More than 300 speakers, including keynotes from Pandora’s Roger Lynch with Sony Music Nashville’s Randy Goodman, Scooter Braun with Hilary Rosen, and Republic Records’ Wendy Goldstein with Manager Beka Tischker
and Billboard’s Melinda Newman
Award presentations honoring Ed Sheeran, Nile Rodgers, Julia Michaels, RIAA’s Cary Sherman with live performance from Kelsea Ballerini, Dimple Records’ Radakovitz Family, and hit song ‘Despacito’;
Colin Hanks to induct Tower Records’ Russ Solomon as first member of Music Business Hall of Fame
Top sessions include new programs #NEXTGEN_NOW, Podcasting: Licensing and Monetizing This New Success,
Music & Money: Financial Literacy Summit, and Sync It!
Plus, returning favorites including Music’s Leading Ladies Speak Out, Digital Service Workshops, Metadata Summit, GLAAD partner panel, Brands & Strategic Partnerships Summit, Entertainment & Technology Law Conference,
and Career Development Workshops
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) will celebrate its 60th anniversary at this year’s annual Music Biz 2018 conference, which will be held in Nashville from May 14-17 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Also in its 60th year, the conference is the music industry’s premier event, giving the commerce and content sectors a place to meet with trading partners, network with new companies, and learn about new trends and products impacting the music business, as well as music creatives a place to discuss their craft and learn more about the legal, metadata, financial, and other matters that impact their royalties. The well-rounded program, which will feature more than 300 speakers, provides a unique opportunity for the full breadth of the industry — from major and independent labels to artists, songwriters, managers, publishers, digital music services, record stores, entrepreneurs, startups, students, and educators — to gather in one place, discuss and plot solutions to major business problems, and connect today’s top executives with those who will carry the industry forward.
“Our 2017 conference in Nashville was our biggest in over 15 years with more than 2,000 attendees; we’re excited to carry that momentum into our 60th anniversary event,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “Music Biz 2018 will honor our past with our first-ever Music Business Hall of Fame induction as well as returning sessions that address the issues of today — including Music’s Leading Ladies Speak Out and our GLAAD partnership ‘Trendspotting: The Power of Queer Storytelling in Song.’ We’ll also pave the way forward to another 60 years of music with our debut ‘#NEXTGEN_NOW’ panel, Financial Literacy Summit, and Sync It! program, along with a variety of student programming and our annual Career Opportunities for Students event.”
The program will be headlined by Featured Presentations keynoted by Pandora’s Roger Lynch, who will be joined by Sony Music Nashville’s Randy Goodman and interviewed by Pandora’s Beville Dunkerley; Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award recipient Scooter Braun, who will be interviewed by noted Washington, DC, Strategist and women’s rights advocate Hilary Rosen; and Republic Records’ Wendy Goldstein, who will be joined by Beka Tischker, manager of Music Biz 2018 Breakthrough Artist Julia Michaels. The Association will also carry forward its tradition of honoring the past year’s most exceptional artists and executives at its Awards Luncheon (sponsored by BuzzAngle Music and TiVo) onMay 17, with presentations recognizing Ed Sheeran (Artist of the Year), Nile Rodgers (Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement), Julia Michaels (Breakthrough Artist), hit song “Despacito” (Outstanding Achievement Award), and Scooter Braun (Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award), with acclaimed actor and director Colin Hanks then inducting late Tower Records founder Russ Solomon into the Music Business Hall of Fame. The business-focused Awards Breakfast & Presentations (sponsored by CMA) will be held May 16, with presentations honoring the RIAA’s Cary Sherman (Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement) and Dimple Records’ Radakovitz Family (Independent Spirit Award), followed by a live performance from Country star Kelsea Ballerini.
Music Biz 2018 will begin on Monday, May 14, with the latest Entertainment & Technology Law Conference. Sponsored by Dickinson Wright and Leavens, Strand & Glover, the event will feature an in-depth discussion of modern artist development, the recently introduced Music Modernization Act, collective management of rights, and trademark protection for bands.
Running concurrently will be this year’s Career Development Workshops, which will provide music business students and young professionals with valuable guidance on breaking into the industry. It will be headlined by a keynote from Seth England of Big Loud, which has signed major artists Florida Georgia Line and Chris Lane, and end with a live broadcast of William Paterson University’s Music Biz 101 & More podcast. Students can also apply to attend Music Biz’s annualCareer Opportunities for Students event on May 16-17, where they will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from 15 top companies for potential internships and jobs, including BMI, Borman Entertainment, CAA, Country Music Association (CMA), Concord Music Group, Girlilla Marketing, ole, Pandora, Red Light Management, Songtrust, Sony Music Entertainment, Spotify, The Orchard, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.
Also on May 14, Music Biz will bring together Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube for a second round of Digital Service Workshops. These closed sessions will teach attendees how to leverage the tools and products that these companies offer to maximize value for artists, labels, managers, creators, and the industry at large. Advance sign-up is required for the Apple Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube workshops; seating will be limited. In the afternoon, Lyric Financial will power the first-ever Financial Literacy Summit, which will feature an informative discussion on how those in the music business can achieve financial success, the legal and financial issues that artist-owned companies must consider to make sure they maximize and keep the profits from their hard work, and how to forecast potential ROI before investing in launching a new artist or project. Topics will include artists as business owners, new business models, a team approach to the new music economy, making money as a musician, and banking in Nashville.
Concurrently with the Financial Literacy Summit will be the “Podcasting: Licensing and Monetizing This New Success“ program, which will be headlined by a keynote from Tom Webster of Edison Research. Panels will feature successful podcasters sharing their stories — including Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett of the Walking the Floor podcast alongside Sheena Barnet and Savannah Faircloth of Elvis Presley Enterprises — and cover music licensing for podcasts and how to bring in revenue with a podcast.
Tuesday, May 15, will kick off with the brand new “#NEXTGEN_NOW: Young Voices Rewriting the Rules“ panel. The event will shine a light on the stories of a group of music executives — all under 30 years old — who are making waves in the industry and have come to represent the next generation’s already growing influence. They include moderator Cherie Hu, Contributing Writer/Editor at Billboard/Forbes, and panelists Jackie Augustus, Head of Digital Marketing at Scooter Braun’s SB Projects; Devin Dawson, a Country singer/songwriter signed to Warner Music Nashville/Atlantic Records; Amber Grimes, Manager of Artist and Label Marketing at Spotify; Phil Quist, an Agent at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA); and Anna Weisband, Vice President at THiS Music/Warner Chappell.
Tuesday morning will also be home to the sixth annual Metadata Summit. Sponsored by OpenPlay along with supporting sponsors DataArt, primephonic, SOCAN, SoundExchange, and VEVA Sound, this year’s Summit will kick off with a presentation from Edward Ginis of OpenPlay, who will explain why metadata must evolve beyond artist, genre, and title to enable the music technology of tomorrow. In addition, global metadata issues will take center stage in a series of presentations.
Songtrust will then power this year’s Indie Artist & Songwriter Forum, which will address artist and streaming income, the artist-label relationship in the digital era, and how independent labels or artists can successfully manage releases. Molly Neuman and Jason Cerf of Songtrust will also provide a two-part crash course in how to use the service.
The day will end with this year’s Music’s Leading Ladies Speak Out program, powered by Nielsen Music. It will be headlined by a keynote interview with Republic Records’ Wendy Goldstein and Beka Tischker, manager of Music Biz 2018 Breakthrough Artist Julia Michaels, that will be conducted by Billboard’s Melinda Newman. Nielsen Music’s Erin Crawford will kick off the event by sharing exclusive insights and analytics on the growing influence of female fans in today’s music industry. It will wrap with a panel — led by Marcie Allen of MAC Presents and featuring Marlene Tsuchii of CAA and Janet Weir of 42 Entertainment/Red Light Management, manager of Maren Morris — addressing the challenges faced by women in music in 2018 and how to open up new opportunities for women.
After beginning with this year’s Awards Breakfast & Presentations, sponsored by the CMA, Wednesday’s program will continue with an eye toward music education with the Music Business Educators’ Meetup. Topics to be covered include creating experiential opportunities in academics, preparing students for today’s music industry, what employers are looking for in new hires, and UCLA’s Creating Your Creative Career course.
The first-ever Sync It! program will follow with a series of panels focused on music syncs in TV, film, commercials and more. Concurrently, the Brands & Strategic Partnerships Summit will provide insight into innovative new brand partnerships, the future of brand-artist partnerships, and how data can impact these deals. Mike Fuller of Durango will also sit down with John Zarling of Sony Music Nashville and moderator Paul Jankowski to discuss an integrated partnership negotiated between Durango and Country star Tyler Farr.
Wednesday’s programming will come to a close with a Featured Presentation keynoted by Pandora’s Roger Lynch, who will share key perspectives coming out of his first six months at Pandora, his vision for the company’s future, and his predictions of what the increase in music streaming means for the future of the music business. He will be joined by Sony Music Nashville’s Randy Goodman and interviewed by Pandora’s Beville Dunkerley, who will drill into how increased music streaming is impacting music labels, how it will benefit emerging artists, and how it is influencing the future of Country.
The conference will continue on Thursday with the centerpiece Awards Luncheon, sponsored by BuzzAngle Music and TiVo, and a variety of breakout sessions throughout the morning and afternoon.
Registration for Music Biz 2018 remains open at musicbiz2018.eventbrite.com. In addition to company pricing, special rates are available for individual professionals ($449 for Music Biz members and $599 for non-members), educators ($399 for Music Biz members and $449 for non-members), students ($169 for Music Biz members and $219 for non-members), and first-time independents, individuals, or startups ($299). For more information on Music Biz 2018, visit www.musicbiz2018.com.