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The future of music, audio and sonic in 2021

Watch Gary Vaynerchuk jam with artists, producers, brands, and podcasters. Special thanks for the collaboration and partnership with the Music Business Association on this episode.

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  • Ryan Tedder, 3x Grammy Award-Winning Songwriter, Investor, Entrepreneur
  • Amazon Music, Global Head of Artist Marketing, Kirdis Postelle
  • TaP Music, President, Wendy Ong
  • Cari Champion, Host, Journalist, Founder of Brown Girls Dream
  • Geojam, CMO, Noelle Chesnut Whitmore
  • Intel, VP/GM Brand, Creative and Media, John Coyne
  • Kara Swisher, Host of Pivot and Sway Podcasts and Contributing Writer, NY Times Opinion
  • TikTok, Global Head of Music, Ole Obermann
  • Q&A, Founder and CEO, Troy Carter
  • Bose Corporation, CMO, Jim Mollica
  • e.l.f Beauty, CMO Kory Marchisotto
  • Microsoft, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Amy Sorokas

featuring an impressive lineup of speakers

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Ryan Tedder

3x Grammy Award-Winning Songwriter, Investor, and Entrepeneur

3x Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer, Ryan Tedder, has worked with everyone from Adele to Paul McCartney, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, John Legend and Anitta in addition to being the lead singer, writer and producer of the multi-platinum selling band OneRepublic. Most recently, Ryan co-wrote and co-produced Lady Gaga and Elton John’s “Sine From Above”, Alicia Key’s “Love Looks Better”, and Anitta’s “Me Gusta Feat. Cardi B and Myke Towers”, as well as serving as an executive producer on Anitta’s upcoming album. Ryan is currently in the studio with Adele and the Jonas Brothers working on their upcoming projects. Earlier this summer, Ryan, along with OneRepublic and Kygo, released “Lose Somebody”. As a producer, Ryan received the Grammy award for “Album of the Year” for the Albums 21, 1989, and 25. As a songwriter, Ryan has received the National Music Publishers’ Association’s Songwriter Icon Award at the NMPA annual meeting, as well as the Diamond Award certified by the RIAA. Ryan is also a producer and mentor on the NBC show, Songland, which just wrapped its second season.

OneRepublic released their debut set Dreaming Out Loud in 2007. The release included the multi-platinum-selling smash single “Apologize,” which shattered digital sales and airplay records worldwide and received a Grammy Award nomination. The band’s sophomore album, 2009’s Waking Up, produced the hit singles “All the Right Moves,” “Secrets” and “Good Life.” The certified-platinum album Native followed in 2013, featuring the No.1 hit and 33 million plus-selling single “Counting Stars,” along with a worldwide tour. OneRepublic released Oh My My, their fourth full-length album in 2016. During the spring of 2019, the band released “Start Again ft. Logic,” a song featured on the soundtrack for the Netflix drama 13 Reasons and “Connection” which was part of FCA’s Summer of Jeep campaign. OneRepublic has amassed 5B streams on Spotify to date. OneRepublic’s tracks, “Rescue Me,” “Somebody To Love”, “Wanted”, “Didn’t I”, and “Better Days” from their upcoming album, Human, are out now. OneRepublic most recently released “Wild Life”, which appeared in Disney+’s original movie, Clouds.

TikTok

Ole Obermann

Global Head of Music

Ole Obermann is an American music industry executive serving as Global Head of Music at TikTok where he oversees music business development and strategy. Ole is responsible for negotiating music rights for TikTok, and also drives the long-term strategy for music on the platform. Since Ole joined TikTok, the business has grown at pace globally, announced a series of new licensing deals and partnerships, and firmly placed music at the heart of its future growth and strategy.
Amazon Music

Kirdis Postelle

Global Head of Artist Marketing

Kirdis Postelle is Amazon Music’s Global Head of Artist Marketing, and works directly with artists across a wide range of genres. Since joining Amazon Music earlier this year, Kirdis has led marketing efforts for key initiatives including Breakthrough, Amazon Music’s new developing artist program; Amazon Music’s Friday Live series, which has raised money for COVID-19 relief efforts through live performances from Dua Lipa, Katy Perry, and Tim McGraw; and more. Kirdis has also worked extensively to lead Amazon Music’s efforts to support communities affected by the COVID-19 crisis, working with artists like Megan Thee Stallion on numerous charitable efforts throughout the pandemic.

Prior to joining Amazon Music, Kirdis worked extensively in the music industry for more than 25 years, most recently as EVP and General Manager for HITCO Entertainment. Prior to HITCO, Kirdis served as Senior Vice President at Warner Bros. Records, accelerating the mainstream multi-platinum explosion of Dua Lipa, Andra Day, and Lil Pump. To date, her illustrious career discography encompasses sales of over 100 million albums, 100 million singles, and countless GRAMMY® Awards.

Geojam

Noelle Chesnut Whitmore

CMO

Noelle Chesnut Whitmore has nearly two decades of experience as the dynamic force behind some of the music industry’s most innovative live experiences. Her unshakable passion for music, and early experience as an artist, has provided the invaluable insight that has made her a unique asset for the totality of her career. Noelle has worked for The Recording Academy, Abrams Artist Agency and Bounce AEG. It was in those roles that Noelle worked for some of the largest brands in music, fashion and entertainment, such as Katy Perry, Rolex, Chanel and Jay-Z & Kanye’s Watch The Throne tour. At Goldenvoice, Noelle served as the Festival Marketing Manager as well as handling Artist Relations and Production for all the festival properties including Coachella, Stagecoach and more. Noelle is featured in the Coachella 20 year documentary for the key role she played in co-producing Kanye West’s Sunday Service at Coachella 2019.

Noelle still actively produces pioneering experiences and marketing activations. She most recently Executive Produced & Directed the, now viral, critically-acclaimed Lion King: The Musical on Clubhouse performances. Noelle is the Chief Marketing Officer of the Geojam app. Geojam is the 1st music discovery app that allows users to earn points just for streaming music they love and those points can be redeemed for unique virtual and in-person experiences with their favorite artists. Noelle oversees all the marketing efforts and curates campaigns for Geojam that blend the nostalgia of live concerts and the fun of music streaming to create the ultimate experiences. Her projects continue to solidify her skills as an efficient problem solver and showcase her ability to execute at every stage of ideation. Noelle’s personal venture, More In Music, aims to educate the community about the various career pathways in music, inspire the next generation of industry leaders and create a culture of empowerment.

1) What's one thing most people don't know about you? I started my career in music as an artist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist at the age of 16 and I was the only women snare in thedrum-line in High School 🙂
3) Tell us your ""life motto.” Do things with purpose, for purpose, on purpose and be kind and offer grace.

TaP Music

Wendy Ong

President

An unprecedented track record of breaking artists in every corner of the globe and a personal journey that led her from Singapore to leadership posts at the music industry’s top companies affirms Wendy Ong as the preeminent modern music executive. As President of TaP Music, she oversees a diverse roster of artists, including Dua Lipa, Ellie Goulding, Lana Del Rey, Noah Cyrus, Dermot Kennedy, Hailee Steinfeld and more.

“Living in so many different places and collaborating with such a wide variety of people allows you to be in tune with the pulse of what’s happening globally,” she says. “In my career, I’ve also had the rare opportunity to work in nearly every genre of music from hip hop to classical. I draw from all of that when working to realize my artist’s vision.” Her first job was at BMG Singapore, specializing in Soundtracks, Jazz, and New Age. After two years she moved to Hong Kong where she took on supervising pop releases for Asia Pacific. Upon relocating to NYC she embarked on the seminal role of International Marketing at Clive Davis’s Arista Records. Over the next decade, she went on to launch OutKast worldwide and traveled alongside Diddy, helping to expand his empire internationally. She worked extensively with artists such as P!nk, Alicia Keys and The Strokes. Following Arista, she joined the Metropolitan Opera before EMI sought her out as Head of Classical in 2011. Following stints at Capitol Music and Interscope Records, she joined Roc Nation as Head of Marketing where she drove campaigns for JAY-Z, Rihanna, Jaden Smith and more. In late 2018, she became Tap Music’s Head of Marketing and was promoted to President of TaP Music a year later. Wendy is based in the Tap Music Los Angeles office.

Q&A

Troy Carter

Founder & CEO

Troy Carter is the founder and CEO of Q&A, a technology and media company focused on powering the business of music via distribution, services, and data analytics. Formerly, Troy was the founder and CEO of Atom Factory, where he rose to prominence, nurturing the careers of global superstars, including Lady Gaga and John Legend. He most recently served at Spotify as its Global Head of Creator Services, overseeing the company’s growth strategy for artists and record labels. In 2017, Troy was also named Entertainment Advisor to the Prince Estate.

His interest in the intersection of technology and culture resulted in the formation of AF Square Investments. Early investments include Uber, Lyft, Dropbox, Spotify, Warby Parker, theSkimm, Blavity, Gimlet Media, Thrive Market, PlayVs, and FazeClan.

Troy currently serves as a trustee for The Aspen Institute, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and CalArts.

e.l.f Beauty

Kory Marchisotto

CMO

A true beauty maven who has been transforming brands for 20+ years, Kory has been named a Brand Genius, Marketer of the Year, CMO to Watch, and one of the Top Women in Retail — and that’s just in 2020. Since joining e.l.f. Beauty in 2019, Kory led the resurgence of their namesake brand e.l.f. Cosmetics and strategically expanded the company’s portfolio with the acquisition of clean beauty Pioneer W3LL People and the creation of Keys Soulcare with Alicia Keys. Through her record-breaking results and ability to repeatedly capture that elusive “lighting in a bottle," Kory continues to show the world that anything is e.l.f.ing possible.
Microsoft

Amy Sorokas

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Working with artists across the music spectrum, Amy Sorokas has established a program at Microsoft that showcases what happens when creative artists meet innovative technology. These partnerships bring to life ideas that allow the artists to connect with audiences, create experiences to make and listen to music, and use technology as a creative tool – all in unexpected ways. More recently, the projects have evolved to showcase artists’ interest in social causes, giving them a broader platform to spark change and do good in the world.

My life motto is – stay curious.
Key advice early in career – don’t compromise on your perspective just because it is different than most of your coworkers.

Cari Champion

Host, Journalist, Founder of Brown Girls Dream

Cari Champion is a broadcast journalist and television personality based in Los Angeles. Champion made history with her move to Vice TV for her show “Cari & Jemele: Stick to Sports,” along with co-host Jemele Hill, as the first Black women to host a late-night cable news and information show. Champion also currently hosts the “NFL Next Live” Thursday Night Football live stream for Amazon, airing exclusively on Twitch, alongside former NFL wide-receiver, Andrew Hawkins. In addition to her work at Vice and Amazon, she currently hosts TNT’s studio show, “The Arena”, a new in-depth storytelling franchise created to provide a thought-provoking forum for content on topics occurring on and off the NBA court of play. The show’s format intertwines impactful features with conversations from some of the most popular voices in sports. In addition, Champion recently returned as co-host for Season 2 of NBC’s reality competition series, “The Titan Games”, created and presented by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Champion previously served as anchor and host at ESPN where she spent nearly a decade in roles that included co-hosting SportsCenter Coast to Coast, host of SportsNation, and moderator of ESPN’s popular debate talk show, First Take. She also hosted a popular ESPNw podcast, Be Honest with Cari Champion. Before joining ESPN, Champion served as an anchor and courtside reporter for the Tennis Channel. She continues to break barriers, paving the way for younger women of color who want to pursue a career in sports television and other areas within broadcasting.

Kara Swisher

Host of Pivot and Sway Podcasts and Contributing Writer for New York Times Opinion

Kara Swisher is an editor-at-large of New York Media, host of its Pivot podcast and executive producer of Vox Media’s Code Conference. She is also the host of the Sway podcast and a contributing writer to the New York Times Opinion section. She appears weekly on CNBC.

Swisher was also the host of the Recode Decode podcast for five years, co-founded Recode and Code owner Revere Digital and, before that, co-produced and co-hosted The Wall Street Journal’s “D: All Things Digital,” with Walt Mossberg. It was the major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many other leading players in the tech and media industries. She and Mossberg were also the co-executive editors of a tech and media Web site, AllThingsD.com.

Swisher worked in The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau. For many years, she wrote the column, “BoomTown,” which appeared on the front page of the Marketplace section and also on The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com. Previously, Swisher covered breaking news about the Web’s major players and Internet policy issues and also wrote feature articles on technology for the paper. She has also written a weekly column for the Personal Journal on home issues called “Home Economics.”

Previously, Swisher worked as a reporter at the Washington Post and as an editor at the City Paper of Washington, D.C. She received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and her graduate degree at Columbia University’s School of Journalism.

Swisher is also the author of “aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web,” published by Times Business Books in July 1998. The sequel, “There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future,” was published in the fall of 2003 by Crown Business Books. Her next book, coming in 2022, will be a memoir of her years covering the rise of the Internet.

Intel

John Coyne

VP/GM Brand, Creative and Media

John Coyne is Vice President/GM of Brand, Creative & Media at Intel. He is responsible forvglobal brand strategy, brand & product identity, global creative, media and social. Under John’s leadership, the team is focused on creating brand love for Intel by telling the inspirational stories that our technology makes possible. In fact, John’s team just launched the most extensive rebrand in the company’s history -- including a new logo, corporate identity and even a
reimagination of the famous Intel sonic “bong”. Prior to Intel, he held senior positions at Adobe, Goodby Silverstein & Partners and BBDO. Personally, John and his wife, Cecilia, have two grown(ish) daughters and a tiny chihuahua named Phoebe.
Bose

Jim Mollica

CMO

Jim Mollica, the first Global CMO in Bose’s history, is a 25-year veteran in marketing, media and digital commerce. Jim is an expert in leading digital transformation. He has deep experience in brand strategy, developing creative platforms, creating cutting-edge media engagements, and building new revenue-generating models. His team is responsible for strengthening and deepening Bose’s relationship with our consumer across our brand experiences and driving revenue.

Prior to Bose, Jim held senior executive roles for global corporations such as Under Armour, Viacom/MTV Networks, The Walt Disney Company, Ralph Lauren, and Nissan Motor Corporation.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Jim received his MBA from Katz Graduate School of Business.

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