VP of Talent, Nederlander Concerts
Nederlander Concerts VP of Talent, Moss Jacobs is a concert industry veteran, known for mastering and promoting the unique attributes of mid-sized to large-sized venues to create memorable and high-yielding concerts with a wide variety of artists. Moss has produced the annual Bob Marley Day Festival in Los Angeles and San Diego for 25 years. The 3-day festival, which is held over President’s Day Weekend (Saturday/Sunday in LA and Monday in SD) draws more than 36,000 people annually and is the single largest reggae gathering in the US. Among national promoters, artist managers and agents, Moss is regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable reggae promoter in the US. Reggae, however, is just a small portion of what Moss produces in a given year. In addition to over two decades of experience promoting concerts in Southern California, Moss has developed exceptional concert seasons in other secondary markets, most notably the Santa Barbara Bowl, where he has made the venue a must-play for major artists such as Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Santana, Pearl Jam, Gwen Stefani, Norah Jones, The Eagles and Aretha Franklin.
Music Supervisor | Partner | Composer, BANG Music
A native of South Dakota and Wyoming, Jones began his career as a songwriter and recording artist, touring the United States with his Indie-rock band. In NYC, he joined the William Morris Agency handling touring for many of the world’s biggest artists. After WMA, Jones joined BANG as a composer and producer, quickly rising to partner while working closely with founder, Lyle Greenfield, to bring Bang further into the worlds of film, television and emerging media. His composing and production credits range from spot work for Guinness, Nike, McDonald’s, Ford, Victoria’s Secret and Mini Cooper, etc. to television work for MTV, ESPN, Bravo, NBC and as music supervisor for the CBS hit series, Blue Bloods. In tandem with ongoing spot work, Brian is currently supervising Lionsgate feature film, The Stare, starring James Franco & Winona Ryder, the web series Undergrads for Rabbit Bandini Productions and composing original music for an upcoming series on NatGeo. In addition to his work for BANG, Brian has lectured at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and served as a speaker and panelist for many music and entertainment industry conferences.
INGrooves
Jason served as both Director of A&R and Director of Client Relations at INGrooves before being appointed Director of Business Development & Marketing in 2006. Prior to INgrooves, Jason worked for Om Records as Street Team Coordinator and toured and recorded with Om Records artist aFRO-mYSTiK.
Senior VP of Music, The Firm Entertainment
Peter Katis has managed Korn since the beginning of the band’s career. He currently works with (co-manages) Enrique Iglesias, Snoop Dogg, Puddle of Mudd, One Republic and The Backstreet Boys. Past clients he has co-managed include Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Chris Cornell, Audioslave, Limp Bizkit and Staind among others.
“Navigating through the music business is like living in the Matrix”, says Zach Katz. “If you don’t have Neo as your guide, you’re lost.” In an ever-changing industry where no one or nothing is really who or what they seem to be, success depends largely on who is guiding your career. For over a decade Zach Katz, as a music attorney, music executive and manager, has guided the careers of some of the industry’s most important artists and producers.
Katz earned his Juris Doctorate from Loyola School of Law in 1996 and went into private practice in his home city of Los Angeles. He quickly found success and became the go-to guy for numerous notable artists, producers, record labels, distributors and publishing companies who heard about the young music attorney with a true love for music, particularly hip-hop. “I was never satisfied with just drafting and negotiating agreements. Securing endorsements, merchandising opportunities, and touring engagements for my clients were prominent parts of my practice”.
This unorthodox “lawyering” became a natural transition into the next stage of Katz’s career in the music industry. In 2000, one of his legal clients Groove Attack GMBH, a European music distribution powerhouse, decided to launch a U.S. hip-hop record label. Based on his work with Groove Attack, Katz was asked to become the CEO of the new enterprise. During his two years as the company’s CEO, Katz supervised the production, distribution and marketing of several critically acclaimed albums, including the solo album from A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg. Phife’s album went on to sell more than one hundred thousand units in the United States alone. Katz’s work with Groove Attack largely took him away from his work as a lawyer, a place he was not eager to return.
In 2001 while Katz was legally representing producer extraordinaire Hi-Tek, the opportunity to become Hi-Tek’s manager opened up. With his first management client seeing immediate success as a producer, artist and music executive under his guidance, Katz knew that he could never be just a lawyer again. “Managing Hi-Tek proved to be very exciting. As a manager I had the opportunity to continue the creative work that I began as the CEO of Groove Attack. But it was very challenging to prove to the people around me that someone who was once a lawyer had the creative vision to be a music manager. At first, many people simply didn’t want to see me in my new role,” he explains. The non-believers were quickly converted when Katz expanded his management roster to include the legendary rapper Rakim. “When I officially became Rakim’s manager, people had to accept that I was in the management game. Rakim is one of the most respected people in the music industry. Everyone knows that he’s extremely selective about the people he surrounds himself with.”
As Rakim’s manager, Zach Katz saw tremendous potential to expand his client’s hip-hop icon status into an equally sizeable brand name. Thinking on a global level, Zach Katz successfully identified and forged relationships with corporate entities, who naturally fit the class, integrity and uniqueness of Rakim’s brand. The first of these brand marriages was with Reebok, who created a national Rakim Classic campaign. The campaign was an equally huge success for both Reebok and Rakim. The second branding opportunity came when Zach Katz successfully pitched and landed the Never Blend In campaign with Hennessy. The Never Blend In campaign was a perfect match for Rakim, who’s unmistakable class and style has stood out from its inception. The Hennessy campaign ran for nearly three years via full page advertisements in music’s most credible publications.
As Rakim and Hi-Tek’s manager Katz quickly forged a strong alliance with Aftermath. “Managing Rakim while he was signed to Aftermath, I spent countless nights in the studio with Dr. Dre and witnessed him at work. Many people would pay top dollar to see what I saw and learn what I learned from Dre. I got to see the science behind some of people’s favorite rap records. And I paid very close attention to everything,” explains Zach Katz.
With music producer management as his primary focus from 2002 through 2005, Katz represented some of today’s most notable urban producers. In addition to managing Hi-Tek, he added Denaun Porter p/k/a Konartis of D-12 to his roster. Under Katz’s guidance Denaun went on to produce 50 Cent’s smash single “P.I.M.P.”, G-Unit’s smash single “Stunt 101” along with singles for D-12 and Young Buck. With Katz’s producer clients contributing to worldwide record sales of over 50 million units, Katz felt that things couldn’t be better. This was until he discovered Jonathan “J.R.” Rotem.
“I knew there was something extraordinary about J.R. from the day I first heard his music”, says Zach Katz of his exclusive management client and business partner. “I had never before heard such unique musical ideas”. A classically trained pianist from the age of five, J.R. was a young digital Mozart with a relentless drive to be among the producer elite. “I had never worked with such a focused and humble person before. He put his complete faith into my creative and business guidance and literally worked around the clock,” explains Mr. Katz. The new team’s work quickly paid off as J.R. landed one placement after another, adding up to more than 200 songs produced and placed in just three years. And just as astounding as the number of J.R.’s placements is the versatility of his work. These placements include songs for Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Game, Snoop, Lil Kim, Lil Scrappy, Rick Ross, Fabulous, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Paris Hilton, Chamellionare, Natasha Bedingfield, Jojo, Jesse McCartney, Leona Lewis and Ashley Tisdale, just to name a few. J.R. singles highlights include Rihanna’s worldwide #1 smash “S.O.S.”, Rick Ross’s street anthem “Push It To The Limit”, 50 Cent’s single “Best Friend”, Chamellionare’s “Hip-Hop Police” and Ashley Tisdale’s “He Said She Said.” J.R. ended 2006 with the highest honors when MTV named him “Superproducer of 2006” along with only Timbaland, Swizz Beats and Sean Garret.
In 2007, Mr. Katz’s work with J.R. led to the formation of their media company called Beluga Heights, which on the record side has a joint venture label deal with Epic/Sony. “The deal with Epic was designed so that J.R. will be the musical ear and face of the labe,” explains Katz, J.R.’s partner in the venture and the company’s CEO. The multi-million dollar joint venture is off to an amazing start with the commercially successful release of its first artist Sean Kingston. J.R. produced the entire album including the chart-topping smash singles “Beautiful Girls” and “Take You There”. And 2008 looks promising for Beluga Heights as they add two more new artists to their roster.
Always planning his next move, Zach Katz is focused on building Beluga Heights into a full service record label and music publishing company. With the Epic joint venture already in place on the record side Beluga Heights is now entertaining offers from the industry’s biggest music publishing companies who want to be in business with Beluga Heights’ hit factory song writers. “J.R. and I constantly push each other and our team to bring our A-game to the table. We want to surround ourselves with talented artists, writers and executives who are prepared to dedicate the time and energy its going to take to build the creative and business blueprint for the next twenty years,” says Katz. With that kind of vision and dedication, Zach Katz and Beluga Heights are sure to win.
Founder, FanManager LLC
FanManager owner and founder, Erik Koral, began his music business career a decade ago as the marketing director for Los Angeles based jam band phenoms Particle. He is a Los Angeles native who has lived in Southern California for most of his life and is a grad of UC Santa Cruz where he majored in Sociology. While in Santa Cruz, Erik developed a passion for live music and the jam band scene. Erik has experienced over 60 Phish concerts and has traveled the world seeing them and many of his other favorite artists. When the band Particle formed in the Fall of 2000, Erik pioneered the very first shows and became a devoted fan and their first street team member. He knew that the band had something special and dedicated much of his time spreading the Particle gospel through relentless street marketing and online communication with friends he made at hundreds of shows. Within a few years the band enjoyed a 2000-person street team, were filling venues across the country and playing great slots at huge festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Erik implemented his vision and growing experience in the field to build a full-service marketing and street team management company in 2005 and called it FanManager. To see the company grow and develop into what it is today has been a dream come true for Erik. The future of the company is now filled with possibilities since the Web site was upgraded in 2009 into an amazing platform. Erik can’t wait to see where technology and the legions of passionate fans will take the business in the coming years. He was a college tennis player, enjoys hiking, travel, industry zines, and keeping tuned in to tech blogs and other Web 3.0 innovations. His passion and devotion to FanManager keeps him in the forefront of a business with exciting new developments and major changes in the future. Erik’s current favorite Music: Phish, Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Sigur Ros, The Avett Brothers, Bon Iver, Elbow, and Kings of Leon.
LaPolt Law, P.C.
Dina LaPolt is an entertainment attorney at LaPolt Law, P.C. in Los Angeles. LaPolt Law is a boutique entertainment firm that specializes in representing clients in the music, merchandising, film, television, and book publishing industries. The firm’s clientele include recording artists, independent record companies, music publishers, songwriters, producers, managers, executives in the music and film industries, film production companies, photographers, directors, writers, authors, and actors. In addition to practicing law, Dina teaches “Legal and Practical Aspects of the Recording and Publishing Industries” in the Entertainment Studies Department at UCLA Extension and speaks regularly on panels at music industry conferences all over the country. On the film production side, Dina was the co-producer of the 2005 Academy Award-nominated documentary film entitled “Tupac: Resurrection” and she is currently co-producing a feature film entitled “Live 2 Tell”. For more information on Dina LaPolt or her firm, please log on to www.LaPoltLaw.com <http://www.LaPoltLaw.com>.
General Manager, WWE Music Group, A Division of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
As the General Manager of WWE Music Group, A Division of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Neil Lawi is responsible for all aspects of music business for World Wrestling Entertainment. This includes music for television programming, films, TV specials and other projects involving music. The most recent example of this, Lawi confirmed Green Day’s “Know Your Enemy” to be the new theme song for WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown. In 2006 Lawi took the position of GM at WWE Music Group where he works to link the WWE brand with popular music across all mediums, including film, television, radio, the Internet, ring tones, video games, and emerging digital technologies. WWE Music Group works with in-house talent, as well as established recording artists and outside labels and management, to create new music for WWE television and pay-per-view programming, WWE Superstar albums, entrance theme collections, and a variety of new initiatives. Reklama: Vadovų ir darbuotojų paieška, personalo atranka bei mokymai Primum Esse. Lawi joined WWE in 2003 to lead the company’s PR department where he was responsible for securing media exposure for WWE Superstars such as Vince McMahon & the McMahon Family, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Triple H, Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler, Big Show and John Cena among others. Lawi came to WWE from Columbia Records where he held the position of VP of Publicity after working his way up from interning at the company. At Columbia he worked with artists such as James Taylor, Aerosmith, Jeff Buckley, Chuck D from Public Enemy, Shawn Colvin, Cypress Hill, Train, Neil Diamond and many others. He also supervised record labels that came through Columbia such as American Recordings where he worked with Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash, T Bone Burnett & The Coen Brothers and their label, DMZ Records. DMZ featured artists such as Ralph Stanley and soundtracks to Cold Mountain, A Mighty Wind and The Ladykillers. Lawi holds a BS degree in Management and double minor in Marketing and Organizational Studies from Ithaca College.
Vice President of Business Development, KOCH Entertainment Distribution
Eric Lemasters is VP of Business Development at KOCH Entertainment Distribution. He is responsible for cultivating new physical and digital distribution agreements and maximizing the company’s digital audio and video initiatives.
A seasoned music industry professional, Lemasters’ career highlights include working in key roles ranging from A&R to Sales and Marketing at independent labels such as Energy Records, Mechanic Records and Earache Records. In 1998, he launched his own cutting-edge music label, The Music Cartel, which is still active today. In 2003 he entered the world of merchandising with stints at Merchdirect, Blue Grape Merchandising, and most recently, Bravado Merchandising (a division of the Sanctuary Group), where he held the position of Head of New Media and ran the company’s E-Commerce and M-Commerce initiatives.
Steve Lillywhite is an English Grammy Award winning record producer. From his early work with Ultravox in 1976 through to the present day, Lillywhite has produced a variety of musicians including U2, Peter Gabriel, The Psychedelic Furs, Dave Matthews Band, Joan Armatrading, Matchbox 20, Simple Minds, Morrissey, The Rolling Stones, XTC, The Talking Heads, Big Country, Darius Danesh , The Pogues and The Smiths, through to Beady Eye and Evanescence in recent times.
Lillywhite entered the music industry in 1972, when he worked as a tape operator for Polygram. He produced a demo recording for Ultravox, which led to them being offered a recording contract with Island Records. Lillywhite soon joined Island as a staff producer, where he worked with many of the leading new wave musicians. His first commercial success was with Siouxsie and the Banshees in August 1978, after producing their first single, “Hong Kong Garden”.
During the 1990s, Lillywhite continued to produce Morrissey, but began to make his mark with albums by Travis, Phish and on multi platinum albums, including Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets by the Dave Matthews Band. In 1990, he co-produced U2’s Achtung Baby, along with Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Flood. In 1991 he returned to Dublin to produce the debut album, A Sonic Holiday, with the Kilkenny based band, Engine Alley. He was also brought in to produce the debut (and only album) by The La’s. In 1996, he produced Phish’s Billy Breathes, and he returned to produce Joy in 2009.
Lilywhite was featured as the subject for a BBC Radio 1 documentary series on record producers.
In 2002, Universal Music Group head Lucian Grainge invited him to become managing director. Lillywhite signed singer-songwriter Darius Danesh and executive produced his debut album Dive In, which spawned three Top 10 hits, and Mercury Records’ first number one in eighteen years. He signed Razorlight, and produced Jason Mraz’s Mr. A-Z.
In September 2005 Lillywhite joined Columbia Records as a Senior Vice President of A&R. During his tenure he signed MGMT. Lillywhite collected consecutive Grammy Awards for Record of the Year with U2’s “Beautiful Day” and “Walk On.” In 2006, Lillywhite won three more Grammys: Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), Best Rock Album also with U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; and a partial win for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
In 2009, he began presenting a weekly radio show on East Village Radio called “The Lillywhite Sessions.” On 3 February 2010, Amy Lee of Evanescence announced on her Twitter that Lillywhite will produce their upcoming third album, which is expected to be released in late 2010. On 25 May 2010, the official Oasis Web site announced that Lillywhite was working with Liam Gallagher, Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock on material for their new band Beady Eye.
Founder and President, Music Without Borders
Stephen Lurie is founder and president of Music Without Borders, a music business solutions company whose clients include record labels, talented recording artists, music retailers, libraries, music supervisors and directors of film and television. He is also a talent buyer, retailer, producer, music columnist and performer. Currently, he is music director and co-owner of Satalla, a 200-seat club in New York City that presents 1,000+ shows a year by artists from around the globe. Under his management Satalla was picked as one the “50 Hot Spots of the World” by Conde Nast Travel Magazine (2004). As VP and co-owner of Al Franklin’s Musical World, Mr. Lurie helped break dozens of new artists in key markets. He is a frequent lecturer at institutions in the U.S., Canada and Europe. He was on the faculty of the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music from 1999-2004 and currently teaches How To Start a Record Label at New York University. The author of numerous articles, Mr. Lurie has also been interviewed on television and radio and in trade and consumer publications on industry trends. In 1998, he delivered the keynote address at WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo) in Stockholm on record retail in the U.S. He received a Bachelor of Music in percussion performance and music business studies from the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford and his Master of Music in world music performance and research from the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University. Mr. Lurie lives outside New York City.
James M. Marovich is a litigation and transactional attorney who, before solo practice and forming his own firm, worked for two multi-state law firms in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Mr. Marovich’s entertainment law practice consists of copyright, trademarks and trade names, and rights to privacy. He provides business, intellectual property, and contract law services for singers, songwriters, musicians, bands, independent film companies, publicists, actors, talent and modeling agencies, authors, artists, photographers, physicians, medical spas, theatre companies, talent management, and record sales and distribution services companies.
Prior to legal practice, Mr. Marovich had over twenty years of senior hospital administrative experience. He has served on numerous not-for-profit boards, is a frequent speaker for the Arizona Songwriters Association and community college performing arts classes, and is currently serving as general counsel for the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Executive Council of the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of Arizona.
Coming from a family of entertainers (he too has acted on stage and camera), it’s not a stretch to say that the entertainment business is “in his blood,” which gives him familiarity with the unique needs and desires of people involved in the entertainment business.
Among his clients are the actor whose short film was selected by the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the photographer whose work was featured at the Phoenix Herberger Theatre, the band who sold music to MTV’s programming division, the songwriter whose songs were used in several feature films and television, and the wordsmith whose feature article graces the cover of the 2007 collector’s issue of Desert Living Magazine.
Chief Operating Officer, Exclusive Solutions Management
Tracy Matthews is Chief Operating Officer of Exclusive Solutions Management, a personal management company representing a diverse roster of talent including Legendary Funk artist George Clinton, Kathryn Griffin-Townsend (sister of Director/Producer Robert Townsend and daughter of Ed Townsend, who pinned the Marvin Gaye classic “Lets Get It On”), and former NBA player Ricky Pierce. Prior to ESM, Mr. Matthews served in a dual role as Director of Licensing, Rights and Clearances and Budget Director at Music World Entertainment, a management firm, representing the likes of Beyonce Knowles, Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland, and Lyfe Jennings. In 2007 he served as Budget Administrator for the “Beyonce Experience” Tour and in 2009 he served as Tour Administrator for the “I Am Sasha Fierce” Tour. Simultaneously during his tenure at Music World Entertainment, Mr. Matthews administered MWE Publishing on behalf of Mathew Knowles as well as publishing companies for Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and Solange Knowles before they obtained publishing deals. Tracy Matthews has worked in the Music Business Industry for over a decade accumulating a unique body of experience in the areas of concert promotions, artist management, music publishing and record label operations. He has held positions at Sanctuary Urban Music Group, once the largest independent record label in the world, as well as SFX Theatrical Group where he learned to market touring Broadway plays. In the early part of his career, he worked for the largest producer and promoter of live events in the world, Clear Channel Entertainment now called Live Nation. There, he mastered the art of developing entertainment properties, acquiring sponsorships, and producing, marketing, and promoting live events including large scale national tours, and festivals. His very first position in the music industry was as a radio and marketing intern with Word Records, a Gospel label In Nashville, Tennessee whose roster included The First Lady of Gospel Music, Shirley Caesar and Marvin Sapp. Mr. Matthews holds a dual degree in Business Administration and Music from Fisk University and a Masters degree in Music Business and Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami.
Director of Music, Fuel TV
Scott’s background in music encompasses a range of experience related to the art and business of joining music with visual and entertainment mediums. As the Director of Music at FUEL TV, Scott is responsible for music supervision of the network’s extensive slate of original and licensed programming as well as live event coverage and special features along with overseeing all music licensing efforts. From searching for the right music to highlighting a specific moment, negotiating terms of use with labels and publishers, coordinating on-air artist performances, soliciting original composition creations or facilitating marketing initiatives involving music based promotions, every day is a different challenge. FUEL TV is a division of Fox Sports where Scott’s expertise in music supervision and licensing is also lent to assist the efforts of affiliate stations and their on-air promotions. Prior to FUEL TV, Scott’s talents contributed towards pioneering the increasing connection between music and gaming as Senior Music Supervisor at Activision Blizzard. It was in this position that Scott was awarded Videogame Music Supervisor of the Year for 2010 by his peers in the Guild of Music Supervisors. A result of aggressively seeking opportunities to expand Activision’s alliances with artists, managers, record labels, music publishers, talent agencies and composers within leading and new videogame franchises such as Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Spider-Man and James Bond – whether selecting songs and shaping music direction, negotiating license terms, placing music personalities into games, supervising original song creation and recordings, compiling and releasing soundtracks or booking talent for appearances, interviews and live performances. Scott worked on a variety of projects of all budget sizes to deliver high quality, award winning soundtracks as well as drive collaborations with some of the music industry’s biggest artists including Metallica, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, Deadmau5, RZA, Pharrell Williams, Sex Pistols and more. Scott is a Los Angeleno native and music obsessive intent on regularly discovering new music.
Music & Entertainment Attorney, McLane & Wong
Ben McLane, Esq is an entertainment attorney veteran focusing primarily on music, with many gold/platinum albums and Billboard Top 10 and #1 chart hits to his credit for his work in conjunction with musical artists/projects in various genres over the years (e.g., Guns & Roses, Dixie Chicks, Nine Inch Nails, Alicia Keys, etc.). Ben has also been involved in artist management, talent scouting, promotions, and record label operations in the entertainment field. Ben is one of the few entertainment attorneys who actively “shops” record, publishing and distribution deals for new and established artists, producers and songwriters. Ben is a 1991 graduate of Pepperdine Law School and lives and works in the Los Angeles area.
Music Supervisor, AV Squad
Meet Angel Mendoza. He’s a bit of a music-obsessed freak. He lives in Silverlake, CA with a handsome Staffordshire Terrier named Taj. He loves winter and still behaving like a teenager. Angel started his music career journey behind the camera, shooting artists for the magazine Stop Breathing throughout its run in the ’90s before becoming one of the first music supervisors in trailers and film advertising at The Cimarron Group. Since then he has built a career music-supervising the campaigns of some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. He is currently music supervisor at A/V Squad. Angel can’t live without these records:
LaPolt Law, LLC
Sabrina Ment, Esq. is an entertainment attorney at LaPolt Law, P.C., a boutique entertainment firm that specializes in representing clients in the music, merchandising, film, television and book publishing industries. The firm’s clientele include recording artists, independent record companies, music publishers, songwriters, producers, managers, executives in the music and film industries, film production companies, photographers, directors, writers, authors and actors. In addition to drafting and negotiating agreements pertaining to the above, her other areas of expertise include due diligence in connection with copyright and trademark acquisitions and supporting outside litigation counsel in such areas as copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation of name and likeness and violations of the Talent Agencies Act. For more information, please log on to LaPolt Law LLC.
Vice President of Marketing, IODA Alliance
Tim Mitchell started at IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance) when the company was only 9 strong and has performed more than one dual-executive role as the VP of Business and Product Development and VP of Marketing and Business Development. As VP of Marketing, Tim now leads the company’s focused effort on the next big challenge in the digital media space.
In 1996, Tim started his Internet career at Wired Magazine and soon moved to Hotwired, the first commercial media Web site. In 1998 he founded grassroots Web-casting site Nineup.com to showcase local San Francisco artists using the then-new power of streaming media before “streaming media” was even a buzzword. He held product management roles at Lycos Music, while also hosting the Wired News online radio show “Music Spin” and acting as a member of the Board of the Popular Noise Foundation, a San Francisco based non-profit whose goal was to promote local independent musicians. Later, he held a strategic product development role as Terra/Lycos in their Global Product Development group where he worked heavily in streaming media and media player software.
Recently Tim re-launched MP3.com at CNET Networks as the site Director in May 2004. There, he was responsible for managing MP3.com, its business strategy and technologies. He played a key role in the re-launch, providing a new brand, focus, strategy and directive.
Tim is well-versed on the important issues of the day with 9 year’s experience in the digital music space and has a long list of speaking engagements and quotes in the press. Speaking engagements include: Jupiter, Music 2.0, iHollywood, Mobile Content World, East Coast Music Awards, CMJ, London Calling, Bandwidth, Billboard Mecca, TapeOp, Podcast Hotel and others.
Day job aside, Tim spends many of his off-hours writing, recording and performing music.
Lisa Klein Moberly runs and owns OPTIC NOISE, a San Francisco-based licensing company representing the music masters and compositions of independent and major label artists for film and TV placement. As a boutique agency founded in 2001, Optic Noise works closely with its musical clients, providing guidance, consultation and representation. Since its inception, Optic Noise has successfully placed hundreds of tracks in film, TV, video and commercials. Previous to forming Optic Noise, Lisa worked in a number of capacities within the music industry: as Manager of Artist Relations at Redband Broadcasting, an online production company; the Distribution and Marketing Director for Shindig Records; Promotions Manager for Fan Asylum, whose clients included Aaron Spelling Entertainment, Inc., Fox Television, and Madonna; and ultimately as a personal manager, founding LK Management in 1991. As a manager, she oversaw national and international tours, promotions and multiple record and publishing deals for her artists.
Fusion Music Supervision
Music Supervisor Chris Mollere’s diverse interest in the world began quite early in life. Growing up in a military family, he traveled extensively while living in Europe and various stateside locations. At an early age he developed a unique appreciation and love for all styles of music. He especially credits his family’s love of music and his father’s extensive record collection as an early influence. His passion and love of music evolved even further as he began attending concerts and playing music himself. Chris attended and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and in addition to receiving an excellent education in the areas of psychology, advertising and business, he participated in countless music events that the city and state had to offer. Living in Austin provided Chris unlimited opportunities to attend concerts ranging from the most seasoned performers to a diverse variety of new artists. Becoming friends with many musicians and music venue owners provided Chris with a unique perspective of the behind the scenes challenges and business aspects of music. To further expand his knowledge of the music business, Chris worked with bands in management, production and promotional capacities. These early positions helped Chris understand many of the diverse facets involved in the music industry. After graduation, Chris moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a full time career in music and entertainment. One of Chris’s first jobs was as a Producer’s / Composer’s Assistant at Music Forever in Hollywood. There he served as a liaison with record labels, advertising agencies, directors and producers while working on a plethora of projects. One of these projects was the film Memory, which provided Chris his first opportunity to work as a music supervisor, an experience that would confirm he could fuse together his passion for music and film. Since then, Chris has had numerous credits as a music supervisor, including working on the ABC Family Television series Kyle XY and 10 Things I Hate About You, as well as on the feature films The Box, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell and The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Chris is currently the music supervisor for the CW television series The Vampire Diaries as well as for the ABC Family series Greek and Pretty Little Liars. He has recently completed the soundtrack for Season One of The Vampire Diaries, which was released on Capitol Records in October 2010, and he recently completed working on the soundtrack for Season One of Pretty Little Liars which is out on Water Tower Records.
The Happy Bookers
Pam Moore is fifty percent of L.A. alt. country promoter duo, the Happy Bookers. She and her friend and booking partner, Kim Grant, have been the driving force supporting the alt. country scene in town through nights such as The Grand Ole Echo at the Echo and Town and Country Tuesday at El Cid. Pam learned the ropes of booking through putting together bills for her own bands, which over the years have included the Neptunas, Cheap Chick, Dime Box Band and her latest folly, Madame Pamita’s Parlor of Wonders. She and Kim bring a unique, energetic, humorous and radical perspective to booking having been on all sides of the process (being the booker, the bookee and the rabid show-goer) and champion a d.i.y. underground ethic as well as the hyper-talented bands they bring to the stage.
President, 360 Media
Tara began 360 Media in 1996 from the basement of a friend’s house. Since then, the boutique agency has grown to become a major player in the entertainment / lifestyle / hospitality PR field of Atlanta. Tara’s true sense of passion for her business and commitment to her clients, combined with her unbeaten “gut instinct” prove her talent comes naturally. Prior to launching 360, Tara was the PR Director for two large independent record labels and worked in the concert promotions industry. Those connections in the lifestyle and entertainment world made it a natural choice to launch 360 Media.
Chairman & CEO, Marsteller, U.S.
Andrew Nibley has been a CEO in four different media industries – news, Internet, music and advertising – and has worked for four different media giants – WPP, Vivendi, Bertelsmann and Reuters. He currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Marsteller, the advertising, interactive, event management and design/collateral unit of Burson-Marsteller, a WPP company. Before that, he was CEO of GetMusic.com, Rollingstone.com and FarmClub.com. He also served as global online portal strategist at Universal Music and before that at BMG. In 1994, Andy co-founded Reuters NewMedia Inc. Under his leadership, Reuters became the No. 1 provider of news on the Internet. Most of his career, Andy spent as Executive Editor of Reuters News and Television. He originally started as a journalist, covering four U.S. Presidents.
Award Winning Songwriter / Producer
Nowels is a Grammy / Ivor Novello award winning songwriter / producer who has worked with many of the most vibrant artists in contemporary music. Beginning with his number one worldwide hit single, “Heaven Is A Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle in 1987 Rick has since co-written 52 top 20 singles. His songs have appeared on over 200 million albums. He is a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, keyboards, bass) who incorporates contemporary sounds and rhythms within classic songwriting. He has recently produced the first album of new material by Yusuf/Cat Stevens in 28 years. Rick has written with or had his songs recorded by the following artists: Madonna, Dido, Nelly Furtado, New Radicals, Jewel, Craig David, Santana, Sinead O’Conner, Texas, Stevie Nicks Celine Dion, Anita Baker, k.d. lang, Tupac, Bette Midler, Rod Stewart, Cher, Charlotte Church, Belinda Carlisle, Ronan Keating, Mel C., Geri Haliwell (Spice Girls), Darren Hayes (Savage Garden), Boy George, Sonique and Amber.
Selected hits include White Flag: Dido (Ivor Novello song of the year/ #1 hot AC song of the year), The Game Of Love: Santana (F/ Michelle Branch) (ASCAP song of the year 2004/ #1 hot AC song of the year 2003), Standing Still: Jewel (#1 Hot AC), You Get What You Give: New Radicals (Top 5 worldwide), The Power Of Goodbye: Madonna (#1 UK/ Europe), Here With Me (Producer): Dido (#1 UK/ Europe), Inner Smile: Texas (#1 UK/ Europe), Don’t You Trust Me: 2Pac (F/ Dido), The Consequences of Falling: k.d. lang, Sky: Sonique (#1 Europe), Sexual (Li Da Di): Amber (#1 Dance), Falling Into You: Celine Dion (Grammy Award Album of The Year), Tears From The Moon: Conjure One (F/ Sinead O’Connor), One and One: Robert Miles (#1 UK/ Europe), Body & Soul: Anita Baker (#1 R & B), Rooms On Fire: Stevie Nicks (#1 Rock), Heaven Is a Place On Earth: Belinda Carlisle (#1 Worldwide).
General Manager, Southern Ground Artists (Zac Brown Band)
Ms. Lynn Oliver began her career as an intern with Hootie and the Blowfish and Fishco Management in Columbia, SC in 1994. After graduating from the University of South Carolina in 1995, she became a talent scout for Breaking / Atlantic Records helping to discover and develop some of the rising bands in the Southeastern music scene. This translated into an A & R director position with Grammy-winning producer Matt Serletic (Matchbox 20, Gloriana) at Melisma / Arista Records in Los Angeles and eventually Virgin Records NY where she supervised the growth of rock bands like The Exies and film and TV soundtracks such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. One of the best ways to go viral on tiktok is to buy tiktok followers , it is fast and secure and will help you boost your tiktok. 3. Her contributions to pop singer Stacie Orrico’s Stacie Orrico lead to 2 international hit songs and the honor of “Top 5 A & R Woman in the World” in 2003. Wanting to be closer to home, Oliver left New York in 2004 to return to her roots in the south and accepted a position at BMI Atlanta in the writer / publisher relations department. After meeting Zac Brown in 2005 she left BMI to join Brown’s management company ROAR in 2007. Ms. Oliver is now proud to bring her years of experience and knowledge to her current position as GM of Southern Ground Artists overseeing the record label and publishing company started by Brown. The Atlanta-based Southern Ground Artists, Inc. will release 2 – 3 debut albums by up-and-coming artists in 2011 and will continue to help produce licensing opportunities and special projects for the Zac Brown Band. For more info please contact Southern Ground at 404-941-3480 x 102.
President, Clay Pasternack Inc.
Clay Pasternack, President of Clay Pasternack Inc. (CPI), consults record companies, regional and national accounts, sales for distribution, manufacturing and fulfillment, and research and development of CD reissues for independent and major labels. A 42-year veteran of the independent music industry, he has held executive positions at independent distributors such as M.S. Distributing, Best & Gold, Action Music, Transcontinent and others. Clay served on the AFIM Board of Trustees for over 20 years and as Co-Executive Director of AFIM for 7 years. Current clients include several labels, rackjobbers, major national retailers as well as Burnside Distribution and the Handleman Co. On behalf of label clients, he has also worked with Ryko, Select-O-Hits, Fontana, Navarre, Koch, Red and others.
CEO In Residence, Bluestone Partners
Martin Pazzani is a CEO in Residence with Bluestone Partners in Beverly Hills, CA where he is pursuing capital investments in music, branded entertainment and media space and building an innovative worldwide alliance of best-in-class companies to capitalize on the growing applications for commercial music and sound, the growing importance of audio as a global communications tool, and the morphing of the music business into a new format that is part entertainment, part advertising, and part technology.
He is a seasoned global business executive and marketing decathlete with a 28-year tenure in management, brand building, integrated marketing and strategic development that spans the ad agency, corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, who until recently was Chairman/CEO of Elias Arts, the world’s most awarded music, sound and audio identity copy where they transformed the company into a diversified music agency.
Elias Arts, the most awarded commercial music and sound company in history, creates original music and sound design for television, advertising, cinema, and products/environments, and is the pioneer in the new field of audio branding. With clients that have included over 700 of the Fortune 1000, Elias Arts’ music, scoring, and audio logos have been used by the most well known brands in the world, including Nike, Adidas, Coke, Pepsi, Infiniti, Lexus, Chrysler, Cadillac, Audi, Anheuser Busch, Cisco, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, American Express, Visa, and many others.
During his eclectic career, Martin has done business on six continents and held senior positions in major corporations and agencies alike, including Foote Cone & Belding, the Interpublic Group, DDB Needham, Bally Total Fitness, and Heublein (now Diageo). In all these roles, Martin has been a strong proponent of using music and sound as a key element in the marketing mix, and he believes that the applications of audio have unlimited potential in the fragmented multi-media marketplace of today, and tomorrow.
When not commuting between NYC and Los Angeles, Martin has a passion for international adventure and travel. As an avid mountaineer, he has climbed major peaks on all seven continents and explored Antarctica, Easter Island, Ngorongoro Crater, the Equatorial Rainforests and more. And as a former F2000 racing driver, he has a keen appreciation for the value of speed, competition, and high performance. He resides in New York City and Hollywood, CA.
Artist Manager
Geoff Piper has managed various jazz, country and rock groups. He currently performs with and manages a Bay Area alternative rock band. His management duties include advising on national booking and touring, publicity, public relations and advertising, artist Web site and online presence development, the selection of artistic and musical material, wardrobe, organization of photo and video shoots, and all other matters pertaining to the band’s professional activities and career in the entertainment, music and recording industries. Geoff also works for Independent Television Service (ITVS) in San Francisco as an Intellectual Property (IP) attorney in-house where he negotiates and drafts television production and distribution contracts in order to license content between independent film producers, artists, broadcasters, distributors, television stations, recording companies, and music publishers. Prior to ITVS, Geoff worked for several San Francisco based IP law firms, solo practitioners, and in his own private practice where he represented solo artists, bands, music studios, independent online labels and distributors.
Founder / Vice President Music Industry Relations, Revebnation
Lou Plaia is Founder & VP of Music Industry Relations of ReverbNation. The company specializes in Fan Relationship Management and is partnered with hundreds of thousands of musicians who use the company’s digital marketing platform to manage their artist-to-fan communications. Artists manage all of their songs, videos, photos, show schedules, blogs, twitter on a single account at ReverbNation and syndicate this content across social networks, emails, instant messages, blogs and twitter using a proprietary set of technologies.
Every interaction is measured by ReverbNation (and you get the data as well), and results in a deep understanding of fan demographics and behavior. ReverbNation provides many of traditional music marketing services including low cost digital distro, email management, street team functionality, but the company’s real value is its ability to take the aggregate influence of hundreds of thousands of artists and offer their services to brands that seek to access the very fan bases of these artists. The ReverbNation platform provides the data needed to support these brand offerings.
Since launching in October 2006, the use of the ReverbNation technology has spilled over from the indie ranks to recognized names in music such as 50 Cent, Kenny Chesney, Madonna, Pantera, Judas Priest, O.A.R., Natasha Bedingfield, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Sara Bareilles, Lamb of God and Jason Mraz, to name a few. With over 345,000 independent and mainstream musicians already using the site, the company also boasts healthy growth figures of 20,000/month, 1,500,000 unique URLS with ReverbNation content and over 1,000,000 songs registered on the site. Plaia was previously VP Marketing and Artist Development, Lava / Atlantic Records. While there he oversaw all aspects of Marketing and Artist Development for Lava Records, including creation and implementation of marketing campaigns for Kid Rock, Simple Plan, Uncle Kracker, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Blue Man Group, Nonpoint, O.A.R., Unwritten Law, Skindred, Cold, Antigone Rising, and many others. Responsible for negotiating strategic corporate partnerships such as Nascar’s Chevy Rock n Roll 400, Schick Intuition Tour, Disney’s Grad Night and many others.
Plaia worked with Founder of Lava Records to launch the company. As key liaison between Lava Records and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, annual record sales increased from $1 million to $10 million in three years. This increase in record sales correlated with annual ticket sale increases from 85,000 to 1,000,000 tickets sold. Prior to Lava, Plaia was VP Marketing and Strategic Planning of Atlantic Records where he reported directly to the President on all marketing and promotion initiatives, and overseeing annual $50 million Marketing and Promotion Budgets for Atlantic Records and all its subsidiaries. While there, he also developed, executed and managed the marketing campaign of several niche artists, including George Carlin, Mike Stern and others.
Hollywood Records
Joe Poindexter has amassed diverse experience in his 6 years in the music business. He grew up in Lincoln, NE with intentions of becoming a politician, but his plans for the future changed after being introduced to the music business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Joe’s career in the music business began as a College Representative for the Universal Music Group, where he spent hours canvassing the University’s campus with posters and stickers for the company’s priority artists. He also tracked radio airplay and coordinated events for Universal artists that came through town on tour. Graduating in 2000, Joe relocated to Los Angeles with a job opportunity in the sales department at Columbia Records. He helped break artists like Pete Yorn, John Mayer, Five For Fighting, Lostprophets and Crazy Town, through aggressive artist development retail campaigns.
In his tenure at Columbia Records, Joe expanded his knowledge about the distribution side of the music business and learned how important artist development can be. After Columbia Records, Joe received an offer from Q Prime Management (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shania Twain, Muse, Nickel Creek, Gillian Welch). While at Q Prime, Joe was exposed to the world of artist management, radio promotion, and tour marketing. It was a tremendous learning experience at Q Prime and helped diversify Joe’s knowledge of the “complete” music business. Joe accepted an offer to become the Director of A&R at Elementree Records (a Geffen Records imprint), and spent 3 years there. He immediately took on A&R responsibilities for Deadsy, a band fronted by Elijah Blue Allman (son of Cher and Greg Allman) who Jonathan Davis of Korn discovered back in 1999. He also signed The Drama and worked with The Suicide Girls. His experience at Elementree Records allowed him to diversify his relationships in the music business, most of which will be very important for the remainder of his career.
Joe intends to lead the next generation of executives in the music business by combining constant forward thinking with a preservation of the ideals set out by the first generation.
Senior VP, Music World Entertainment’s Music World Gospel division
Nichelle Poindexter is the Sr. Vice President of Music World Entertainment’s gospel music division Music World Gospel. The label division has established music distribution relationships with Sony Music, Geffen Interscope Records and Fontana Universal. Music World Music has a popular music division, country, rock and gospel label. The label marked recent success with a #2 album debut by rising gospel recording artist Brian Courtney Wilson. She is a graduate of the University of Texas Arlington. With over 15 years as a creative executive in the music business working at Warner Brothers Music and Universal she conceived and executed highly successful marketing campaigns with superstar artists such as Jay Z, Patti LaBelle, Ludacris and Mariah Carey.
VP, Global Synch Operations and Systems, BMG Chrysalis
As the VP, Global Synch Operations and Systems, BMG Chrysalis Razzano is responsible for overseeing and developing the systems and operational protocols that BMG uses Globally for their Synchronization Operations catering to the Advertising, Film, TV and New media Communities. Prior he was VP of Business Development for Ricall, an*automated online music licensing platform supported by real-world music licensing experts. Prior to this Razzano was Senior Director at BMG Music Publishing in New York. At (the old) BMG he was responsible for negotiating synchronization licenses for advertising and merchandising in the US. While at BMG Razzano gained extensive international experience as he was also responsible for international clearance of all BMG’s US repertoire for music in advertising campaigns around the world. Razzano’s more than 20-year industry experience is drawn from far beyond his time at BMG Publishing. He started his career at a TV commercial editorial house, Crew Cuts Film & Tape, then went on to join the music department of one of the world’s largest advertising agencies at the time, DMB&B. His experience was fortified by positions at CBS Television as well as Universal Music Publishing and Independent music publisher, Spirit Music Group where as Senior Creative Director he oversaw all the Film, Television and Advertising Synchronization licensing.
President, REN Management
Steve Rennie represents rock artist Incubus. Prior to this, he was President of the Ultimate Band List and partner in ArtistDirect online music company. From 1994 to 1998, Rennie was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Epic Records, West Coast where he worked closely with artists Korn, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and Incubus. He supervised day-to-day operations of Epic’s West Coast offices and was responsible for the label’s West Coast A&R activities and marketing campaigns while functioning as liaison with artists, managers and the entertainment community. Rennie joined Epic after five years as president of REN Management, representing Dramarama, Wonder Stuff, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Primal Scream, The The, and Stabbing Westward. He began his career in music in 1979 as president of Steve Rennie Presents while attending college. He then spent eight years at Avalon Attractions (now part of Clear Channel Entertainment) as Executive Vice President where he promoted live concerts by most of the biggest touring attractions in the music industry.
Entertainment Attorney
Entertainment attorney Roxell Richards has practiced in the music industry for over a decade. She recently served as the sole entertainment attorney at Deep Distribution Music Group in Houston, TX where she worked closely with multi-platinum artists Lil Flip, Scarface, the Ying Yang Twins, and Grammy-nominated producer Mannie Fresh, inking several lucrative deals on Deep’s behalf. Bar certified in Texas and California, Ms. Richards opened her own firm in 2004 with offices in Houston and Los Angeles. The firm’s focus is music and film distribution, administration and licensing. She is passionate about educating people about entertainment law, and is a frequent guest speaker at conference nationwide, including the Core DJ’s Texas Urban Music Summit II and the All Access Music Conference in Miami. She will appear at NXNW, and international film and music festival in Toronto, in June 2010.
Howard Rosen Promotion, Inc. and Take-Out Management
Howard began his career in the music industry with stints at Bell Records and Elektra, with The Partridge Family, Barry Manilow, Mountain. In 1970 he was at Elektra with The Doors, Carly Simon, and Harry Chapin. In 1977, Howard Rosen became Sr. VP of Promotion at Casablanca Records breaking such acts as: Donna Summer, Kiss, The Village People, and Parliament. 1980: Howard Rosen became president of Bearsville Records and was instrumental in the success of Todd Rundgren, Utopia, and Foghat. 1981: Howard Rosen became Sr. VP of Promotion at Warner Bros.: Prince, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Doobie Brothers, and Frank Sinatra. 1984: Motown Records names Howard Rosen VP Promotion and Marketing and worked with Lionel Ritchie, Smokey Robinson, and Temptations. 1985: Howard Rosen went on to A&M Records where he was Director of Special Projects: Sting, Tommy Shaw (of STYX), Simple Minds, and Bryan Adams. 1985: Howie started his own companies: Howard Rosen Promotion, Inc. and Take-Out Management.
Some Past and Recent Successes Include: Howard Rosen Promotion, Inc. has currently been promoting such top artists and hot new bands such as Dana Glover, Everclear, Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Lucy Woodward, Phil Collins, Shania Twain, The Verve, Fiona Apple, Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Meredith Brooks, Supertramp, Nu Flavor, Sixpence None The Richer, Eric Clapton, LeAnn Rimes, Lenny Kravitz, Hoobastank, Kimberley Locke, The Killers, Richard Marx, Frickin’ A, Styx, Marc Broussard, and many more. Promotional Success and Awards also include: Aerosmith, Barry Manilow, Van Halen, Lenny Kravitz, The Gin Blossoms, Michael Bolton, Night Ranger, Concrete Blonde, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and many more. Howard has coordinated marketing campaigns for: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mike & the Mechanics, Joan Jett, the Genesis-Michelob Tour, Lenny Kravitz, and Melissa Etheridge.
Director of Entertainment Marketing & Publicity / Head of Marketing, Yoshi’s World Class Jazz House
Joan Rosenberg, Director of Entertainment Marketing & Publicity, head of marketing for Yoshi’s World Class Jazz House. Former Marketing Director For Bill Graham Presents (BGP), Rosenberg was responsible for developing creative cross-marketing packages for BGP’s annual events including New Orleans By The Bay and San Francisco New Year’s Eve. She left BGP for a short time to become Senior Marketing and Communications Manager at a digital music company that was bought out by a record label. She returned to BGP in 2001 as the Publicity and Promotions Manager and shortly after that was promoted to Director of Marketing. In this role for five years, she has been responsible for all aspects of advertising live entertainment at venues from 900 to 20,000 seats in various markets of Northern California and the North Western United States. Joan graduated from Oakland’s Holy Names High School and obtained a B.A. in business from Holy Names University. She was born in Yonkers, New York, lived in both Manhattan and Brooklyn for most of her childhood, and now resides in the Bay Area.
Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP
Jay Rosenthal is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP. Mr. Rosenthal’s former and present clients include The Recording Artists’ Coalition, SoundExchange, AFTRA, Thievery Corporation, ESL Music, Drake-Web Records, Mya, Salt N Pepa, DJ Kool, SEV, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Jonathan Edwards, Toshi Reagan, Jimmies Chicken Shack, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Rare Essence, Bill Kirchen, Butch Cassidy, Riot Act Entertainment, VGR Records, Lloyd Dobler Effect, radio personalities Albie Dee, Mark Kaye, and Bill Curry, comedian Robert Schimmel, monument maker/sculptor Robert Berks, and professional wrestler David “Batista” Bautista.
Mr. Rosenthal is a Professorial Lecturer in Entertainment Law at the George Washington University Law School and is an Adjunct Professor of Entertainment Law at the Washington College of Law at American University. Mr. Rosenthal is a former Sound Exchange Board Member and is presently the Chairman of the SoundExchange Artist Advisory Board. He is a former Copyright Examiner with the U.S. Copyright Office, a Vice?president of the Washington Area Music Association, and an Advisory Board Member of the Songwriter Association of Washington.
Mr. Rosenthal has authored numerous articles on entertainment law and intellectual property, and is a periodic contributor to Billboard and other industry newsletters and journals. He is a Contributing Editor to the journal Entertainment Law & Finance. He has lectured extensively across the country on entertainment industry topics.
Mr. Rosenthal received an Undergraduate Degree in History and a Masters Degree in International Affairs from The American University, a Juris Doctor Degree in Law from The Antioch School of Law (Editor, Antioch Law Journal), and a Master of Law Degree in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University Law Center.
Music Supervisor, Search Party Music
After seeing his first Kiss Army concert in 1978, Joe Rudge was hell-bent on a career in music. His father, tour manager for The Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, took Joe on the road throughout the late seventies, kindling a life-long interest in the music and entertainment industry. Joe started as a production assistant at VH1, but soon moved on to music supervision when he was hired to music supervise for The Disney Channel. 2006 was a breakthrough year for Joe when he music-supervised the cult hit BRICK for Focus Features and the ABC shows LOST and SIX DEGREES through the music supervision company Search Party Music. Joe’s recent film credits include ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED for Think/HBO Films, the Paul Dano & Zooey Deschanel film GIGANTIC, and the Alexis Bledel film THE GOOD GUY. Joe’s most recent films include BLUE VALENTINE starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams and TWELVE for director Joel Schumacher. Currently he’s music supervising Wayne Wang’s SNOW FLOW AND THE SECRET FAN for Fox Searchlight and Aza Jacob’s TERRI for ATO Films. In addition to film and television, Joe also music-supervised a number of commercials with Search Party Music.
Global Music Marketing Manager, Worldwide Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Coca-Cola
As global music marketing manager of Coca-Cola Company, Umut Özaydinli leads music-related partnerships, driving music marketing strategies for the company and executing international music marketing activities as a member of the Worldwide Sports and Entertainment team based in Atlanta.
Prior to moving to Global Team, Özaydinli was based in London as a member of the European Group marketing services team where he oversaw music related marketing activities and activations within the group. During his time in London, he led the Soundwave experiential program across 35 countries featuring Europe’s longest party train. It made stops at 8 different music festivals throughout Europe.
He joined Coca-Cola in 2000 as a member of the brand team based in Turkey and led campaigns that delivered significant growth and market share. Some of the highlights of his time there include one of the first SMS and Internet-based mobile campaigns of the Coca-Cola Company in 2001, which has been used a model by many countries. In 2003 he initiated Turkey biggest open-air music festival (Rock ‘n Coke) and created a rich marketing program around it. The festival received the Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Excellence Award. In 2007 it celebrated its fifth year receiving over 50 hours of TV coverage per year, additional income from ticket sales and numerous sponsors and delivering significant volume uplift while hosting over 200 well-known acts in the course of 5 years.
Özaydinli’s expertise is a good combination of brand management, e-marketing and entertainment marketing. He is Coke’s in-house music expert and keeps working with global Coca-Cola brand teams on his biggest passion – Music – to deliver best-in-class music marketing programs. Also, he recently started managing an Atlanta-based pop rock band Loverush.