TOPIC: WHAT THE STATE OF MUSIC TECH SAYS ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR INDUSTRY.

Where it’s going, and where it’s not.
Where Nashville is embracing and resisting.
Hear about the latest trends, issues, challenges and opportunities including the ever-evolving streaming landscape, new channels of marketing and distributing music, metadata standards and new equalizing forces like Blockchain.

MODERATOR: Shawn Yeager, Backporch Group, Partner

PANEL: John Pisciotta, LoudLab, Founder
Wayne Leeloy, G7 Entertainment Marketing, Head of Brand Partnerships & Digital Strategy
Heather McBee, The Entreprenural Center, VP Accelerator Programming

Shawn Yeager – Moderator

Back Porch Group

Partner

Shawn is a partner with music tech venture-builder, Back Porch Group and co-founder of Endorsee. At BPG, Shawn leads customer and business development for their portfolio companies and consults to startup and enterprise clients on business model design, product strategy, customer acquisition and growth.

Previously, Shawn founded and led a boutique management consulting firm whose clients ranged from indie game developers to multi-billion dollar software companies. As a business development executive for several startup and growth-stage tech companies, including Exodus Communications, Platform Computing and Varicent  Software, Shawn produced market-shaping partnerships, international expansion, hundred-million dollar revenue streams and recognition from industry luminary Bill Gates.

At Microsoft, his work on their first browser team added over a million new users, and his contributions in e-commerce resulted in pioneering partnerships and the acquisition of dozens of Fortune 500 customers. Early in his career, Shawn led strategy and development for one of the earliest online music retailers, MusicDirect.

Shawn is a mentor for and advisor to Project Music, the country’s first music tech accelerator, a mentor at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and advisor to numerous startups in the US and Canada.

John Pisciotta

LoudLab

Managing Partner

Founder of LoudLab, a venture studio that accelerates high potential, scalable companies in the media and entertainment technology space.  John founded MusicSynk, LLC which offers a secure online platform that quickly facilitates music synchronization licenses for the film, television, advertising and video gaming markets. It serves both the professionals who pay to license music and the top-tier artists who own the copyrights to the music. His career spans three decades in the music industry.

Wayne Leeloy

G7 Entertainment Marketing

Head of Brand Partnerships & Digital Strategy

Living at the intersection of brands, music and technology, Wayne Leeloy is the Head of Brand Partnerships and Digital Strategy for G7 Entertainment Marketing, the entertainment vertical for project:worldwide. In this role, he leads the charge on entertainment strategies and new business development, providing high-touch client services and relationship management and integrated digital expertise, activation, analysis and actionable data for the full client roster. Prior to joining G7, Leeloy spent a few years leading digital strategy and launching the successful Strategic Marketing & Partnerships division for Warner Music Nashville.

Before joining the label, he ran business development, account management, educational initiatives and community outreach for Topspin Media, the premiere direct-to-fan technology platform in the United States and established Ticketmaster’s Music Services division to handle all the A-List tour ticketing offers, fan club pre sales and VIP activation in the Country, Christian and Americana/Roots music space.

Mike Fabio

Director of Digital Marketing

New West Records

Director of Digital Marketing at New West Records, overseeing all things online: social, web, email, advertising, etc.

Co-founder of Bandposters, a tool for touring artists to design, print, and ship posters to every gig on a tour in 90 seconds or less

Partner at Back Porch Group, a venture-building and consulting firm creating a better entertainment industry one idea, product and company at a time. BPG has a portfolio of venture-backed and bootstrapped entertainment technology startups it has incubated, and helps similar companies grow their businesses.

Founder of Tiny Jetpack, a boutique social media marketing firm focused on fan relationships and the music business (Clients: PledgeMusic, Artist Growth, Lyric Financial, Anderson East, Nettwerk Music Group, Maker Studios)

Community Director at Warner Bros. Records overseeing online activity for every WBR artist, including social properties, websites, and more. (Artists: Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Eric Clapton, Avenged Sevenfold, Iron & Wine, The Black Keys, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jason Derulo, Disturbed, Gary Clark Jr., The Flaming Lips, Green Day, many more)

Heather McBee
Nashville Entrepreneur Center (EC)

Vice President of Accelerator Programming

Heather 25 years of experience in marketing, sales and operations in the music and radio industries.   McBee is focused on growing the Center’s year-round focus on the continued support of innovation within the music industry, bringing Project Music from a 14-week accelerator program to a 12-month vertical at the EC. In her new role, she is charged with expanding the EC’s accelerator programming and support to other industries industries key to the Nashville economy such as (book) publishing.  She continues to serve as an active mentor to entrepreneurs and management teams that participate in the Center’s accelerators.

As the first intern at BNA Entertainment, McBee grew through the ranks with the now-Sony Nashville organization to ultimately become VP of Marketing & Web
Initiatives. During her tenure, she built the Digital Business team within the organization resulting in the label paving the way for Nashville charge in developing the digital music space.

Through 2014, McBee served as Operations Director for Cumulus Media’s America’s Morning Show hosted by Blair Garner. In her role, she helped launch the nationally syndicated program, grow the enterprise and acted as the Show’s liaison for record labels and affiliates. Heather also manages her own music marketing and business development company, Bee Strategic, Inc.

Updated January 20, 2016

Please RSVP here by:
Friday, January 22, 2016

Invitations are individual and non-transferable