As Indie Week approaches, A2IM is excited to announce the lineup of keynote speakers and panelists that will participate in this year’s conference. Happening June 5-8 and presented by SoundExchange, the event will feature three days full of panels and workshops designed to provide a valuable platform for education and networking in the independent music industry.
Kicking off the keynote speaker address will be Pandora CEO and Founder Tim Westergren. A2IM is also proud to have Susan Butler, the force behind Music Confidential, an in-depth weekly report on the pricing, licensing, and legal issues that move the music world. With her expertise in business journalism, entertainment, and the legal field, Butler has a unique perspective on the multitude of matters that impact the music community.
Attendees will also hear from Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. A brilliant legal and business mind with a love of music, Huppe and the SoundExchange team have transformed the system through which artists and labels are paid statutory streaming royalties. SoundExchange also serves the industry by distributing royalties generated by licenses negotiated directly between rights holders and digital service providers.
Indie Week will also include the following music industry leaders: Charles Caldas (Merlin), Elizabeth Chan (Merry Bright), Randy Chin (VP Records), Alisa Coleman (ABKCO), Amy Dietz (INgrooves), Tyson Haller (ADA), Chris Israel (musicFIRST), Joel Jordan (SynchTank), Andrew Kautz (Big Machine Label Group), Allen Kovac (10th Street Entertainment), Risa Lawrenson (Beggars Group), Ed Peto (Outdusty Ltd), Portia Sabin (Kill Rock Stars), Perry Schwartz (10th Street Entertainment), Helen Smith (IMPALA), Desiree Vach (INgrooves), Darius Van Arman (Secretly Group), Alison Wenham (WIN), Simon Wheeler (Beggars Group), and Alex White (Next Big Sound, Pandora).
Staying true to the indie vein that runs through NYC and that is the lifeblood of A2IM, Indie Week will be held at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center. A2IM is proud to partner with the Clemente and share in its vision of fostering a thriving Latino/Puerto Rican arts community on the historic Lower East Side.
“This year promises to be the biggest and best Indie Week to date. Holding this Indie Week at The Clemente and being immersed in the vital NYC downtown arts community could not be more appropriate for our membership. We are honored by the remarkable array of luminary speakers and panelists who have agreed to share their hard-won knowledge with this year’s attendees.” Says A2IM CEO Richard James Burgess.
With so many speakers and events lined up, this year’s Indie Week conference is expected to be the largest one yet. To thoroughly cover topics affecting all of those in the music world, this year’s event will include specialists from outside the music industry.
For conference registration and to view the ever-growing lineup of speakers and panel topics, please visit https://a2im.org/event/indie-week-2017. Although this year’s event is open to non-members for the first time, A2IM encourages organizations to take advantage of its special Indie Week membership offer. For any labels joining between now and Indie Week, the conference registration will be discounted to $19 per person.
About Susan Butler:
Susan Butler is an American business journalist and media publisher, entertainment and tech attorney and published author. Through Butler Business & Media LLC, she writes and publishes the weekly international news & analysis report Music Confidential and produces a few select private executive summits in Europe.
About Michael Huppe:
Michael Huppe is the President and Chief Executive Officer of SoundExchange, the organization at the center of the global digital music business. SoundExchange serves major and independent labels and artists as well as digital service providers. The company has distributed more than $4.5 Billion in royalties to recording artists and rights holders from statutory and direct licensees negotiated between rights holders and licensees..
About the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center:
The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center carries the ideas of cultural preservation, the unity of humanity, and the imperative of progress forward in an ever-changing celebration of culture that embraces every part of our organization. The strength of the Clemente’s artistic engagement with our visitors comes from the unbounded expression of its artists, and from the manner in which the Clemente’s building draws the visitor into deeper engagement with the arts.
About A2IM:
A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of more than 430 Independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America’s creative class that represents America’s diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine, using Nielsen SoundScan data, identified the Independent music label sector as 35.1 percent of the music industry’s U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry sector.
The organization’s board of directors consists of the following: ATO Vice President Stephanie Alexa, Razor & Tie COO Craig Balsam, Redeye Co-Owner Glenn Dicker, INgrooves EVP & General Manager Amy Dietz, Epitaph/Anti General Manager Dave Hansen, Big Machine COO Andrew Kautz, Beggars Group Founder/CEO Martin Mills, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Dualtone CEO/Co-Founder Scott Robinson, Tommy Boy Owner & CEO Thomas Silverman, and Secretly Label Group Co-Owner Darius Van Arman.
For Media Inquiries:
Dawn Kamerling
The Press House
646.322.4903