 30-year industry veteran, Cohen currently chairs MidemNet, an international music/technology conference convened in Cannes each year. Cohen also serves on the NARAS (Grammy) Los Angeles chapter Board of Governors as well as the national Trustee Board, the Board of Directors for the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund, co-chairs the new media arm of the T.J. Martell Foundation, and lends his time and talents to music & technology education efforts such as the Grammy In The Schools Program. Cohen served two terms as the Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum Americas. Prior to Muzak Trey was a Principal at Fern Templeton where he helped both established companies and small start-ups establish a formalized development lifecycle and ensure delivery of product to market. Trey began his career at Accenture where he specialized in CRM in the High Tech Industry. Follow on Twitter: @treycourtney / @moodmedia Follow on Twitter: @twdonovan / @shoutabl Follow David on Twitter: @bandzoogle and @DavidDufresne Previously Fiber was President of Cordless Recordings, which was Warner Music Group’s ‘eLabel’ — the first such initiative of its kind among the major record labels. Jason partnered with music legend Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra & Nonesuch Records) to design and launch Cordless as a different kind of recording company. Cordless leveraged online and mobile communications technologies to support musicians of every genre and career stage. From 1993-1996, Fiber held the lead management role at World Domination Recordings, an independent label subsidiary of Capitol Records. He began his career in the A&R department at Epic Records. Follow on Twitter: @jasonfiber While at Belmont University, Kevin founded Bruin Publishing, which was later adopted into the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. Prior to that, he may have learned one of the most important lessons of the modern music business at Party City, where he was THE GUY at the balloon counter, which is: blow it up, baby. Follow on Twitter: @kevingrosch While Illusive goes from strength to strength, Matt has diversified with the opening of booking agency Artist Voice in 2010, already one of Australasia’s biggest players with a roster that reads like a who’s who of hot music talent. Matt’s other interests include innovative merchandise company Drawing Board (launched in 2009), his partnership in cult magazine and creative agency ACCLAIM (launched in 2005) and brand new digital start-up Purifier (launching soon). In addition, Matt has reignited his involvement in the nightclub scene in which he cut his teeth with a number of venue investments in recent years. As each year passes, Matt has taken on more responsibility across the wider Mushroom Group which culminated in his appointment as Executive Director in early 2013 as it entered its 40th year of operation with a new vision. The Group now includes almost two dozen music and entertainment entities including the likes of Frontier Touring, Liberation Music, Ivy League,Mushroom Music Publishing, Love Police ATM and [PIAS] Australia to name just a fraction. Follow on Twitter: @MushroomGroup Freddy’s business acumen lead him to become involved with non-profit arts related businesses since the early 1970s through the Eyes & Ears Foundation, one of the first non-profit arts organizations in San Francisco. He served on the board of 7 non-profit 501C3 organizations over the past few decades. Currently, Freddy serves as a board member and has been president of both the Rex Foundation, created by the Grateful Dead, and the Black Rock Arts Foundation, created by the founders of Burning Man. Both Foundations include support of the arts in their missions. Follow on Twitter: @arewereally Rusty launched SomaFM in 1999 because he “couldn’t find anything I wanted to listen to on the radio”. SomaFM’s goal has been to produce captivating, unique music programming that’s hard or impossible to find in more-mainstream media. Follow on Twitter: @SomaFMRusty & @somafm In 2000, Peter debuted his first major installation, Playa Swimmers at Burning Man, the world-renowned weeklong annual art festival in the Nevada desert. The Swimmers engaged festival participants to interact and experience the art on a variety of personal levels. 2002 ushered in the large scale, stroboscopic zoetropes for which Peter has become known. At Burning Man 2004, Peter unveiled his third major installation, Deeper which appeared to depict divers continually penetrating the desert floor. in 2007, Peter was inspired to create, Homouroboros, a 24 foot tall tree with apelike creatures continually swinging around tree branches, consuming serpents bearing apples. In 2008 Peter created Tantalus, which took on a much more political flavor than his previous works. Peter returned to Black Rock City in 2011 with Charon. Inspired by the Burning Man art theme Rites of Passage and the passing of loved ones, Peter brought the ferryman from Greek mythology to life in this, his latest 3 dimensional stroboscopic work. Orchestrating nearly 100 volunteers working for 9 months and 6000 hours, Peter has created his most sophisticated, collaborative effort to date. Peter and his feverishly dedicated crew are bringing his latest contraption, Eternal Return to Burning Man in August 2013. Steve also serves as an early advisor and/or investor to companies such as Animoto, Blue Bottle Coffee, StumbleUpon, WillCall, and Uber. Follow on Twitter: @stevejang Mike has written for Making Music magazine, International Musician, Hypebot, and American Songwriter, and has been quoted in NPR Morning Edition, The Huffington Post, Billboard, The Boston Globe, Wired, CNN, The Boston Phoenix, The Chicago Tribune, Music Connection, and Muso. He’s also presented at MIDEM, CMJ, SXSW, NAMM, NARM, SF Music Tech, Futures of Entertainment @ MIT, and Music 2.0. Check out his Website, Blog and follow on Twitter: @atomzooey Lee chose the name “Monster” because it sounded strong and powerful. It became an immediate hit with consumers. In fact, the name Monster Cable is so synonymous with high quality and high performance, customers often assume that any cable they purchase in reputable stores would be Monster even though there are other cable brands. Monster is now the world’s leading manufacturer of high performance cables that connect audio/video components for home, car and professional use as well as computers and computer games. Monster Cable is an indispensable component for music lovers, audiophiles, recording studios, sound professionals, musicians, custom-installers and home theatre enthusiasts. Monster’s audio cables increase the clarity, dynamics and power of the audio signals that travel through them. Monster video cables deliver the sharpest, clearest picture possible with naturally vivid color from traditional and digital television, projectors, home theatre and satellite systems. Monster Game products lets enthusiasts enjoy the ultimate gaming experience by maximizing sound and video quality of a gaming system. Monster Power, a division of Monster Cable, delivers cleaner AC power to A/V components and computer products and high joule surge protection for maximum performance. Monster’s New Product Development division draws upon years of audio design and critical listening experience, to create the innovative, high performance cables and accessories that make Monster the leader in the industry. Already holding over 200 US and international patents, Monster is continually striving to discover and develop new, advanced technologies and designs to meet the needs of the ever-advancing consumer electronics industry. Monster offers over 4000 products and is sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Monster is also a leader in the local community and prides itself in the work it does to help those who are in less than fortunate circumstances. See what Monster does to care for our community. Before The Echo Nest, Jim was a music lawyer at Greenberg Traurig, specializing in music & digital media deals. Clients included multi-platinum & independent artists, music publishers, digital entertainment companies and branded entertainment companies. Prior to GT, Jim held sales and corporate development positions at Hughes, where he managed market development and sales. Jim holds a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center. When he’s not at the Nest, Jim plays drums and still represents a few indie artists pro bono for fun. Follow on Twitter: @echonest Prior to Walden, Larry was a digital media sell-side Equity Research Analyst at Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown where he lead the top performing IPOs of 1998 and 1999 (Terayon and CBS MarketWatch), as well as the IPOs of Maxis, Edmark, and Netflix (initial S-1 IPO filing) among other equity and debt financings (Broderbund, Sierra On-line, Excite@Home, Spectrum Holobyte, CBS Sportsline). Prior experience includes Robertson Stephens & Company, Digidesign and General Management in computer services retail. Education: Larry received a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. Larry enjoys collecting vintage dead hardware, golfing and playing music. Hear him on Pandora by seeding a station with Megan Keely, Corinne Marcus or the Flying Other Brothers. See the music he loves at his Pandora profile here Larry has been a guest lecturer at Haas Graduate School of Business, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School. He has been a speaker and panelist at numerous conferences including Dealmaker Media’s Under the Radar, SF MusicTech, Billboard, AlwaysOn and Digital Hollywood among others. Follow Larry on Twitter: @cyberlar Before entering the venture capital business, Hany spent ten years on Wall Street as a top-ranked research analyst at Piper Jaffray focusing on Internet software and infrastructure. Hany is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he earned a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in political science. Follow on Twitter: @GGVCapital & @hnada When he was just 14, Leo began promoting concerts in Northern California. His passion for the music industry soon translated into working with record labels in entertainment marketing and business management, helping to bolster the careers of multi-platinum selling artists signed to Hollywood Records, Sony, V2, Wind-up Records and Warner Bros. Simultaneously, Leo began consulting and touring with numerous festivals across the United States. Founded in 1981, Goldenvoice is a Los Angeles-based concert promoter that annually produces more than 700 concerts, including The Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival. He grew AEG Digital Media to become the leading provider of managed webcasting and live streaming services in the digital media industry today. AEGDM powered The Grammys, The Oscars, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, American Express’s Unstaged series on YouTube and VEVO, the Royal Wedding, the MTV VMA’s, the E3 conference and live streaming events for brands like HP, Hyundai, Oracle, Heineken, Pepsi, Coke, Dell, AMD and Mars. Follow on Twitter: @johnpetrocelli / @bulldogdm spinART records was the first record label in the music industry to offer its catalog of releases via paid download as mp3s. From 2004 to Present, Jeff contributed to the founding charter and organization of The American Association of Independent Music (AAIM) – a non-profit non-governmental trade organization representing the interests of its independent label members. From 1997 – 2001 Jeff Price worked with EMusic serving first as a consultant, next as interim VP of Content Acquisition and finally as the Senior Director of Music/Business Development. He contributed towards the creation of EMusic’s initial business model, played an active internal team role in EMusic’s successfully completed $30MM private placement in March 1999 and $90MM second round financing in September 1999 and created and implement the first subscription-based music sales and distribution structure From 2005 – 2012 Jeff was the CEO/President of TuneCore. In 2012, he left TuneCore. He now consults for the Canadian performing rights organization SOCAN as well as FreePlay Music, the worlds most licenses music production catalog. Mr. Price has has appeared on numerous panels including CMJ, In The City, WebNYC, ECMA, Midem, Winter Music Conference, New Music Seminar, Billboard Music and Money Symposium, Independent Music Festival, Music Biz 2005, Audio Soft, MP3 Summit, South By South West, Digital Distribution and the Music Industry and countless others as well as teaches occasionally at New York University, Pace University, Berklee College of Music and more. In addition, he has appeared on Nightline, CNBC, ABC News, CNN, MSNBC, CW11, and has been interviewed, quoted and featured in publications ranging from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Billboard, Fortune, Spin, Crain’s, London Daily Mirror, NPR, National Geographic, Wired News, Business Week, The Industry Standard, Boston Globe, Stereophile, to Salon.com, ON24.com, ZDnet, and CNET to many others. At the request of a congressional panel, he supplied a written deposition in the SEC investigation of Time Warner’s failed acquisition bid of EMI and has provided a witness statement for the SoundExchange arbitration relating to the royalty rate for webcasting. Follow on Twitter: @TuneCoreJeff I want to change the way people think about music. If music is a measure of cultural identity, then I am for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that keeps music moving forward. Technology and social media are pushing music beyond the reach of corporate dollars by placing it back in the hands of the fan. Music isn’t a business… IT’S AN INALIENABLE RIGHT. Follow on Twitter: @socialsound1982 Rogers was the founding principal of KSR Consulting Group, a boutique creative agency that developed and produced national award-winning promotional programs and live events for clients including SKECHERS USA, The Patron Spirits Company, and others. Rogers is also creator of the Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Race Festival, a National Recreation and Parks Association award-winning community event featured on The Travel Channel as one of the Top 5 Halloween traditions in America. Rogers is lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for Strand. Follow on Twitter: @IROCKE Marc sits on the Boards and Advisory Boards of numerous internet and technology start-ups and is on the BoD of the San Francisco Film Society. Marc has a BA from Hamilton College and an MBA from Columbia Business School, and lives in San Francisco with his wife and three children. Marc blogs about music and film at snoozebutton.com and the Huffington Post. Follow on Twitter: @ruxputin She graduated from Tufts University and is also a certified sommelier. Follow on Twitter: @BondGyrl / @republicrecords Relocating to Los Angeles, where she has lived since 2000, Asya founded the booking agency Mir Media, which for a decade represented top soul, nu jazz, house and hip hop artists managing bookings, tours and various viral and PR marketing aspects. This Fall commemorates the 10 Year Anniversary for Fusicology, now a premier platform and boutique agency looking to expand with more exclusive content, videos, interviews and market expansion for a broader reach both in North America and beyond with the site and app. Follow on Twitter: @azboogie / @fusicology Brian is the Executive Director of GameSoundCon, the industry’s leading conference on video game music and video game sound design. He is also founded EarGames, a developer of audio-based videogames and continues to write music for games and design audio technology as an independent consultant. Brian spent ten years at Microsoft where he led the direction of game audio technologies. While there, he joined the then-fledgling Xbox organization as architect for its audio systems, and created the original Xbox startup sound. Brian was also responsible for the audio system of the Xbox 360, and worked on Xbox One. Brian left Microsoft in 2008 to return to consulting and to create GameSoundCon and EarGames. Brian currently sits on the advisory board of the Game Developer Conference, is President of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) is a former steering committee member of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (ia-sig) of the MMA, and has been a featured speaker at conferences and universities around the world. Follow on Twitter: @GameSound He was on the founding team of SKOUT. Helping to create the first social mobile application for iPhone that was both profitable, and viral. He left as the company accomplished hitting its 2.5 mm user mark and goal of sustainable profitability.Read more He then headed Innovation for Alcatel-Lucent / BellLabs creating the first ever Open API Service across multiple global carriers. Working with Tier one carriers like SFR, French Telecom, ATT, VzW, Sprint and Tmobile. He eventually went to head the Alcatel-Lucent / BellLabs Open Innovation Unit helping over 400 startups connect with top carriers globally generating actual real world deployments benefiting both and generating tens of millions in revenue. This allowed him to connect with and develop relationships many of the top C-level telecom executives in nearly every continent around the world. He went on to found The Taploid a lauded innovative startup leveraging Facebook’s Open Graph. Currently Redg and Team are the Principle’s at Stained Glass Labs. An incubator focused on Glass and Wearable Technologies based out of the valley. He also sets on the board of several startups managing their Go To Market strategies. Follow on Twitter:@redgsnodgrass / @stainedglasslabs The list goes on, but the artistry of Narada Michael Walden is about more than charts positions and record sales. There is a powerful spiritual component at the heart of everything this richly gifted artist undertakes, an attuned and intuitive approach with a deep appreciation for music’s transforming power. Simply put, the artistry of Narada Michael Walden gets to the heart of matter, about matters of the heart. It’s a commitment that reaches into the philanthropic arena as well, where Walden consistently lends his time and talent to causes ranging from the Cancer Society to funding music programs in the nation’s schools through his own foundation. For seven straight years he has served as Music Director for the Rainforest Foundation Concert at Carnegie Hall, the high profile conversancy benefit spearheaded by Sting and Trudie Styler that has featured the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel, Ravi Shankar, James Taylor, Brian Wilson and, of course, Sting himself. His “Narada Michael Walden Foundation” delivers its services through a network of non-profit organizations with proven records of success in youth education and community empowerment. The Foundation also endows scholarships for aspiring musicians and enables the stars of tomorrow by offering emerging young artists from around the world access to recording facilities, coaching and production support. His new label, Tarpan Records is a home for many great established artists and some amazing up-and-coming artists as well. Tarpan Records specializes in artist development, full service project management, promotion, and distribution. Initially focused on Narada Michael Walden’s releases, the plan is to apply this business model to up and coming and established recording artists in the years to come. Tarpan Records will release Narada Michael Walden’s new album Thunder 2013 nationally in late September of 2013 with help from distribution and marketing powerhouse Independent Distribution Collective. This new album is a Rock masterpiece, with many flavors of Narada’s vast history mixed in. On September 24th 2013 the label will also release Narada Michael Walden’s Rising Sun, an instrumental EP that features Narada and his fantastic new band performing remakes of his greatest Fusion Hits. Thunder 2013 is a strong new direction from Narada Michael Walden, inspired by his recent successful two-year tour with the Jeff Beck Band. Narada returned home to finish this album and put together his band to tour on his own. In early February 2012, Narada Michael Walden returned from a well received 10 day stint of shows at the Blue Note in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan to perform at the White House in an all-star band for President Obama’s “Red, White and Blues” Concert with legends B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Trombone Shorty, Booker T Jones and more. Narada enlisted some amazing musicians and performers for his band on Thunder 2013 including: Nikita Germaine (Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, and Patty Austin) on Vocals, Frank Martin (Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige, Madonna, Jennifer Hudson, John McLaughlin, Elton John and Bruce Springsteen) on Keyboards, Angeline Saris (Gretchen Menn, Zepperella) on Bass and Vocals, Matthew Charles Heulitt (Zigaboo Modaliste, Salvador Santana, Megan Slankard, Eion Harrington) on Guitars. Walden’s prodigious energies have consistently kept him on the cutting edge of the music industry. For 27 years now he has also successfully run his Marin County-based Tarpan Studios recording studio. With awesome abilities matched by a truly humble spirit, Narada Michael Walden is not only one of the legendary talents of our era: he is also one of the most admired, emulated and authentic. You can hear it in his music. Carrie’s experience also includes work at two venture funds, Red Rock Capital and Brad Peery Capital, where she was Director and Vice President of Strategic Development. Prior to her invest-side experience, Carrie was a record-breaking executive at VentureOne, a leading industry research firm, and at Teletrac, a venture-backed mobile solution provider optimizing the service delivery process. Carrie is a currently an Executive Board Advisor for the Computer History Museum. Follow Carrie on Twitter: @CarrieAWalsh Before joining Gracenote, White was the vice president of development for streaming music start-up Echo.com, which was one of the first companies to combine group content streaming and community features. Prior to Echo.com, White was a senior director and executive producer for CKS, a media consultancy based in Silicon Valley. He began his career as a reporter and writer. With over 16 years experience in the entertainment industry, Corrine and her family have done the impossible: they have co-created a cutting edge success without any sponsorship. Located on their working family farm they have achieved Winner of “Business of the Year 2012” awarded by the Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce, “Best Large Event” in 2011 & 2012 awarded by the Breakspoll International Breakbeat Awards, “Best Canadian” Festival by The Music Festival Junkies, and “Best Festival Website” in 2011 & 2012. In 2012, Shambhala achieved the International Festival & Events Association IFEA / Haas & Wilkerson Gold Pinnacle Awards for “Best Social Media Site”, “Best Miscellaneous Media” (Blog), “Best New Merchandise”(festival quilts), “Best New Product or Service” (camping accommodations). Corrine is a recent graduate of IFEA’s Certified Festival Event Executive program in September 2013. At Shambhala Music Festival, it’s all about the people on the dance floor. “And dancing”, Corrine boasts, “is an infectious way to bring more joy and love to the world.” Corrine’s industry leading professionalism is tempered with what the fans call ‘Shambhalove’. “With that kind of result, my role has become a way to effect positive change. Follow on Twitter: @zawaduk / @shambhala_mf In 2003 Billy ran for, and won, a seat on the DC Board of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the organization that produces the Grammyʼs. Billy is currently and will remain a Voting Member of this organization where he votes on the winners of the Grammyʼs each year. He was on the DC Board from 2003-2005 & 2006-2008 and was elected President of the DC Chapter from 2008-2010 and subsequently elected to National Trustee in 2010, a term which lasted 2 years through May of 2012. Zero Management is Billy’s brainchild: A management company that manages bands, artists and events and also develops and consults organizations on Brand Development, Music Marketing and Social Strategies with an emphasis on utilization of music to shape the brand. And yes, Billy Zero® is a Registered Trademark.
Kathy BakerColumbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment, Vice President, Digital Media and Marketing Kathy Baker is a seasoned marketing executive with over 13 years experience in digital media, entertainment, and emerging technologies. In her current position as Vice President of Digital Media and Marketing at Columbia Records she is responsible for the direction of digital products, from concept to execution, in support of Columbia’s business goals and strategic marketing. She leads a team of digital marketers in the conception and implementation of digital marketing campaigns for a roster of artists including Adele, Beyoncé, One Direction, John Legend, and J. Cole.Read more
Kathy began working for Sony Music Entertainment in February 2001 as Project Manager and Web Consultant for Columbia Records. In October 2004, first as Director, Digital Marketing and Production for Sony Urban Music, Kathy led the department in the creation and execution of online marketing campaigns for the Columbia Records and Epic Records urban music rosters including John Legend, Prince, Beyoncé, Nas, Lyfe Jennings, Jill Scott and others. Upped to Senior Director, Digital Marketing, Sony Urban Music in March 2006, she became Senior Director, Digital Marketing, Columbia Records in late 2006.
Darryl BallantyneLyricFind, CEO & FounderAt LyricFind, Darryl Ballantyne originally conceived LyricFind in 2000 with Mohamed Moutadayne and Chris Book at Ontario’s University of Waterloo to be the largest, most accurate destination for lyrics on the Internet. Officially launched in 2004, the company pioneered the licensed digital lyrics space, successfully negotiating the first-ever mass lyrics licensing deal with EMI Music Publishing in 2005. Since then, Darryl has grown LyricFind to be the largest legal, licensed lyrics database in the world, with millions of licensed tracks available representing thousands of music publishers. LyricFind is also the first lyrics service to have true worldwide rights from all major music publishers (and many more).Read more
LyricFind has established licensing and content relationships with over 3,000 music publishers, Rovi, The Harry Fox Agency, The Echo Nest, and many more. The company now delivers services to hundreds of web sites and mobile applications that want to enhance their music products with lyrics, including Microsoft’s Bing, Lyrics.com, Pandora, Shazam, SoundHound, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, MetroLyrics, SongMeanings, Universal Music, and mSpot. In addition, LyricFind offers two direct to consumer mobile applications, Lyrics Lite and Lyrics Pro for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry Playbook platforms.
Vince BannonGetty Images, VP of Entertainment Development + Partnerships Vince Bannon, Getty Images, Vice President, Entertainment Partnerships and Development, is responsible for global entertainment business development. Vince is a seasoned music industry veteran. He founded Concert Company Ritual (later sold to Live Nation) and was SVP of Sony Music. Vince ventured into new digital pastures in the beginning of the new century with start-up image net, later acquired by Getty Images in 2004. Read more
Gail Becker Edelman, Chair, Canada, Latin America & U.S. Western Region As Chair of Canada, Latin America and the U.S. Western Region, Gail Becker brings a breadth of experience encompassing consumer marketing, public affairs, technology, and entertain¬ment, where she has proven herself a driving force in meeting challenges associated with today’s marketplace. Gail began her career at Edelman as General Manager of the Los Angeles office, which she led for seven years and served as Western Region President for more than eight.
Read more
An early leader of Edelman’s Digital Entertainment and Technology practice, Gail spearheads Edelman’s annual survey, “Value, Engagement in Trust in the Era of Social Entertainment and Second Screens.” The survey tracks the impact of social media and new platforms on entertainment audiences in the UK and US, revealing the key issues that entertainment brands and communication professionals should consider when looking to engage audiences with content.
Dean BolteOmnifone, Managing Director, AmericasLA-based Dean Bolte is managing director of the Americas for B2B digital music service provider, Omnifone. His company develops, licenses and manages cloud-based digital music services, allowing service providers to deliver music across most devices globally. Such service providers include Sony Music Unlimited, rara.com, Spotify, BBM Music and other major brands. Omnifone also works with rights owners to enable them to monetise assets via global digital services, in a way that is both commercially viable and readily embraced by consumers. Dean’s background includes building US-based operations with companies in the online kids and family gaming space including Smith and Tinker, Imagination Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company. Follow on Twitter: @Omnifone
Nicholas Bonardi Ubisoft, Lead Audio Game Designer, Audiophile, and Programmer; Nick has been working in the audio industry of the Bay Area for the past decade. He currently resides as Lead Audio at the Ubisoft SF studio working on Rocksmith and future titles.
Ryan BornAdRev, CEO Ryan Born is the CEO of AdRev, a YouTube asset administration service, micro sync licensing platform, and multi-channel network that currently represents 3 million music copyrights and monetizes 10 million YouTube videos. Based on its 3 year revenue growth, the company was named the #2 fastest growing media company as part of the 2013 Inc 500. AdRev operates both a full service and do-it-yourself platform for musicians, labels, and publishers to monetize YouTube videos containing their music. The company pays out 100% of earnings on official channel videos and 80% on third party / fan uploads. AdRev optimizes placement and revenue opportunities through its technology, dedicated team, and sync licensing partnerships with other YouTube networks including Maker Studios, Fullscreen, and Big Frame. Read more
Tony BrookeSilent Way, Founder, Media Asset Manager, Audio Engineer Tony Brooke is a media asset manager in San Francisco. He has completed significant research into music industry audiovisual metadata as part of a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the School of Library and Information Science at San José State University. He has been an audio engineer specializing in remote multitrack recording since 1992, with over 90 releases in his discography (including two Grammy-nominated albums) and 500 clients. Tony also sits on the Recording Academy’s Producers and Engineers Wing San Francisco Chapter Committee.
Ask him how to fix your metadata problem and you will get an earful. Follow on Twitter: @tonybrooke
Joegh Bullock anonEvents, Producer/Art Director
I started producing events as a kid from New Jersey, cowboy shows and haunted houses were my specialty!
Since then I have been a professional photographer, film maker, video producer and gallery curator producing events over the years such as, Off The Wall Cinema, 20×20 Gallery, Somersault Studios, Climate Theatre, Solo Mio Fest, Glas Haus, Festival Fantochio, Burning Man, Anon Salon, Sea of Dreams, How Weird St Fair, Decom St Fair, Masquerotica, Super Hero St Fair, Wisdom 2.0 and a few new ideas in the fire…
I’m no expert but happy to share what I know!
Caroline Burruss Austin City Limits Live, Vice President/Brand Development
Caroline’s passion has always centered around building a fan community and trying to find ways to creatively monetize them. Currently, Burruss represents sponsorship and custom content at Austin City Limits Live as well as Electric Forest, Tortuga, Fun Fun Fun, Pachanga!, Neon Desert and The Ride. She started working with independent bands in the early 90s, then at ChickClick.com and Seventeen magazine, before joining Clear Channel Entertainment / Live Nation as the VP of Touring Sponsorship. Her secret weapons are Kelly Mosser and Happy Mercado, who are the superstars who make it all happen! Follow on Twitter: @acllive / @carofryeburr
Bora Celik Jukely, Founder An engineer by training, Bora’s career transformed from developer to software architect to product manager. A music nut at heart, he’s produced 3-time IDMA award nominee podcast, has hosted radio shows, DJ’d at clubs, and put together close to 100 shows as a concert promoter with top acts such as Tiesto, Kaskade, and Tommy Lee. Most recently along with his ex-Kickstarter co-founder, Andrew Cornett, he’s founded Jukely, a matchmaker for concerts and friends.
Follow on Twitter: @xbora / @jukely
Michael CerdaVEVO, Senior Vice President, Product DevelopmentMichael Cerda has a long career in breaking new ground for startups and bringing larger companies through major inflections. He is currently Senior Vice President, Product Development for VEVO, the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform.
Read More
Cerda earned his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology/Management from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He is currently based in New York and enjoys playing music in El Desayuno. Follow Michael on Twitter: @VEVO
Tim Chang Mayfield Fund, Managing Director
Tim is a proven venture investor and experienced global executive, known for his thought leadership in Gamification, Quantified Self, and Behavioral/Social Science-led Design. He has been named to the Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Tech Investors, as one of CNET’s 12 Most Influential Tech Investors and as a Power Player West, Digital Media and Mobile Power Player by Always On. Tim invests in the mobile, social, adtech, and health 2.0 themes. Tim’s investments include OUYA, a video game console powered by Android, Moat, a brand analytics SaaS platform, Zirtual, a virtual assistant services marketplace, Basis, a wrist-based health tracker and online personal dashboard, BranchOut, a career networking application on Facebook, and HealthTap, an interactive health network that virtualizes the doctor-patient experience. Tim’s prior investments include Badgeville (gamification as a SaaS platform) and Lumos Labs (brain wellness games).
Yosun ChangAReality3D, CTO I make cool stuff. 🙂
For more information, visit: AReality3D
Follow on Twitter: @yosun
Cindy W. Charles, Esq.Cindy Charles Consulting, PresidentCindy Charles, President of Cindy Charles Consulting, has been working in the digital media space since 1997. She is currently doing business affairs and business development consulting in the digital media space for clients who currently include or have included Yahoo, RIM, Lively, Spotify, MOG/Beats Music, Smule, Topspin, Soundhound, EchoNest, Nintendo, Sugar Inc., Pulselocker, NARM, Focus@Will, iJukebox, MediaNet, and others. Until recently, Ms. Charles was Senior Vice President, Law and Business Affairs for MediaNet. Previously, Ms. Charles held a variety of positions for MTV Networks over a six year period including Vice President of Law and Business Affairs for MTVi, an interactive division of MTV Networks, and prior to MTV Networks, Ms. Charles was General Counsel for WarnerVision Entertainment. Ms. Charles also served in legal positions at Worldvision Enterprises, the Screen Actors Guild and various law firms.
Ted CohenTAG Strategic, Managing PartnerIntegrating his widespread digital authority in music, mobile, IPTV and product & service development, Ted Cohen is the Managing Partner of TAG Strategic. In an industry that’s been slow to embrace change, Cohen is the exception to the stereotypical music-exec rule. Of course, when you start a career on the road with Alice Cooper and Van Halen, you’re more primed for the unexpected.Read More
Josh ConstineTechCrunch, WriterJosh Constine is a writer for TechCrunch who specializes in analysis of social products and music technology. Previously, he was the lead writer for Inside Facebook and earned a master’s degree in Cybersociology from Stanford. Josh is a life long music fan who’s been to 8 straight Coachellas, played in several bands, and maintains a curated concert calendar for his friends in San Francisco.
Follow on Twitter: @JoshConstine
Jack ConteMulti-instrumentalist, Vocalist, Songwriter, Filmmaker, Composer
Website · www.jackcontemusic.com
YouTube · www.youtube.com/jackcontemusic
Pomplamoose · www.youtube.com/pomplamoosemusic
Twitter · @jackconte
Bob CooneyNSM Music, Inc., Senior Vice PresidentBob Cooney is a recognized expert on interactive out-of-home entertainment and technology. He has served on numerous association advisory boards, and has spoken around the globe on interactive technology applications for media and entertainment, ranging from Virtual Reality to touchscreens to gesture-based technology.
As Senior Vice President for NSM Music, Inc., Bob is leading NSM’s transition from a 60-year old jukebox manufacturer to a digital music service provider to the out-of-home market. Prior to joining NSM in 2010, as VP of Marketing for Ecast, a pioneering digital out-out-of-home media platform, Bob managed the product teams for the first all-broadband digital jukebox installed in than 10,000 bars and restaurants. He also developed interactive out-of-home products and solutions for Whirlpool Corp, Major League Baseball, the Canadian Tourism Commission, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and LG Electronics.
Tim CrowhurstSFX Entertainment Inc, President Timothy J. Crowhurst has been President of SFX since June 2013. Prior to joining SFX, Mr. Crowhurst founded White Oak, an investment management and corporate advisory firm focused on internet, media and entertainment. Prior to White Oak, Mr. Crowhurst was with Goldman, Sachs & Co. from 1999 through 2012, where, most recently, he served as a Managing Director in the Technology, Media and Telecom Group within the Investment Banking Division. Mr. Crowhurst is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of HealthRight International, a charitable organization focused on health and human rights. Mr. Crowhurst holds an A.B. degree in economics from the University of Chicago.
Trey Courtney Mood Media, VP – New Product Development
Trey leads Global New Product Development for Mood Media Corporation a leading in-store media specialist that uses a mix of music, visual and scent media to help its clients communicate with customers and drive incremental sales in retail establishments.
Over the last 24 months, Trey’s teams have developed new products and services with a focus in next-generation music delivery platforms, mobile technologies and location-based services.
Read more
Jan D’AlessandroBackplane, EVP Business Development and StrategyJan is Executive Vice President, Business Development and Strategy for Backplane, the leading community platform that enables organizers to create authentic communities that empower users to engage directly with influencers, brands and others who share the same passions. Representative partners include Lady Gaga, Guns-N-Roses, Bloody Beetroots, Nike, Coca-Cola, Hearst, MLB Players Association and others. Jan has extensive digital media experience, having held leadership positions at Yahoo!, Topspin Media, The Find and AOL. Specialties include business development and strategy, evaluation of business opportunities, negotiation of content, advertising and commerce deals, acquisitions, joint ventures, music licensing and lobbying.
Michael DoernbergReverbNation, CEO, Co-founderMichael Doernberg is CEO and co-founder of ReverbNation, the leading online music marketing platform serving more than 2.9 million artists, managers, record labels and venues around the world. Every day, musicians turn to ReverbNation as a source for the powerful business tools needed to compete in the social media age, across the Internet as a whole, while other music industry participants work with ReverbNation to align themselves with the largest aggregation of independent artists. As CEO, Mike’s strategic thinking and exceptional business acumen has contributed to ReverbNation’s success and helped drive the development of their valuable social tools for the industry.Read More
Travis Donovan Shoutabl / The Huffington Post, Co-Founder / Executive Editor of Product Travis Donovan is co-founder of Shoutabl, a new publishing platform and social network for musicians. He is also an executive editor-at-large for The Huffington Post, where he formerly managed editorial product, social media and training.
David DownsBillboard, Freelancer David Downs is an arts and technology reporter who has freelanced for WIRED, Rolling Stone, The Onion, The New York Times, and many other fine publications. He currently reviews music apps for Billboard Magazine and covers electronic music in San Francisco for the San Francisco Examiner. You can contact him at david.downs@gmail.com. Follow on Twitter: @davidrdowns
Maureen Droney The Recording Academy, Sr. Executive Director/Producers & Engineers Wing
Maureen Droney began her career in the music recording industry as an assistant engineer at the legendary Automatt Studios in San Francisco, where she trained with such notable producers and engineers as Leslie Ann Jones, David Kahne, Mitchel Froom, and Ron Nevison. She went on to engineer projects for George Benson, Whitney Houston, John Hiatt, Tower of Power, and Santana, among many others (including Santana’s GRAMMY-winning album Blues For Salvador). She holds a degree in Broadcast Communication Arts from California State University, San Francisco, and has taught seminars in the theory and practice of audio engineering for facilities including ABC Television and Radio, CBS Television, and Deluxe Film Labs Post Production. Prior to joining The Recording Academy, Droney served as General Manager of the Kiva Family of Studios, which included the House of Blues Studios in Los Angeles and Memphis and East Iris Studios in Nashville. The Los Angeles Editor of Mix magazine for more than 10 years, she is the author of Mix Masters, a popular recording textbook published by Berklee Press, and is also a regular contributor to numerous audio and performing arts publications.
Follow on Twitter: @maureendroney
David DufresneBandzoogle, CEODavid Dufresne is CEO at Bandzoogle, the most powerful platform for musicians to build their website, engage their fans, and sell their music and merchandise directly. Bandzoogle works with tens of thousands of bands and musicians to help them create a strong base for their online strategy. Read More
Michelle EngelSamsung Electronics, Director of Content and Programming Michelle Engel, Director of Content for Samsung Music, oversees all content marketing, including major and independent music marketing campaigns, as well as all in-app feature programs globally. Michelle spent years programming radio stations for CBS in Boston, Portland, and Atlanta. Prior to joining Samsung, Michelle ran all mobile music application business for AT&T.
Ari EvansLessThan3, CEO Steve Jobs once said that “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” This expression has driven Ari throughout his diverse career which has ranged from Zynga to Goldman Sachs. Ari is a founder of LessThan3 and guides the company’s vision, strategic business relationships, and product development. What began as a passion side project has now, just a few years later, become recognized as a top brand and editorial organization within the electronic music space. With the support of key industry stakeholders, Ari and his team are now leveraging their innovative spirit to truly disrupt the industry.Read More
Jason FiberSuperfecta Entertainment, Manager / Consultant Jason Fiber is the President and Founder of Superfecta, a multi-faceted digital media entertainment company. Superfecta’s suite of offerings includes consulting services to businesses working to establish a footprint in the ever-evolving digital landscape and guidance to actors and musicians seeking direction in the entertainment industry.
Read more
Funkmaster FlexIn Flex We Trust / Hot 97, Radio Personality Funkmaster Flex sets trends. His name is known around the world and for more than a decade now, Funkmaster Flex has reigned as America’s No. 1 radio personality, reaching more than 3 million listeners a week on Hot 97. When he’s on the air, an estimated 10% of everybody tuned into a radio in the metropolitan New York area is listening to him. Flex has created www.InFlexWeTrust.com which is a unique, high adrenaline site that highlights Flex’s style, passions and tastes for the hip hop lifestyle with hot categories such as: music, cars, celebrity interviews, videos, sports, sneakers & apparel with his raw unfiltered opinions and thoughts. Funk Flex is also the host of Funk Flex Full Throttle, where he does what he does best: interview the most buzzed-about hip-hop artists – with his signature raucous, familiar style – and complete car customizations that have made him a legend in the automotive world. Flex is known, respected, and most importantly, trusted. Follow on Twitter: @funkmasterflex
Greg J. GordonPyramind, CEO & PresidentGreg is the CEO and President of Pyramind Inc., a leading-edge production and training facility offering interactive sound development services, and music & media production for the biggest names in interactive entertainment. He is a creative executive with a proven track record of leadership, team building and innovative business development. During his twenty plus years of experience in audio and music production Greg has built a diverse set of skills as a music executive, producer, mixer, mastering engineer, sound designer and post production sound supervisor specializing in music and sound for video games. Greg’s personal production credits range from: Mixing AAA videogame scores like Halo Anniversary – Combat Evolved and Iron Man II to mastering G.A.N.G. award winning titles like Kinect Disneyland Adventures and sound tracks for Fable III, and God Of War II. Greg and his award winning team at Pyramind have worked with some of the biggest companies in the industry: From Microsoft Studios and Ubisoft to 2K Games, Sony, Sega, HP, AMD and LucasArts and numerous scores recorded with The Skywalker Symphony Orchestra at Skywalker Sound. Follow on Twitter: @G2Pyramind / @Pyramind
Kevin Grosch FLO {thinkery}/Made-In
Kevin is a born creator, whether he’s in the kitchen whomping up a new homebrew, launching and producing Google For Creators, or co-founding a new YouTube network based in Music City. Kevin’s also collaborated with artists and producers to launch AD REM Entertainment, was a partner in Creative Nation, consulted for Sony Music Nashville, and produced Jordan Hull’s debut album, Who’s Gonna Teach You How to Live.
Matt GudinskiMushroom Group, Executive DirectorWith one of the most respected surnames in Australian music, Matt Gudinski is continuing to carve his own lane in the region’s industry. The son of famed entrepreneur Michael Gudinski, founder of the country’s iconic Mushroom Group, Matt now sits aside his father at the helm of the country’s biggest independent music and entertainment group.
Read More
Consumed by the industry since birth, Matt started promoting underage gigs at age 13 before starting his own imprint of the Mushroom Group, record label and touring company Illusive, straight out of high school in 2003. Now in its tenth year, Illusive has become a boutique powerhouse across both the label and touring worlds. The diverse label roster includes some of the country’s hottest up-and-coming artists alongside label mainstay and Matt’s first ever management signing, hip-hop trio Bliss N Eso, who have become one of the most successful Australian acts of the last decade with two #1 platinum albums under their belt.
Freddy HahneBlack Rock Arts Foundation and Rex Foundation, Board Member
Freddy Hahne, also known as AreWeReally? and Dr. Really?, has been involved with the arts since the 1960s. Freddy has a bachelor of science in Industrial Design having studied with Swiss and German Bauhaus designers and typographers. Over the past decades, he has represented graphic arts companies managing and producing offset and digital printing and graphic arts projects for corporate, non-profit and the design firms. Involvement in the graphic arts has always supported Freddy’s art habits which have included creating three dimensional works of art for the Grateful Dead, Bill Graham Presents, and Burning Man.Read more
Rusty HodgeSoma FM, General Manager and FounderRusty Hodge is the Founder and General Manger of SomaFM.com, a listener-support, commercial-free internet radio service based in San Francisco broadcasting on the internet for over 12 years.
As the only full-time employee of SomaFM, he does everything from choosing much of the music played on the station, working with labels and promoters, audio production, web and app development, shooting photos and videos of bands, and managing the operations of the streaming servers and music playout systems.
Read more
Matt Hogan SF MusicTech Summit/SCI Fidelity Records/Madison House Presents Matt spent the last 10 years with SCI Fidelity Records in Boulder, CO, where he was General Manager/VP of Marketing, overseeing releases from artists such as The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee, Keller Williams, The Disco Biscuits, Railroad Earth and many more. During that time, Matt also handled Marketing and Artist Relations duties for Madison House Presents, producers of the ROTHBURY and Electric Forest festivals. In addition, he has extensive experience with Artist Relations and Production at major music festivals nationwide, having worked at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, JamCruise, Wakarusa, All Good, Langerado and more.
Peter HudsonHudzo Design, LLC Peter Hudson is a San Francisco visual artist who channels his technical and set design experience, childlike curiosity, and creative passion into life-size stroboscopic zoetropes.
Steven HorowitzThe Code International Inc., Composer/Producer Steve Horowitz is a creator of odd but highly accessible sounds and a diverse and prolific musician. Best known for his original soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated film “Super Size Me”, Steve has also worked extensively with Nickelodeon Digital, where his groundbreaking work in interactive entertainment has garnered him both Webby and BDA awards. Steve has literally worked on hundreds of games and is currently writing a book on the subject. Horowitz also has a Grammy Award in recognition of his engineering work on the multi-artist release, “True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe [Sugar Hill].” Best Bluegrass Album” (1996). Year round, Steve records and tours with his band The Code International and has release sixteen albums of mind altering original sounds to date. Follow on Twitter: @FluffySchwartz / @SteveHorowitz
Steve Jang SoundTracking, Co-Founder
Steve is Co-Founder of SoundTracking. SoundTracking is a social network for music lovers and gives people a fast, easy and expressive way to share and discover music using their mobile phone. Millions of people around the world are capturing, sharing and listening to music moments using the social music application which is available on iOS, Android and the Web. Prior to SoundTracking, Steve worked in product, marketing and design roles at imeem, EMI Music, Xuma, and Salon.com.
Mike KingBerklee Online, Instructor/Chief Marketing Officer Mike King is a course author, instructor, and the Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Recruitment / Chief Marketing Officer at Berklee Online, the online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music. Prior to working at Berklee, Mike was the Marketing/Product Manager at Rykodisc, where he oversaw marketing efforts for label artists including Mickey Hart, Jeb Loy Nichols, Morphine, Jess Klein, Voices On The Verge, Bill Hicks, The Slip, Pork Tornado (Phish), Kelly Joe Phelps, and Frank Zappa’s estate. Mike was the Director of Marketing and Managing Editor of Herb Alpert’s online musician’s resource, www.artistshousemusic.org, for three years.
Read more
Taylor KahanCrowd Surf, Head of Los Angeles OperationsTaylor Kahan leads digital strategy in Los Angeles for Crowd Surf, a social media marketing agency managing digital campaigns for artists with a combined social footprint of over 300 million fans, including Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Carly Rae Jepsen and The X Factor. In the past month he has spearheaded the social marketing behind Robin Thicke and Tamar Braxton’s #1 album releases. He works closely with the latest technology born and bred in Silicon Valley and connects his roster with talent under some of the largest YouTube agencies like Big Frame and Maker Studios. Most recently he spoke at the 2013 Vegas Music Summit on a panel about the significance of social media in tour marketing. Follow on Twitter: @taylorkahan
Brewster KahleInternet Archive, Digital LibrarianBrewster Kahle is the founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive in 1996. An entrepreneur and Internet pioneer, Brewster invented the first Internet publishing system and helped put newspapers and publishers online in the 1990′s. Keywords: MIT, Thinking Machines, WAIS, AOL, Alexa Internet, Amazon.com, Internet Archive, Wayback Machine, Open Content Alliance, European Archive, EFF, Public Knowledge, AAAS, NAE. Follow Brewster on Twitter: @brewster_kahle
Jesse KirshbaumSoundCtrl, Co-Founder Jesse Kirshbaum is the CEO at New Universal Entertainment Agency. His agency specializes in procuring talent for concerts, tours and endorsement deals for his various clients all over the world. The agency also developed properties such as SoundCntrl, CRWN, FlashFWD Awards, and aveNUE Music Partnerships. Jesse sits on advisory boards for Social Media Week, Gig-It, and Digital Media Wire. Follow on Twitter: @JesseKay, @SoundCtrl
Andrea LamariEquity LLP, Chief Evangelist Andrea Lamari is the Chief Evangelist at Equity LLP,, a boutique tech law firm based in San Francisco that works with early to mid-stage startups, with emphasis on corporate structure and fundraising strategy. Equity LLP is working to reconstruct the way young companies work with legal counsel by offering a number of custom and community resources for their clients. Follow on Twitter: @DrDreSay / @EquityLLP
Noel LeeMonster, Head MonsterMonster Cable Products, Inc. was founded in 1979 by Noel Lee, who was then a laser-fusion design engineer at Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory, as well as an audiophile and professional drummer. Lee discovered that wires of different constructions produced varying degrees of audio performance when hooked up to loudspeakers. From this discovery, he developed a high performance speaker cable, named it Monster Cable, and literally created an industry. The invention of Monster Cable created a new product category that revolutionized the audio market. Prior to Monster Cable, most stereo systems were wired with ordinary “zip-cord,” the same cable used for electrical household and lamp wire. Their inferior construction and cheap materials restricts power, dynamic range and clarity in the lows, mids, and highs. Read More
Jeff Leeds SpinMedia, General Manager, SpinMedia Music
As the General Manager of SpinMedia‘s portfolio of music sites, Jeff manages the strategic development of some of the biggest music tastemakers online, including SPIN, VIBE, Idolator, Stereogum, XLR8R, PureVolume and AbsolutePunk, among others. Jeff was formerly a Music and Culture Reporter at The New York Times, and has served as a commentator for KCRW, WNYC and other outlets. Follow on Twitter: @jeffleeds
Alex LiSmule, CTOAlex Li, CTO, leads the engineering efforts to create innovative Smule products. He is the architect for Smule Nation server platform. Previously, Alex was VP of Engineering at Booyah, where his team built the backend from scratch and delivered several mass-market iOS and Facebook games including MyTown. Prior to Booyah, Alex served as architect/principal engineer roles for several bay-area startups in wireless and enterprise software industry, as well as large web companies like eBay and InfoSpace. Alex holds a MS in Computer Science from Columbia University and BS from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Follow on Twitter: @smule
Jim LuccheseThe Echo Nest, CEOJim has worked at the intersection of music & technology for close to 20 years. Today, Jim is CEO of the industry’s leading music intelligence company, The Echo Nest, working with leading online music services; editorial, video and social media networks; connected device manufacturers, and big brands to build the future of music.
Read More
Larry MarcusWalden Venture Capital, Managing DirectorLarry’s focus is digital media and consumer services. He was named to the 2012 Billboard Power 100 and Twitter 140. Larry was a founding investor in Pandora (NYSE: P) in early 2004 when Walden
led the rebirth round to focus the company on launching a consumer-facing
service and was a Director from 2004 through it’s IPO. Read More
Katerina MarkovAtom Factory, Head of Global InnovationAs Head of Global Innovation at Atom Factory, Katerina Markov leads digital strategy & high-level technology partnerships for such Atom Factory artists as Lady Gaga and John Legend, along with associated brands and investment portfolio companies. She previously served as Global Lead of Digital Innovation at Universal Music Group; and before that, was the Senior Business Development Advisor to the company’s Chairman & CEO. Markov has also worked as an advisor to the CEO of Shine America (owner of Reveille Studios), where she developed strategies to build digital brands for TV properties (“The Office,” “The Biggest Loser,” “MasterChef”). She has also held a business strategy & operation role at FOX Audience Network (FAN) and worked as an Investment Banker at Lehman Brothers in the Global Gaming & Lodging Business. Markov earned a degree from Brown University in Applied Mathematics-Economics. She also serves on the board of several startups and non-profits. Follow on Twitter: @katerinamarkov
Chris Martin Pandora, VP of Engineering Chris joined Pandora in late 2004. Since joining the company, he has managed the engineering function at Pandora. Today, Chris oversees a team of more than 50 people who are tackling a range of engineering projects, from perfecting playlists to in-car development and advertising integration. Other projects under his management include software development, quality assurance, customer support, device development, device certification and production support. Prior to joining Pandora, Chris worked in various engineering capacities at multiple enterprise software companies, including Quintus, Kenamea and QRS/Inovis.
Follow on Twitter: @chrismart
Tony McCallAbleton, Managing Director-North AmericaTony McCall is Ableton’s Managing Director for North America. Ableton makes Live and Push, products that allow users/musicians to create and perform amazing things. He has many years experience as both a performing/recording musician as well as working with some of the industries most influential companies and individuals in the creation, manufacturing, and marketing of technology tools for musicians. Tony spent over 10 years with Midiman, M-Audio and Avid and helped to launch such brands as Ableton and Propellerhead in the U.S. Follow on Twitter: @Ableton
Sara Mertz DeliRadio, VP Business Development
Sara Mertz is one of the founding members of DeliRadio, and acts as president of its sister artist development company, Shift Independent. Her career in the music industry spans ten years, during which time she became skilled in all aspects of artist promotion and development. Mertz has overseen the releases of over 20 records, the development of 30+ bands and the promotion of hundreds of tour dates. Her front line position in the music industry enables her to be perfectly positioned to facilitate strategic partnerships with countless industry professionals for the growth of DeliRadio. Follow on Twitter: @saramertz / @deliradio
Kristin Miltner Super Saga Studios, Audio Director
Kristin Miltner has been creating audio for games for twelve years, beginning with LeapFrog Enterprises, where she was a principal designer and composer for the Leapster platform, producing dozens of titles. She has worked on many game products since then, working in diverse areas of sound design, cutscene underscore, and game music, including Crowdstar’s Happy Aquarium, Zoo Paradise, and Happy Pets, Tapulous’ Tap Tap Revenge, EA’s Sim Animals, Playfirst’s Dream Chronicle’s 2, Mattel’s Xtractaurs, Wizards of the Coast’s Kaijudo TCG Online, and Super Saga Studio‘s Heros & Havoc. She has held Audio Lead positions at Crowdstar, Mighty Play, Electronic Arts, Somatone, and LeapFrog. Kristin was awarded the Game Audio Network Guild Award for Leapster’s Sponge Bob Square Pants Saves the Day, as well as a Parents’ Choice Foundation Award for the Little Leaps DVD series.
Hany NadaGGV Capital, PartnerHany Nada is a founding partner of GGV Capital and has worked as a long-term partner with more than 150 companies over the past decade to build companies that can succeed in today’s global marketplace. He is a trusted resource to public and private company CEOs and management teams on global market development, customer introductions and M&A/IPO guidance across US and Asian markets. Hany has also been recognized as a member of the 2012 Venture Capital 100 by Always-On.Read More
Sepi Nasiri Women 2.0, Vice President
Sepi is responsible for global expansion, partnerships and sponsorships as well as directing and planning events for Women 2.0. The written word has always been her passion. Prior to Women 2.0, Sepi started her career as a Co-founder and Managing Editor of a Los Angeles Global Magazine. After moving back to the Bay Area, she was actively involved in numerous up-and-coming technology companies helping founders with various projects. She advises early stage startups, is an avid technology enthusiast and acts as board member for a number of non-profits. She launched her first app The Date Saver Platinum in 2010, a clean tech mobile application. Follow on Twitter: @SepidehN
Leo Nitzberg Goldenvoice, Festival Director & Operations Manager
Leo Nitzberg oversees operations and logistics at the Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival and serves as Festival Director & Producer of FYF Fest, the H20 Music Festival and The Odd Future Carnival.
Read more
Follow on Twitter: @leonitzberg
Peter NyboerLivid Instruments, Software DirectorThough he’d like to be described as a raconteur, a bon-vivant, or even a nomme-de-guerre, Peter Nyboer is content having largely avoided a life described by French pejoratives. Dressed simply and comfortably, Peter pursues the satisfaction of trying to bring music and video to life through software. As a partner in Livid, he makes sure the Livid controllers can do something on a computer, whether that means trigger a sound, play a note, tweak a filter, playback a video, control a light, or keep open the possibility for something that hasn’t been thought of yet. Drawing on the vast history of electronic music and media performance, Peter started working with Jay Smith and Travis Redding to put live video performance on the stage. Over the years, he has helped transform Livid from a niche video mixing product to a company with a complete product line with global reach in music and media production. Follow Peter on Twitter: @lividinstruments
Rami PerlmantheAudience, VP Music, Client Content Strategy Rami Perlman heads up the music group at theAudience in Los Angeles, CA. theAudience is a content publishing network that connects brands, and entertainment properties with millions of fans from around the world via social media platforms. At theAudience, Rami works with some of the world’s top pop artists, music festivals and DJs to manage and maximize their ability to reach their global audiences as well as help support key promotional initiatives. Prior to joining theAudience, Rami spent three years at Digisynd, a Disney owned social media company, where he ran the YouTube promotions department. Prior to Disney, Rami was a longtime musician, fronting the band Something For Rockets.
John Petrocelli Bulldog Digital Media, Co-Founder
John Petrocelli is regarded as a leader in the digital media industry with a deep and vast knowledge of the digital distribution of premium content and the digital media ecosystem. John has been instrumental in helping major media companies establish optimal strategies to both distribute and monetize their content for over 12 years. These companies and brands include: NBA, NHL, NBC/Universal, Discovery, Disney, Sony, YouTube/Google, American Express, Nokia, VEVO, MTV, 19 Entertainment, EMI, Universal Music Group, Microsoft and music icon/Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Prince.
John Petrocelli is currently a co-founder of Bulldog Digital Media, a strategic consulting and advisory company that specializes in digital media and premium live streaming content experiences. Bulldog Digital Media provides expertise guidance to help content owners and content service providers optimize their digital video and live streaming strategies.
Read more
Alex PhamBillboard Magazine, Senior CorrespondentAlex Pham has been a business journalist for more than 20 years, covering technology and entertainment for the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, USA Today, the Washington Post and her hometown paper, The Oregonian. She currently covers digital music for Billboard Magazine. Alex is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where she studied international relations and economics and has a masters degree in public policy from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2009, she was named Entertainment Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club. Follow on Twitter: @AlexPham
Jeff PriceAudiam, Founder/CEOOn June 12th, 2013, Jeff Price launched his new company Audiam – Audiam gets artists paid from the use of their music on YouTube.
On January 26th, 2006, Jeff Price launched TuneCore. Over the next six years he raised over $9MM in venture and strategic capital and built TuneCore into the world’s largest music distribution and publishing administration entity. Its’ customer base sold over 600,000,000 units of music within three years generating over $300,000,000 in Gross music sales. As of July, 2012, TuneCore represented over 5% of all digital music sales revenue in the United States making it 55% the size of EMI and 35% the size of Universal Music.
Jeff is also co-founder and was GM / President of the New York based independent record label spinART records (Pixies, Echo & The Bunnymen, Apples In Stereo, Richard Thompson etc) for seventeen years – his label was in strategic relationships with Sony, Warner Bros., Sire, Polygram Music Publishing and others. Read more
Micah PueschelIration, Lead Singer/GuitarMicah Pueschel is the Lead Singer & Guitarist for Iration. Iration is an alternative/reggae group of musicians formed in Isla Vista, CA. Their third full-length album, Automatic, recently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae (No. 75 on the Billboard 200). The album combines elements of reggae, rock and pop to create a truly unique listening experience – including additional production and instrumentation from Lincoln Parish (Cage the Elephant). To promote Automatic, this summer/fall 2013 Iration embarked on a nationwide major market headline tour supplemented by several shows supporting Sublime with Rome, Orange County Fairgrounds’ Pacific Amphitheater, and San Diego’s Del Mar Race Track. The Hawaiian-bred musicians look forward to spreading their original sound and aloha spirit while trying to get a surf in whenever possible. Follow on Twitter: @Iration / Pooshdaddy
Xavier Ramirez SocialSoundSystem, Founder & Director of Operations
I am one eclectic eccentric Social Sound System with a healthy frustration with the world around me. I am a pragmatic-idealist who refuses to accept that simply because it is the ideal that it is unattainable… That there are always steps, we just gotta find the right ones even if they conflict with our own self interest. To achieve the impossible, “it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.”
Shamal Ranasinghe Topspin, Co-FounderShamal Ranasinghe is a co-founder of Topspin Media. Artists and marketers use Topspin’s direct-to-fan platform to grow their audience and turn fans into customers.
Shamal has been working to advance music since 1996 and has been focused on the mission to help artists from the onset of his career including the earliest days of Topspin in 2002 with Co-Founder, Peter Gotcher. Before starting Topspin full-time in 2007, Shamal was involved in data mining at Yahoo! Music and headed up product management at Musicmatch releasing versions 8 through 10. He learned his music product development chops as an early member of the RealNetworks RealJukebox MP3 Player team in 1999. Follow on Twitter: @shamal / @topspinmedia
Renee RichardsonKFOG / KGO, Music DirectorRenee Richardson has been on the air at KFOG radio (104.5) for over 15 years, she started her career as part of the KFOG Morning Show where they interviewed everyone from Barack Obama to Tammy Faye Baker. Today she hosts the midday show and acts as music derector for the radio station. Renee also does entertainement features for KFOG sister station KGO AM. Follow on Twitter: @RenadioSF
Ty RobertsGracenote, Co-founder, Chief Technology OfficerTy helped co-found Gracenote when his company ION merged with CDDB in the late 1990s. He is credited with producing the industry’s first interactive music experience on CD for artists like Brian Eno and David Bowie. Connected to practically everyone in the business, from music labels and artists to technologists, Ty is a frequent speaker at music and TV industry conferences and events. Follow Ty on Twitter: @rocknty
Karl RogersIROCKE, CEO & Co-FounderKarl Rogers is co-founder and CEO of IROCKE, the #1 live digital concert network worldwide. With 1,000s of live concerts a month, IROCKE.COM offers fans the quickest and simplest way to discover and watch live digital concerts with friends. For artists and brands, IROCKE provides a powerful and customizable platform for distributing and promoting live digital performances and appearances worldwide. Prior to co-founding IROCKE, Rogers was a co-founding member and Senior Vice President of Road Runner High Speed Online, a joint venture of Time Warner, Microsoft, AT&T, and Advance-Newhouse. Rogers oversaw the development and rollout of one of the world’s largest broadband Internet services, and was responsible for the company’s content strategy and established broadband video distribution deals with Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, News Corp., Disney/ABC, NBC, Liberty Media, and others.Read More
Marc RuxinTastemakerX, CEO & Co-Founder Marc is the founder and CEO of TastemakerX, a social game for music discovery. The platform allows users to express tastes and preferences by building virtual collections of the artists they love, and connect with like-minded music fans. TastemakerX launched in June 2012 and has become the one of the first platforms to leverage a game mechanic to surface real time musical trends. Available on iOS and the web, TastemakerX is free to join, and will be rolling out new platforms like Spotify, Android and Facebook in 2013.Read more
Theda SandifordRepublic Records, VP Digital MarketingTheda Sandiford is the VP of Digital Marketing at Republic Records. Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as 3 Doors Down, Amy Winehouse, Black Sabbath, Colbie Caillat, Eddie Vedder, Enrique Iglesias, Florence + the Machine, Godsmack, Owl City, The Voice (NBC-TV), Gotye, Of Monsters & Men, Mayer Hawthorne, among many others.
As the VP of Digital Marketing, Theda leverages her experience in music, gaming and mobile applications as well as her passion for pop culture and tech, to create unique transmedia content and go to market strategies.
Allison Schlueter Island Def Jam, VP, Digital Marketing
Allison Schlueter is the Vice President of Digital Marketing for the Island Def Jam Music Group. Ms. Schlueter oversees all aspects of digital marketing for artists on the Island Def Jam & Motown Roster including Kanye West, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Bon Jovi, Ne-Yo and Mariah Carey. In carrying out her duties, she creates and implements digital marketing campaigns, as well as manages relationships with artists, managers and key digital accounts. Ms. Schlueter, who is based in New York, joined the Digital Marketing Department of The Island Def Jam Music Group in 2005 as Director, and was subsequently promoted to Senior Director. Prior to IDJ, she spent three years at AOL Music as Manager, Label Relations and in 2001, she was the New Media Coordinator at Universal Motown. Ms. Schlueter began her career as a Sales & Marketing Assistant at Outside Magazine and in 1999, she joined the entertainment start-up Inside.com as Public Relations/Marketing Assistant. Ms. Schlueter attended SUNY Binghamton, where she graduated in 1997, with the Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Follow on Twitter: @alischlueter / @defjamrecordings / @islandrecords
Asya SheinFusicology, Founder & Publisher Asya Shein is the Founder and Publisher of Fusicology.com, the source for progressive soul music & culture since 2003; A hub for new music, artists and content for the urban alternative movement.
The site, newsletters and app provide event listings and lifestyle marketing to over 25 markets along with viral promotion. Shein describes herself as an “online marketer, community builder and lover of soulful music, branding & technology.”
Read more
Antti SilventoinenMusic Kickup, CEO CEO & Co-Founder of Music Kickup. An award winning creative industry professional and musician. A musicians rights advocate who is interested in people, and their interactions with this world. Follow on Twitter: @lamantiini / @KickUpTweet
J Sider BandPage, Founder & CEO
J is the Founder & CEO of BandPage, which is the central online profile for over 500,000 musicians—like Rihanna and Maroon 5— to reach their fans with the main goal being to increase engagement and revenue for musicians around the world. J was named to both Inc. Magazine and Billboard’s 30 Under 30 as well as twice to Forbes 30 under 30. J is a veteran in the business of managing bands and venues around the country. This experience opened his eyes to the practical needs of the music community in the digital era, and the lack of a solution. Out of this realization J created BandPage to provide a powerful platform to help musicians create new revenue streams and drive higher fan engagement. From one platform, BandPage connects musicians to hundreds of millions of fans on Xbox Music, VEVO, Facebook, an artist’s website and more.
Follow on Twitter: @JSider / @BandPage
Michael S. SimonHarry Fox Agency (HFA), President and CEOMichael S. Simon is the President and CEO of the Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), a premier American music rights management organization. Previously, Simon was HFA’s Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, General Counsel and Chief Strategic Officer.
Since joining HFA in 2001, Simon has focused his efforts on creating new opportunities for the company and the over 46,000 publishers it represents while also improving HFA’s traditional mechanical licensing business. He has led the company’s expansion beyond its traditional mechanical licensing business and created its Slingshot rights management service, which provides customized, outsourced solutions for music distributors. His team has developed groundbreaking licensing arrangements for online music and music video services, ringtones, lyrics, guitar tablature, background music, digital jukeboxes, and other new media opportunities.
Brian SchmidtGameSoundCon, Executive DirectorBrian Schmidt is one of the early pioneers of the game audio industry. The 2008 recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Brian has been creating game music, sounds and cutting edge technology since 1987. With a credit list of over 130 games and a client list including Zynga, Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Sega, Namco and many others, Brian has used his experience in music composition, sound design and his technical background to further the state of the art in game audio.
Read More
Redg SnodgrassStained Glass Labs, Founder
Redg Snodgrass is a hybrid entrepreneur / corporate executive who understands how big companies can partner with and strategically leverage innovative startups. He has been a lean mean branding positioning junky, beating competitors with larger resources and deeper experience most of his career. Unlike most corporate mavericks he’s maintained the respect of his colleagues, and works to raise the bar so that everyone shares in the victory, and gets equal praise.
Erik TorenbergRapt.fm, CEOErik is the founder and CEO of rapt.fm. Rapt.fm is a platform where people can rap with anyone in the world via live video, with a live audience watching, chatting, and voting for who they like best. Rapt is also an artist discovery platform — rappers have won opportunities to open for Mos Def and Royce Da 5’9, and singles distribution deal from Tommy Boy Records. Like Rap Genius, Rapt plans to expand to multiple genres and verticals. Erik is a freestyle rapper himself, part of a detroit rap collective, and has opened for or freestyled with Royce Da 5’9, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Girl Talk, Dres from Black Sheep, Soul Khan, Big Pooh from Little Brother, and many more. Erik is originally from New Jersey, and studied economics at the University of Michigan. Follow on Twitter: @raptfm
Emir TuranGiggem, Founder/CEOEmir Turan is the founder and CEO of Giggem, a matchmaking platform for musicians, bands and music industry professionals. Emir has Law and MBA degrees. Prior to founding Giggem, Emir worked at Cerrahoglu Law firm as an attorney, at Finansbank as an investment banker and was responsible for business development at his family business Eti, the market leader confectionery company in Turkey.
Along with his business background, Emir is also a musician for over 20 years. His long time problem finding the right members for his band led him to create Giggem, a matchmaking platform which automatically matches musicians with other musicians, bands with potential members and all artists with industry pros like labels and managers via a proprietary algorithm. Giggem also offers a unique auditioning feature for bands to evaluate musicians online.Read more
Matt UrmyArtist Growth, CEOMatt Urmy has already demonstrated effectiveness as an executor for Artist Growth by forging partnerships and inking deals with several of the leading Institutions in the industry. He is a musician, teacher and data management analyst who designed database analysis for international clinical studies in Oncology Research @ HCA in Nashville. He brings a diverse and extensive career in the arts, healthcare, and education to his role as CEO. His background in healthcare data management informed much of his insight into the design of the platform. Urmy has a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry and, prior to launching Artist Growth, recorded an album with the legendary Cowboy Jack Clement. Follow Matt on Twitter: @artistgrowth, @matturmy
Narada Michael WaldenTarpan Studios, Tarpan Records, Producer, CEOAmong a handful of the most innovative, original and influential artists of our time, Narada Michael Walden’s stature as an authentic musical renaissance man is a matter of record.
Producing Hits for Artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin (including the platinum “Freeway of Love”), Steve Winwood, Ray Charles, Wynonna Judd, Whitney Houston, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Barbara Streisand, Lionel Ritchie, Lisa Fischer, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones, Jeff Beck and The Temptations, the EMMY and multi-GRAMMY winner (Producer, Album and Song of The Year) has been at the helm of hit music that spans decades. His music flows freely from pop, rock and soul, to the rarified realms of jazz, fusion and world music. With Jeff Beck, Narada wrote and played drums on the seminal album “Wired” that earned them both their first Gold Album. Walden was an integral part of introducing Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to millions of fans worldwide, producing and writing their breakthrough hits that first brought these divas to the spotlight. Billboard Magazine honored him as one of the Top Ten Producers of all time. Read More
Carrie WalshSilicon Valley Bank, Managing Director, Entrepreneur Services GroupCarrie Walsh has over 15 years of experience in the venture capital industry. As a Managing Director with SVB’s Accelerator, Carrie leads a team that leverages the bank’s deep experience and relationships with the venture community in ways that help Founders and CEOs of emerging technology, cleantech, and life science companies succeed. SVB Accelerator provides strartup and VC clients with access to high end programming and targeted introductions that work to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem that’s unparalleled in the technology banking industry today.Read more
Richard Warp Leapfrog Enterprises, Senior Audio LeadRichard Warp is a composer and sound designer, a recording engineer and producer, and a developer of Brain-Computer Music Interface systems (BCMI) using EEG. As senior audio lead at Leapfrog, he has created music and sound design for hundreds of titles across Leapfrog’s interactive reading, gaming and Toy platforms, and works regularly with major studios including Disney/Pixar, Lucas, Dreamworks and Cartoon Network. He is also Audio Director for Kizoom Labs, a mobile education startup that teaches kids about the brain. As a an engineer and producer, he currently works with the NYC classical label Urlicht Audiovisual, to produce Hi-Def Blu-Ray surround sound music recordings, one of which was voted one of the ‘best classical recordings of 2012’ by the New York Times. His recent work on Brain Computer Music Interfaces, and particularly the installation ‘NeuroDisco’ – has been widely covered in the press (Wired.com, KQED, Neurogadget) and featured at numerous events in the Bay Area and elsewhere including AES 2012, Neurogaming 2013, Maker Faire, Cal Academy Nightlife and San Diego’s ‘Mozart and the Mind’ Conference. Follow on Twitter: @warpenator
Stephen WhiteGracenote, PresidentSince joining Gracenote more than a decade ago, Stephen White has played a critical role in growing the company from a small start-up, focusing on music technologies and information, into a digital entertainment leader that now touches millions of music and movie fans around the globe. In his role as president, White oversees all company strategy and operations, and is responsible for growing Gracenote’s core business.Read More
Chris Wiltsee BandPage, Senior Director, Business Development
Chris Wiltsee is an entrepreneur and music industry executive who has built his career in the nexus where music, technology and community meet. Currently, the Senior Director of Business Development at BandPage, Chris has helped to build the growing partner ecosystem of major platforms, which includes Xbox Music, VEVO and many others. Prior to joining the BandPage team, Wiltsee was Executive Director of The Recording Academy (GRAMMYs) San Francisco Chapter (2009-2011). Wiltsee founded Youth Movement Records, which he led from 2003-2009. Additionally, Wiltsee co-founded AMP, which developed a national resource for all-ages music venues and communities, and released a book in 2006 titled, “In Every Town,” (Sub-Pop/AK Press). Wiltsee holds degrees from the University of Michigan and University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow on Twitter: @cwiltseego
Corrine Zawaduk Shambhala Music Festival, Executive Producer
Corrine Zawaduk is an Executive Producer of Shambhala Music Festival in British Columbia. Now in its’ 17th year, this family owned business continues a record sell-out and has positioned itself on the international stage as the best in its class. Shambhala peaks at 10,000 people and its economic generator brings millions to this remote corner of British Columbia called the Kootenays.
Read more
Billy Zero DJ Boy / Zero MGMT, Owner & Agent
BILLY ZERO®
Billy is a Radio Programmer, Social Media and Marketing Creative, Producer, Drummer, and Father of 3. Billy performed in bands throughout the late 80ʻs and 90’s and worked at the Legendary WHFS in washington DC from 1995-2000, Advertising.com in 2000, then XM Radio from 2000-2008 where is ran Unsigned with Pad Dinizio (Smithereens) and later Program Director for XMU, the Indie station.
Read more
Follow on Twitter: @billyzero / @djboy
Brian ZiskSF MusicTech Summit, Executive ProducerBrian Zisk is a serial entrepreneur specializing in digital media, web broadcasting and distribution technologies. He is a founder of BuzzMakers, Inc., which produces the SF MusicTech Summit and the Future of Money & Technology Summit. He is a co-founder of the SF MusicTech Fund. Additionally, Brian is a Co-Founder and Technologies Director of the Future of Music Coalition and a Board Member and/or Strategic Advisor for a wide variety of tech companies and non-profits. Brian was previously a founder of The Green Witch Internet Radio which was sold to CMGI (NASDAQ: CMGI) at the turn of the millennium. He is active in many influential computer-mediated forums, is quoted and published extensively in the media, frequently appears on panels and at industry events domestically and abroad, and is an expert at frenzy whipping, brand awareness, and in creating new business models. He is married to Shoshana Zisk. Follow Brian on Twitter: @zisk
Shoshana ZiskSF MusicTech Summit, Co-ProducerShoshana Zisk is the co-producer of the SF MusicTech Summit. She is also an entertainment lawyer with a wide range of experience in the music industry. Her experiences includes Interim Chief Operating Officer for In Ticketing, Business & Legal Affairs for George Clinton and his musical groups Parliament, Funkadelic and The P-Funk Allstars, and General Manager of Clinton’s independent record label The C Kunspyruzy. Her previous positions include Business & Legal Affairs at BMG U.S. Latin, the Copyright Department at Motown, and A&R Administration for Island Records. Shoshana is currently the CEO of Kiddie Village, which creates award-winning childrens videos and music. She is a member of the California, New York, and Florida Bars. She earned a bachelor degree in Classical Piano Performance and Juris Doctorate (cum Laude) from the University of Miami. Shoshana was recently the Musical Director for “Rent” (the musical) in San Francisco, CA & Hollywood, California. Follow on Twitter: @shoshana
