Meeting Manhattan: Business Mission to New York City – US Speakers

Jay Belin has kicked around the New York music scene since he moved to Manhattan to attend New York University in 1999. Throughout his undergraduate years he wore many hats including tour manager, music journalist, ticket taker and merch seller. His first “real” industry job was in distribution at The Orchard where he handled 50 of their top clients as product manager. From there Belin went to the Bowery Presents where he worked as the promoter at the Mercury Lounge for nearly five years before making a move to Live Nation’s New York office where he promoted shows at various venues such as Irving Plaza, Roseland Ballroom, Paramount Theatre and the Stone Pony. During a run of Bjork shows he was promoting, Belin and his boss Sam Kirby built a relationship that guided him into WME where he now works as an agent booking shows for artists like Mac Miller, James Murphy, Fat White Family and The Struts.

Matthew Covey has worked in music and arts immigration since 1996. As a member of the critically acclaimed US/Slovak indie-rock bandSkulpey, as Knitting Factory Records’ Amsterdam booking agent, and as the manager of Grammy Award winning band, the Klezmatics, Covey’s varied career has afforded him a comprehensive understanding of the entertainment industries. Covey is a founding director of Tamizdat, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that promotes international cultural exchange. He has presented and chaired panels on artist mobility issues at numerous conferences, including SXSW, CMJ, WOMEX, Folk Alliance, APAP, and Eurosonic. He holds a J.D. from New York Law, an M.A. from University College Dublin, and a B.A. from Oberlin College, and is admitted to the New York Bar.

With 18 years of professional experience as a music producer and supervisor for EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and ad agency Bates Worldwide, Keith D’Arcy has placed hundreds of songs and master recordings in campaigns for global brands like Nike, Mercedes, BMW, Intel, Fidelity, American Express, Pepsi, Fisher Price, Northwest Airlines, Heineken, and Viagra.

While at EMI Publishing as Senior Vice President of Music Strategy, Keith led the company’s Music Resources division, set up to help EMIMP grow its strategic outreach, increase synchronization of copyrights and improve creative access to the song catalogs for both internal sales staff and external licensing clients. In April 2008, Keith founded, developed and managed CORE, EMI’s Global Product & Content division. He oversaw programs designed to provide EMI’s global sales and licensing staff unparalleled creative access to approx. 1.3 Million copyrights. The division is comprised of six main service components:  Asset management (including management of EMI’s global digital library and search engine), creative support for Sales, master representation and easy-clear programs, internal song marketing & promotion, catalog writer relationship management and label crossover management.

While at Sony BMG, Keith handled all aspects of master use licensing for the associated labels’ catalogs: Columbia, Epic, RCA, Arista, J, Jive, Zomba etc.  This included reviewing and redlining master use licensing contracts, dealing with sample and side artist clearance issues, ISRC registration and tracking, accessing and working with source multi-track masters to create instrumentals, custom mixes and/or edits for ads, understanding Union obligations and neighboring rights issues related to masters, working with the company’s catalog divisions and coordinating marketing and promotional efforts for reissues and boxed sets with master use licensing priorities.

He’s also produced, written liner notes and overseen audio re-mastering for approximately 20 catalog reissue projects for third party companies like Sundazed, Rev-Ola, Finders Keepers and The Numero Group. He maintains close relationships with the producers at the catalog divisions of the major labels and at acclaimed third party catalog labels like Ace, Varese Sarabande, Omnivore, Jazzman & B-Music.

Matthew Evertsen is a passionate advocate for the arts. A lifelong devotion to multimedia expression inspired the founding of RONIN, a premier music styling and brand strategy boutique. As creative director and music marketing consultant, Matthew recognizes and studies the cultural power of the universal language of music. His expertise combines over a decade of industry experience with an eclectic, open-minded and refined taste.

Matthew’s portfolio of previous work includes nightclub management, live bookings, artist representation and development as well as music sync strategy and supervision. Matthew strives to bring to life ideas and experiences that maximize artist and audience satisfaction while promoting positive philosophies to design a better future of harmony today.

Matthew’s most recent music supervision and strategy credits include Viceland, Victoria’s Secret, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Playboy, Pepsi, Nokia and Visionaire World with placements from Nat King Cole, Bryan Ferry, M83, Rhye, Charli XCX, Nicki Minaj, Blood Orange, Ellie Goulding, St. Lucia, Kito & Reija Lee, CharlieRED, Dynasty Electric, Holy Ghost!, BANKS, Leikeli47, Liam Bailey and executive produced original compositions for Propel, Remy Martin, Bath & Body Works, Lord & Taylor, Sylvania and Maine Medical Center.

Peter Ferraro is the General Manager at East Village Radio in New York City and a partner at Dash Radio based in Los Angeles. He currently oversees programming, branding, and overall operations for East Village Radio which over the years featured shows hosted by Mark Ronson, Steve Lillywhite, Andy Rourke, and other legends. Prior to joining EVR, Peter worked in publishing at The Fader, Time Inc. and The Source Magazine respectively. He also spent 4-years at Deutsch Inc. in New York City. Peter is a graduate of Hofstra University in Long Island, NY and currently lives in Little Italy.

Ilana Kaplan is a music and culture journalist with a background in social media and digital marketing. She’s been a freelance writer for 7 years while working full-time for 5 years in the social media, advertising and marketing fields. Ilana has written for publications including Pitchfork,Rolling Stone, The New York Times/T Magazine, Observer, New York Magazine/The Cut, Jezebel, Paper, Newsweek/The Daily Beast, SPIN, Teen Vogue, POPULAR TV, Urban Outfitters, Maxim, Galore, Interview, NYLON, Paste,Noisey/VICE, Live Nation TV, Baeblemusic, Complex, Refinery29 and Bullett. Ilana ran a music column called ‘This Is Our Jam’ on Refinery29 for a year and revived it recently on POPULAR TV. She also has a column on Noisey/VICE called ‘Style Rider’ that runs every weekend. Ilana currently works full-time as the Social Media Editor at Observer and is the Music Editor for POPULAR TV.

Prior to her career, Ilana attended Rutgers University where she received her B.A. in both English and Journalism & Media Studies. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her cat, Pancake.

As EVP at Downtown Music Publishing, Jedd Katrancha oversees the company’s creative department, including efforts as they relate to placement of catalog in film, television, video games, online, product placement, advertising, and more. Jedd has personally worked on licenses with dozens of brands, including Anheuser Busch, Kia, Yahoo, Chevy, Vitamin Water, Mountain Dew, Sprint, and Cadillac.

Established in 2007, Downtown Music Publishing is one of the leading rights-management firms in North America, with offices in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, London, and Amsterdam. The company’s catalog spans over seven decades of popular music, including the works of such diverse writer/artists as The Beatles, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Cy Coleman, The Kinks, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Mötley Crüe, Jewel, Neon Trees and One Direction

Sam Kogon has been working in music since his college days. Although he studied environmental law at SUNY ESF, he sought refuge playing in bands and hosting a radio show on neighboring campus, Syracuse University. Soon into his college radio career, Kogon found himself conducting interviews with artists of the likes of Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, Marky Ramone, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Davies of The Kinks, Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones Manager/Producer), Al Jardine of The Beach Boys, and Davy Jones of The Monkees. After an interview with The Zombies own Colin Blunstone, Sam was taken on by Talent Consultants International as their youngest agent. At the age of 22, Sam was representing industry legends such as The Zombies, Ronnie Spector, The Yardbirds, and Badfinger. As great as it was working with his idols, Sam made the decision to leave TCI and pursue working with newer groups in the earlier stages of their careers. He’s delighted to call Panache his new home! His roster includes The Blow, EZTV, Michael Rault, Haley Bonar, Javelin, Slim Twig, Ultimate Painting, Celestial Shore,  Walter TV, Sheer Agony and The Sloths. Kogon also records and performs with his band around the North East under his name and sings lead vocals in the 1960’s baroque pop group, The Left Banke, who scored two billboard hits with “Walk Away Renee” (number five) and “Pretty Ballerina” (number 15).

Matt’s primary focus is on programming artist showcases at the CMJ Music Marathon. Now in its 36th year, the Marathon attracts more than 1300 artists and 100,000 music fans from around the world to NYC every fall. In addition, Matt oversees various events, tours, and music licensing initiatives at CMJ throughout the year, with a primary focus on up-and-coming acts. Prior to joining CMJ in 2005, he was a talent buyer at a handful of NYC clubs. In his spare time, he helps run M. Carter, a Brooklyn-based fashion label/lifestyle brand.

Karen Macmillan is a music licensing professional based in NYC with over 20 years experience in the music industry.  Her current position as Sr. Director of Advertising & Branding at Nettwerk Music Group has her overseeing ad syncs and brand partnerships in North America.  The Nettwerk roster (Label, Publishing and Management) includes artists such as:  Hermitude, Passenger, Olafur Arnalds, Radical Face, Family Of The Year, BANNERS, Great Lake Swimmers, BOY, Run River North, Current Swell, Guster, Boxed In, Yukon Blonde, The Once, Alexi Murdoch, 10,000 Maniacs, Sinead O’Connor, The Outfield and many more.   

Recent ad campaigns include Samsung, Acura, Tim Hortons, T-Mobile, Apple Music, Honest Beauty, Canadian Lottery, Pepsi, Toys R Us, McDonalds, Nissan, eBay, AT&T, Johnnie Walker, Royal Caribbean, Facebook, Mazda, Budweiser, Bank Of America, United Bank Of Switzerland, etc.

Heath Miller is the Vice President of Concerts at Webster Hall, as well as President and Founder of Excess dB Entertainment, a concert production and promotion company.  Excess dB Entertainment was founded while Heath was still in high school, and has since gone on to produce thousands of concerts, events and festivals.

Heath is responsible for the concerts booking & marketing at all venues within Webster Hall, including the Grand Ballroom, Marlin Room and The Studio.

Excess dB Entertainment also is the exclusive outsider promoter for Mexicali Live in Teaneck, NJ.

Mischa Pearlman is a British-born music journalist moved who turned down his dream job at Kerrang! magazine to move to New York in 2012. He now writes for a variety of publications both in the UK and the US and has interviewed a whole bunch of his musical heroes, including E from Eels, Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Ryan Adams, Thurston Moore and Marilyn Manson. His ultimate goal, however, is to one day interview Bruce Springsteen. He is also slowly working on his first novel.

Rey Roldan is a veteran of the music industry, both as a publicist and journalist at I.R.S. Records, Mammoth Records, Grass / Wind-up Records, Jive /Silvertone/Zomba Recordings, KSA Public Relations and Island Def Jam, for over two decades. He’s also the founder of Reybee, Inc. (est. 2004).

Unlike most industry folks, he spent the early part of his career as a nationally published journalist, researching and understanding the ins and outs of the media to aid him when he entered the other side of the music business. In doing so, he has created a strategy that doesn’t operate like a factory, churning out cookie cutter press campaigns.

Instead he drives his projects forward and sideways, exploring different angles and directions in which only someone with a journalistic mind would uncover. His deep immersion in his clients’ creative world as well as the personal side they wish to divulge enables him to view music not as a limited and contained genre, but as a work of art that’s open to interpretation. This ability has enabled him to handle all genres of music, including the publicity campaigns for artists like Britney Spears, Brooks & Dunn, Duran Duran, director Baz Luhrmann, Backstreet Boys, Sting, Hootie & the Blowfish, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Hanson, Dresden Dolls, Charlotte Church, A Tribe Called Quest, Yo Yo Ma, Supergrass, Turbonegro, and so many more…

He has also spearheaded the PR for the soundtracks to Bridget Jones’ Diary, Grammy winner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and worked on the campaign for Grammy winner O Brother Where Art Thou? It is with this creative spirit that he has also helped with the creation of labels as diverse as Lost Highway for IDJ, Jive Electro for Zomba, and Planet Dog for Mammoth.

Lucas Sacks is currently the Talent Buyer at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He’s been in the Brooklyn Bowl Talent department for 3 years. He got his start managing, booking, and playing guitar in a New Jersey cover band & assistant studio engineering and live production assisting. Lucas graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Bandier Program for Music & Allied Entertainment Industries at Syracuse University.

During his college tenure, he booked shows with Best Coast, Gramatik, Titus Andronicus, and Caveman, among others on and off-campus. During summers, he interned for BB King’s Blues Club, Highline Ballroom, Blue Note Jazz Club, Canal Room, Kathryn Schenker Management, Live Nation UK, Velour Music Group, All Points West Music Festival ’09, Concerts at Governor’s Island, Royal Family Affair Festival ’11, and Brooklyn Bowl.

Since joining Brooklyn Bowl in June 2012, he has booked and/or helped produce: Jane’s Addiction, Robert Plant, Guns ‘N Roses, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Public Enemy, Maya Rudolph & The Roots, Elvis Costello & The Roots, D’Angelo + Questlove, Fall Out Boy’s Super Bowl Blitz, Skrillex, & PBS film shoots with both Trey Anastasio Band and Aaron Neville among many more.

If you’ve attended a show in NYC, chances are AJ Tobey was there too. As Creative Director and A&R Coordinator for Bank Robber Music and House Of Hassle Publishing, AJ has been busy helping curate the best new sounds to join the already impressive exclusive licensing roster that includes artists like Grizzly Bear, Superchunk and The War On Drugs, and labels such as Merge, Mute, and Polyvinyl, among many others. In the music publishing business, you are only as good as your last sync. Luckily for AJ, and the rest of his cohorts at Bank Robber, they consistently land big pay days for all of their artists by placing music in top tier shows like “How To Get Away With Murder,” “You’re The Worst,” “Orange Is The New Black” and “Fargo,” in recent films “How To Be Single” and “Paper Towns,” as well as in commercial campaigns for internationally renowned brands, including Apple, Volkswagen and Sunkist.If that alone doesn’t sound like a full days work, AJ manages Los Angeles dream pop band Soft Swells, and consults for Brooklyn’s Ooh La La Records. Before accepting a position in the licensing world, AJ spent 8 years heading up operations for Flea Marketing, a company that served as the liaison between record labels (including Barsuk, Dangerbird and Warner Bros) and top independent record stores.

Charlotte von Kotze is a Branded Music Supervisor at VIRTUE, an internal VICE MEDIA agency covering brand strategy, creative development, production, distribution, and research for clients such as AT&T, Anheuser Busch, Smirnoff, LG, Unilever, and Ray-Ban, to name a few. In 2015 VICE won a Cannes Silver Lion for Branded, as well as a Cannes Bronze Lion 2015 for Branded Content & Entertainment.

Prior to joining the VICE family in July 2014, Charlotte was working for the French Music Export Office in NY and on branded experiential events for the 25 year-old promoter Giant Step with artists such as Q-Tip, Gilles Peterson, Santigold, Diplo, or Empire of the Sun. A music lover at heart, she also used to be an indie promoter at local Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn venues.

Half French and German and Originally from Paris, Charlotte has been in NY since 2009.

Ken Weinstein worked as editor on various magazines for several years before starting his career as a music critic in 1987. Shortly thereafter, he became National Director of Beggars Banquet/Thirsty Ear Press and Video where he helped break The Charlatans UK and Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend” album. In 1992, Weinstein led Caroline Records’ press and video department where he helped name and establish Astralwerks, one of America’s first electronica labels. In 1993, Weinstein was appointed Director of Media Relations for Atlantic Records. While at Atlantic, he worked with a diverse roster of artists, including Duncan Sheik, Page & Plant, Yo La Tengo, Liz Phair, Melvins, Bad Religion and Victoria Williams, among many others. Ken also has years of experience as Director of Marketing at Mercury Records, where he worked with Elvis Costello/Burt Bacharach, Spalding Gray, Allen Ginsberg and Peter Wolf.

In 1999, Weinstein co-founded Big Hassle Media. In a deliberate effort to keep the roster as eclectic as his record collection, Big Hassle’s clients have always covered many genres. Among the many bands Big Hassle has worked with over the years include, among many others: Robert Plant, Jack White, David Byrne, Gregg Allman, Tom Petty, The Replacements, Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Gaslight Anthem, Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Ray Davies, Lyle Lovett, Ornette Coleman, Violent Femmes, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Fela, Jose Gonzalez, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, George Carlin, Joe Jackson, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ben Kweller, The Gaslight Anthem, Alt J, North Mississippi Allstars, Dawes, Gillian Welch, Silversun Pickups, The Bad Plus, Fountains of Wayne, Ben Folds, The Artists Den, Bill Kreutzmann, Sly & The Family Stone, Lee Ann Womack, Sylvan Esso, The Hold Steady, Heartless Bastards, Nicole Atkins and more!